The 2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup pool stage was the opening stage of the 16th season of the European Challenge Cup, the second-tier competition for European rugby union clubs. It began on 10 November 2011 with two matches and ended on 22 January 2012.
Twenty teams participated in this phase of the competition; they were divided into five pools of four teams each, with each team playing the others home and away. Competition points were earned using the standard bonus point system. The pool winners advanced to the knockout stage, where they were joined by three entrants from the Heineken Cup pool stage. These teams then competed in a single-elimination tournament that ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 18 May 2012.
Results All times are local to the game location.
{| class="wikitable" |+ Key to colours |- |bgcolor="#ccffcc"| |Winner of each pool advances to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses.
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Stade Français (1) 6 6 0 0 33 5 +28 241 43 +198 5 0 29 Worcester Warriors 6 4 0 2 30 9 +21 194 95 +99 4 0 20 București Wolves 6 2 0 4 12 27 −15 102 184 −82 2 0 10 Crociati Parma 6 0 0 6 4 38 −34 36 251 −215 0 0 0
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Toulon (3) 6 5 0 1 26 5 +14 197 73 +124 3 1 25 Newcastle Falcons 6 4 0 2 18 9 +9 133 82 +51 2 0 18 Lyon 6 3 0 3 16 11 +5 143 114 +29 1 1 14 Petrarca Padova 6 0 0 6 3 38 −28 50 254 −204 0 0 0
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts London Wasps (4) 6 5 0 1 21 7 +14 189 75 +114 4 0 24 Bayonne 6 5 0 1 24 3 +21 197 61 +136 2 0 22 Bordeaux Bègles 6 2 0 4 9 14 −5 82 132 −50 1 1 10 Rovigo 6 0 0 6 5 35 −30 51 251 −200 0 1 1
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Exeter Chiefs (8) 6 5 0 1 22 4 +18 202 64 +138 2 1 23 Perpignan 6 4 0 2 17 9 +8 153 112 +41 2 0 18 Newport Gwent Dragons 6 3 0 3 16 7 +9 139 100 +39 2 1 15 Cavalieri Prato 6 0 0 6 6 41 −35 62 280 −218 0 0 0
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Brive (2) 6 6 0 0 26 7 +19 209 79 +130 3 0 28 Sale Sharks 6 4 0 2 31 8 +23 225 96 +129 4 0 20 Agen 6 2 0 4 24 21 +3 168 166 +2 2 0 10 La Vila 6 0 0 6 6 51 −45 64 325 −261 0 0 0
See also European Challenge Cup 2011–12 Heineken Cup
References