2008–09 European Challenge Cup
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2008–09 European Challenge Cup
The 2008–09 European Challenge Cup was the 13th season of the European Challenge Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended with the final at the Twickenham Stoop in London on 22 May 2009, in which Northampton Saints defeated Bourgoin 15–3. With the win, the Saints not only claimed the trophy, but also won a berth in the 2009–10 Heineken Cup. Teams Seven French teams competed instead of the normal eight, as a French team, Toulouse, progressed farther in the previous year's Heineken Cup than any English or Italian team. Other nations had their usual number of participants: England six, Italy four, Ireland one, Spain one and Romania one. Pool stage The draw for the pool stages took place on 23 June 2008. The draw was conducted using the ERC European Ranking system which was based on the qualified teams' performances and participation in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of ...
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Round-robin Tournament
A round-robin tournament or all-play-all tournament is a competition format in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Merriam Co), p.1980. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament, wherein participants are eliminated after a certain number of wins or losses. Terminology The term ''round-robin'' is derived from the French term ('ribbon'). Over time, the term became idiomized to ''robin''. In a ''single round-robin'' schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is frequently called a ''double round-robin''. The term is rarely used when all participants play one another more than twice, and is never used when one participant plays others an unequal number of times, as is the case in almost all of the major North American professional sports leagues. In the United Kingdom, ...
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Saracens F
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens ''Saracen'' ( ) was a term used both in Greek and Latin writings between the 5th and 15th centuries to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Petraea and Arabia Deserta. The term's meaning evolved during its history of usage. During the Early Middle Ages, the term came to be associated with the tribes of Arabia. The oldest known source mentioning "Saracens" in relation to Islam dates back to the 7th century, in the Greek-language Christian tract '' Doctrina Jacobi''. Among other major events, the tract discusses the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which occurred after the rise of the Rashidun Caliphate following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Roman Catholic Church and European Christian leaders used the term during the Middle Ages to refer to Muslims. By the 12th century, "Saracen" developed various overlapping definitions, generally conflatin ...
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București Oaks
The Romanian Wolves (Romanian: ''Lupii Români'') is a professional Romanian rugby union team that competes annually in the Rugby Europe Super Cup. History 2004-2008: Initial Stages - Test Team for the National Squad At the end of the 2003-2004 season, both champions Dinamo Bucharest and runners-up Steaua Bucharest declined the opportunity to take part in European competitions next season, mainly for financial reasons. With this in mind, the Romanian Rugby Federation decided to patch things up and create a new representative team based in Bucharest named "Selecționata București" (which could be translated as "Bucharest Representative Team") or simply "București" (translated as "Bucharest") in order to be more competitive on the international stage. Essentially, the idea was to create a team that would bring together the most valuable rugby players from the domestic championship and test them, give them a chance to prove they could be part of the senior national rugby tea ...
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Rugby Viadana
Rugby Viadana 1970 is an Italian rugby union club based in Viadana (province of Mantua, Lombardy). The club was established in 1970, and has since won the Italian championship in 2002, and the Coppa Italia three times. They also compete in European rugby competitions and were runners-up in the European Shield in 2004. Viadana plays in yellow and black. The club did not compete professionally between 2010 and 2012 as they focused their efforts on Aironi. Aironi was based at Viadana's home ground and represented a number of regional teams in the multi-national Celtic League. The FIR withdrew Aironi's licence to play at the end of the 2012, so Viadana reformed as a professional team will play in Italy's top division, the National championship of Excellence, from the 2012–13 season and currently in the Top12. History They were founded in 1970 as a rugby sector in the Vitellianense Cebogas Multisports Club by some ex Rugby Parma F.C. players. They started in the lowest possible l ...
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Rugby Rovigo
Rugby Rovigo Delta, formerly known until 2010 as Rugby Rovigo, is an Italian rugby union club currently competing in the Top10 (rugby union), Serie A Élite. They are based in Rovigo, in Veneto. Overview The club was founded in 1935 by medical student Dino Lanzoni, who discovered rugby at university. They quickly became one of the strongest Italian sides and won 14 titles between 1951 and 2023. They have never been relegated from the top flight of Italian rugby union. They are the current Italian champion. Current and former Rovigo players include Elio De Anna, Stefano Bettarello, Stefano Bordon, Alessandro Moscardi, Carlo Orlandi, Carlo Checchinato, Mirco Bergamasco, Manuel Contepomi, AJ Venter, Gert Smal, Viliami Ofahengaue and Naas Botha. Honours * Top12, Italian championship ** Champions (15): 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1975–76, 1978–79, 1987–88, 1989–90, 2015–16, 2020–21, 2022-23. 2024-25 ** ''Runners-up (7)'': ...
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Petrarca Rugby
Petrarca Rugby is a professional rugby union club from Padua, Italy, currently competing in the top tier of the Italian rugby union, the Serie A Elite. Founded in 1947, the team is the rugby union branch of the Unione Sportiva Petrarca, an omnisport club that includes also basketball, futsal, volleyball, fencing and football. They have won 15 league titles, 11 of them between 1969–70 and 1986–87 seasons; their most recent successes in the Italian championship came 24 years after their latest feat, at the end of the 2010–11 season, and in recent years appearing in four straight finals 3 against rugby delta Rovigo (2020-21,2021-22,2022-23)and 1 against rugby viadana (2023-24) and winning two (2021-22 and 2023-24). Petrarca is the tied 2nd most successful side in the Italian championship with Benetton rugby (15 time champions) and behind amatori rugby Milano (18 time champions) Honours * Italian championship ** Champions (15): 1969–70, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1 ...
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Rugby Parma F
Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby union: 15 players per side *** American flag rugby *** Beach rugby *** Mini rugby *** Rugby sevens, 7 players per side *** Rugby tens, 10 players per side *** Snow rugby *** Touch rugby *** Tambo rugby ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Both codes *** Tag rugby *Rugby fives, a handball game, similar to squash, played in an enclosed court *Underwater rugby, an underwater sport played in a swimming pool and named after rugby football *Rugby ball, a ball for use in rugby football Arts and entertainment * '' Rugby'' (video game), the 2000 installment of Electronic Arts' Rugby video game series * ''Rugby'', second movement of ''Mouvements symphoniques'' by Arthur Honegger Brands and enterprises * Rugby (automobile), made by Durant Motors * Rugby Cement, a former UK PLC, now a sub ...
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Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby is one of the four professional provincial men's rugby union, rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU), and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht. Connacht plays its home games at The Sportsground, which currently holds 6,126 spectators and can be expanded to 8,129. Connacht play in a predominantly green Rugby shirt, jersey, Rugby shorts, shorts and Rugby socks, socks. The Connacht Rugby crest is a modified version of the provincial flag of Connacht and consists of a dimidiation, dimidiated eagle and an arm wielding a sword. With the province containing just over 8% of the total Irish population, Connacht has a much smaller base of rugby union players to choose from than the other three provinces. This playe ...
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US Dax
Union Sportive Dax Rugby Landes, also known as US Dax, is a French rugby union club currently playing in Pro D2, the second level of the French league system. They were founded in 1904. They play at Stade Maurice Boyau (capacity 16,170). They wear red and white. They are based in Dax in the Landes department of Nouvelle-Aquitaine. Honours * French championship Top 14 ** Runners-up (5): 1956, 1961, 1963, 1966, 1973 * Challenge Yves du Manoir ** Champions (5): 1957, 1959, 1969, 1971, 1982 ** Runners-up (2): 1968, 1988 Finals results French championship Challenge Yves du Manoir Current standings Current squad The squad for the 2024–25 season is: c Espoirs squad Notable former players * Horacio Agulla * Federico Martín Aramburú * Lucas Borges * Roberto Grau * Ignacio Mieres * Juan Pablo Socino * Nicolás Vergallo * Fotunuupule Auelua * Matt Henjak * Morgan Turinui * A ...
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Stade Montois
Stade Montois Rugby is a French rugby union team that currently is playing in Pro D2, the second level of the country's professional league system. They were founded in 1908 and play in yellow and black. They are based in Mont-de-Marsan, the capital of the Landes ''département'', in Nouvelle-Aquitaine, and play at the Stade Guy Boniface. History Stade Montois is a multi-sports club (28 sections) but its rugby team has always been its flagship. After winning a few regional titles between the two world wars, it reached the top of French club rugby four times in 15 years. It lost its first three French championship finals to Castres Olympique in 1949 (3-14, in a replay, after the original final had ended in a 3-3 draw), to FC Lourdes in 1953 (16-21), and to Racing Club de France in 1959 (3-8). Their finest hour came in 1963 in an all Landes-final against US Dax, won by the Yellow and Black 9-6. They had finally won one, whereas their Dax neighbours would lose all five finals ...
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RC Toulonnais
Rugby Club Toulonnais (), also referred to as Rugby Club Toulon or simply Toulon, is a French professional rugby union club based in Toulon and competing in the Top 14. Located on the French Riviera, in the Provence region, the club plays its home games at the 17,500-capacity Stade Mayol. Founded in 1908, Toulon is one of the most important and widely supported rugby clubs in France. Domestically, the club has won a total of four league titles, two Pro D2 titles and two Challenge Yves du Manoir. In international competitions, Toulon is the only one to have won the Heineken Cup/ European Rugby Champions Cup three times in a row, and succeeded in winning the league/European cup double in 2014 too. Toulon has also won the EPCR Challenge Cup in 2023 after reaching the final on four occasions. The club established itself as a major force in domestic and European rugby in the 2010s when Jonny Wilkinson, Mathieu Bastareaud, Bakkies Botha, Matt Giteau and other rugby stars played ...
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Montpellier Hérault RC
Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. At the 2020 census, 299,096 people lived in the city proper, while its metropolitan area had a population of 813,272. The inhabitants are called ''Montpelliérains''. In the Middle Ages, Montpellier was an important city of the Crown of Aragon (and was the birthplace of James I), and then of Majorca, before its sale to France in 1349. Established in 1220, the University of Montpellier is one of the oldest universities in the world and has the oldest medical school still in operation, with notable alumni such as Petrarch, Nostradamus and François Rabelais. Above the medieval city, the ancient citadel of Montpellier is a stronghold built in the seventeenth century by Louis XIII of France. Since the 1990s, Montpellier has experienced one of the strongest economic and demographic grow ...
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