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2004-05 European Challenge Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Portugal  Scotland  Spain
Tournament format(s)	Knockout
Date	23 October 2004 – 21 May 2005
Tournament statistics
Teams	28
Matches played	57
Attendance	177,521 (3,114 per match)
Tries scored	360 (6.32 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Paul Warwick (Connacht) (97 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Mark Cueto (Sale Sharks) (9 tries)
Final
Venue	Kassam Stadium, Oxford
Attendance	7,230
Champions	Sale Sharks (2nd title)
Runners-up	Pau
← 2003–04 (Previous)(Next) 2005–06 →

The 2004–05 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Challenge Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the ninth season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second-tier club rugby union competition below the Heineken Cup. A total of 28 teams participated, representing seven countries.

The competition began with a series of matches on 23 October 2004 and culminated in the final at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 21 May 2005.

As in the previous two seasons, the competition was organised in a knockout format. Teams played each other on a home and away basis, with the aggregate points winner proceeding to the next round. The final was a single leg. This was the final season with a pure knockout format; in subsequent seasons the competition reverted to a pool stage followed by a knockout.

For the third and final time, a third tier tournament was held - the European Shield. This was contested between the first round losers from the European Challenge Cup. As there were only 28 teams involved, the 2 "best" 1st Round losers were reprieved and proceeded to the 2nd Round.

The defending champions, England's NEC Harlequins, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the Heineken Cup. Sale Sharks claimed a comfortable victory over Pau in the final and picked up their second piece of European Club silverware.

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows:

England: 5 teams — all teams from the Zurich Premiership that did not qualify for the 2004–05 Heineken Cup

France: 10 teams — all teams from the Top 16 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Ireland: 1 team — the Irish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the Super 10 that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup

Portugal: 1 team

Scotland: 1 team — the Scottish team from the Celtic League that did not play in the Heineken Cup

Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the División de Honor de Rugby

England	France	Ireland	Italy	Portugal	Scotland	Spain
Leeds Tykes London Irish Sale Sharks Saracens Worcester Warriors	Agen Auch Bayonne Béziers Brive Clermont Auvergne Grenoble Montpellier Narbonne Pau	Connacht	Catania Gran Parma L'Aquila Leonessa Overmach Parma Petrarca Padova Rovigo Viadana	AA Coimbra	Borders	El Salvador Valladolid RAC

Matches

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Round 1

1st leg

AA Coimbra	3 – 98	Borders
	Report

Worcester Warriors	29 – 15	Brive
	Report

Gran Parma	15 – 35	Pau
	Report

L'Aquila	27 – 50	Agen
	Report

Rovigo	7 – 51	Montpellier
	Report

Petrarca Padova	24 – 57	Béziers
	Report

Valladolid RAC	3 – 88	Viadana
	Report

Auch	18 – 20	London Irish
	Report

Bayonne	21 – 24	Saracens
	Report

Grenoble	9 – 9	Leeds Tykes
	Report

Narbonne	25 – 11	Connacht
	Report

Leonessa	0 – 65	Clermont Auvergne
	Report

El Salvador	36 – 12	Overmach Parma
	Report

Catania	22 – 31	Sale Sharks
	Report

2nd leg

Borders	107 – 3	AA Coimbra
	Report

Montpellier	59 – 3	Rovigo
	Report

Saracens	36 – 10	Bayonne
	Report

Leeds Tykes	17 – 18	Grenoble
	Report

Connacht	40 – 21	Narbonne
	Report

Overmach Parma	36 – 10	El Salvador
	Report

Béziers	69 – 18	Petrarca Padova
	Report

Pau	31 – 22	Gran Parma
	Report

Agen	59 – 21	L'Aquila
	Report

Brive	40 – 10	Worcester Warriors
	Report

Clermont Auvergne	51 – 6	Leonessa
	Report

Viadana	59 – 7	Valladolid RAC
	Report

London Irish	42 – 18	Auch
	Report

Sale Sharks	50 – 3	Catania
	Report

Aggregate Results

Key to colours

	14 winners and 2 best losers advance to 2nd Round.
	12 other teams to Shield.

Winners	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Losers
Borders	4 – 0	205 – 6	199	AA Coimbra
Viadana	4 – 0	147 – 10	137	Valladolid RAC
Clermont Auvergne	4 – 0	116 – 6	110	Leonessa
Montpellier	4 – 0	110 – 10	100	Rovigo
Béziers	4 – 0	126 – 42	84	Petrarca Padova
Agen	4 – 0	109 – 48	61	L'Aquila
Sale Sharks	4 – 0	81 – 25	56	Catania
Pau	4 – 0	66 – 37	29	Bayonne
Saracens	4 – 0	60 – 31	29	Gran Parma
London Irish	4 – 0	62 – 36	26	Auch
Grenoble	3 – 1	27 – 26	1	Leeds Tykes
Brive	2 – 2	55 – 39	16	Worcester Warriors
Connacht	2 – 2	51 – 46	5	Narbonne
Overmach Parma	2 – 2	48 – 46	2	El Salvador

Round 2

1st leg

Béziers	12 – 27	Grenoble
	Report

Connacht	56 – 3	Montpellier
	Report

Overmach Parma	19 – 18	Saracens
	Report

Narbonne	15 – 33	Sale Sharks
	Report

Pau	25 – 19	London Irish
	Report

Agen	23 – 15	Viadana
	Report

Brive	57 – 6	El Salvador
	Report

Clermont Auvergne	44 – 14	Borders
	Report

2nd leg

Grenoble	38 – 26	Béziers
	Report

Montpellier	19 – 14	Connacht
	Report

Sale Sharks	25 – 10	Narbonne
	Report

Viadana	22 – 17	Agen
	Report

El Salvador	23 – 45	Brive
	Report

Borders	23 – 34	Clermont Auvergne
	Report

London Irish	19 – 16	Pau
	Report

Saracens	52 – 6	Overmach Parma
	Report

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Quarter-final	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
Brive	4 – 0	102 – 29	73	El Salvador
Clermont Auvergne	4 – 0	78 – 37	41	Borders
Sale Sharks	4 – 0	58 – 25	33	Narbonne
Grenoble	4 – 0	65 – 38	27	Béziers
Connacht	2 – 2	70 – 22	48	Montpellier
Saracens	2 – 2	70 – 25	45	Overmach Parma
Pau	2 – 2	41 – 38	3	London Irish
Agen	2 – 2	40 – 37	3	Viadana

Quarter-finals

1st leg

Grenoble	21 – 26	Connacht
	Report

Sale Sharks	34 – 18	Agen
	Report

Pau	25 – 21	Clermont Auvergne
	Report

Saracens	19 – 6	Brive
	Report

2nd leg

Clermont Auvergne	26 – 25	Pau
	Report

Connacht	19 – 3	Grenoble
	Report

Agen	17 – 15	Sale Sharks
	Report

Brive	31 – 16	Saracens
	Report

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Semi-final	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
Connacht	4 – 0	45 – 24	21	Grenoble
Sale Sharks	2 – 2	49 – 35	14	Agen
Pau	2 – 2	50 – 47	3	Clermont Auvergne
Brive	2 – 2	37 – 35	2	Saracens

Semi-finals

1st leg

Connacht	18 – 25	Sale Sharks
	Report

Pau	37 – 16	Brive
	Report

2nd leg

Brive	27 – 13	Pau
	Report

Sale Sharks	59 – 9	Connacht
	Report

Aggregate Results

Proceed to Final	Match points	Aggregate score	Points margin	Eliminated from competition
Sale Sharks	4 – 0	84 – 27	57	Connacht
Pau	2 – 2	50 – 43	7	Brive

Final

Sale Sharks	27 – 3	Pau
Try: Hodgson (2) 24' c, 68' m Titterrell 36' c Cueto 56' m Con: Hodgson (2/4) Pen: Hodgson (1) 3'	Report	Pen: Beauxis (1) 30'

See also

• 2004-05 Heineken Cup
• European Challenge Cup
• 2004–05 European Shield

References

1. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Points Scorers". Retrieved 29 January 2013.
2. "Amlin Challenge Cup: Try Scorers". Retrieved 29 January 2013.
3. "Challenge Cup European Champions". ERC. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 26 January 2013.
4. "Challenge Cup Fixtures". ERC. Retrieved 30 January 2013.

• 2004–05 European Challenge Cup
• 2004–05 rugby union tournaments for clubs
• EPCR Challenge Cup seasons
• 2004–05 in European rugby union
• 2004–05 in English rugby union
• 2004–05 in French rugby union
• 2004–05 in Irish rugby union
• 2004–05 in Italian rugby union
• 2004–05 in Spanish rugby union
• 2004–05 in Scottish rugby union
• 2004 in Portuguese sport
• 2005 in Portuguese sport