The 2001–02 European Challenge Cup (known as the Parker Pen Shield for

sponsorship Sponsoring something (or someone) is the act of supporting an event, activity, person, or organization financially or through the provision of products or services. The individual or group that provides the support, similar to a benefactor, is k ...

reasons) was the 6th season of the

European Challenge Cup The EPCR Challenge Cup is an annual rugby union competition organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the second-tier competition for clubs based in European leagues behind the European Rugby Champions Cup. From its inception ...

, Europe's second-tier club

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

competition below the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

. A total of 32 teams participated, representing seven countries. The pool stage began when

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

hosted

Narbonne Narbonne ( , , ; ; ; Late Latin:) is a commune in Southern France in the Occitanie region. It lies from Paris in the Aude department, of which it is a sub-prefecture. It is located about from the shores of the Mediterranean Sea and was ...

on 28 September 2001 and ended with four matches on 13 January 2002. The knockout stages followed, culminating in the final at the

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Oxford Oxford () is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and non-metropolitan district in Oxfordshire, England, of which it is the county town. The city is home to the University of Oxford, the List of oldest universities in continuou ...

on 26 May 2002. The defending champions, Englands's Harlequins, did not have a chance to defend their crown because they qualified to play in the

Sale Sharks Sale Sharks are a professional rugby union club from Greater Manchester, England, United Kingdom. Its team play in Premiership Rugby, and have been in England's top division of rugby union continuously since 1995. Originally founded in 1861 as ...

claimed a narrow victory over

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

in the final and picked up their first piece of European Club silverware.

Teams

The allocation of teams was as follows: :England: 6 teams — all teams from the

Zurich Premiership Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

that did not qualify for the

2001–02 Heineken Cup The 2001–02 Heineken Cup was the seventh edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. T ...

: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 The Celtic League is a pan-Celtic organization, founded in 1961, that aims to promote modern Celtic identity and culture in Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Brittany, Cornwall and the Isle of Man – referred to as the Celtic nations; it places pa ...

that did not play in the Heineken Cup :Italy: 8 teams — all the teams from the

Super 10 The Super 10 was a rugby union football tournament featuring ten teams from Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Tonga, and Western Samoa. The competition ran for three years from 1993 to 1995 and was the predecessor of Super 12 and Super 14, ...

that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup :Romania: 1 team specially created for the competition :Spain: 2 teams — drawn from the

División de Honor de Rugby The División de Honor de Rugby is Spain's top level professional men's rugby union competition. The División de Honor de Rugby Championship is organised by the Federación Española de Rugby ( Spanish Rugby Federation) and currently consists of ...

:Wales: 4 teams — all the teams from the

that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup Scotland was not represented as both of its teams (

Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...

and

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

) played in the Heineken Cup.

Pool stage

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Pool 6

Pool 7

Pool 8

Seeding

Knockout stage

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Parker Pen Shield 2001–02 rugby union tournaments for clubs 2001-02 2001–02 in European rugby union 2001–02 in English rugby union 2001–02 in French rugby union 2001–02 in Irish rugby union 2001–02 in Italian rugby union 2001–02 in Romanian rugby union 2001–02 in Welsh rugby union 2001–02 in Spanish rugby union