2008–09 EDF Energy Cup

2008–09 EDF Energy Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	October 2008 - April 2009
Tournament statistics
Teams	16
Final
Venue	Twickenham
Attendance	54,899
Champions	Cardiff Blues (1st title)
Runner-up	Gloucester
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Gloucester and the Cardiff Blues in the final of the 2008-09 EDF Energy Cup

The 2008-09 Anglo-Welsh Cup, known as the EDF Energy Cup for sponsorship reasons, was the 38th season of England's national rugby union cup competition, and the fourth to follow the recently adopted Anglo-Welsh format.

As in the previous two years, the competition is contested between the twelve teams of the Guinness Premiership and the four Welsh regions from the Magners League. The sixteen teams are arranged into four pools, with one Welsh and three English teams in each. Teams are randomly drawn into groups, as opposed to previous years when English sides were grouped according to proximity to one another. Each team plays the other team from their group only once, meaning that two teams in each group face two away games, whereas the other two teams have two home games.

Group stage

In the pool matches, teams receive:

• Four points for a win
• Two points for a draw
• A bonus point for scoring four or more tries, regardless of the match result
• A bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points

The winner of each pool advances to the semi-finals, at which stage a draw takes place to determine the teams that will play each other. The winners of the semi-final advance to the final to determine the competition winner; no "third place final" is played.

Group A

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	BP	Pts
Gloucester	3	3	0	0	60	49	1	13
London Wasps	3	2	0	1	66	47	2	10
Newport Gwent Dragons	3	1	0	2	55	60	1	5
Newcastle Falcons	3	0	0	3	37	62	1	1

3 October 2008 19:05

Newport Gwent Dragons	25 – 14	Newcastle Falcons
Tries: Stcherbina 20' c Isaacs 60' c Tovey 69' m Con: Tovey (2) Pen: Tovey (2) 6', 40'	Report	Tries: Penalty try 36' c Phillips 44' c Con: Clegg (2)

Rodney Parade, Newport Attendance: 4,683 Referee: Rob Debney

4 October 2008 14:30

Gloucester	24 – 19	London Wasps
Vainikolo 23' m Walker 47' c Con: Walker Pen: Walker (3) 17', 31', 70' Drop: Lamb 20'	Report	Tries: Robinson 5' m Haskell 38' m Pen: Staunton (2) 29', 51' Walder 77'

Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 7,864

24 October 2008 20:00

Newcastle Falcons	13 – 26	London Wasps
Try: Vickers 73' c Con: Clegg Pen: Clegg (2) 2', 27'	Report	Tries: Sackey 12' m Rees 37' c Voyce 49' c Simpson 78' c Con: Cipriani (3)

Kingston Park, Newcastle Attendance: 5,202 Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

25 October 2008 15:00

Gloucester	25 – 20	Newport Gwent Dragons
Tries: Vainikolo 17' c, 65' m Lawson 34' m Balshaw 67' m Con: Barkley Pen: Barkley 78'	Report	Tries: Fussell 20' m Webb 28' c Tovey 80' m Con: Connor Pen: Connor 46'

Kingsholm, Gloucester Attendance: 8,057

2 November 2008 15:00

London Wasps	21 – 10	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Adams Park, High Wycombe Attendance: 7,980 Referee: Chris White

2 November 2008 15:00

Newcastle Falcons	10 – 11	Gloucester
	Report

Kingston Park, Newcastle Attendance: 3,614

Group B

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	BP	Pts
Cardiff Blues	3	3	0	0	65	44	0	12
Leicester Tigers	3	2	0	1	58	58	0	8
Bath	3	1	0	2	57	64	2	6
Sale Sharks	3	0	0	3	58	72	2	2

4 October 2008 14:15

Bath	15 – 19	Leicester Tigers
Tries: Higgins (2) 5' c, 33' m Con: Kydd Pen: Kydd 52'	Report	Try: Youngs 18' c Con: Hougaard Pen: Hougaard (3) 7', 15', 60' Drop: Hougaard 70'

Recreation Ground, Bath Attendance: 10,600

4 October 2008 15:00

Sale Sharks	17 – 18	Cardiff Blues
Try: Keil 16' m Pen: Macleod (4) 2', 32', 44', 53'	Report	Tries: Halfpenny 12' c Mustoe 74' m Con: Blair Pen: Blair 29' Sweeney 58'

Edgeley Park, Stockport Attendance: 7,485

24 October 2008 19:45

Sale Sharks	21 – 24	Bath
Tries: Bell (2) 24' c, 73' m Con: Hodgson Pen: Hodgson (3) 2', 9', 49'	Report	Tries: Hooper 40' c Hape 52' c Stephenson 56' c Con: Cuthbert (3) Pen: Cuthbert 47'

Edgeley Park, Stockport Attendance: 7,659 Referee: Peter Allan

25 October 2008 14:35

Cardiff Blues	23 – 9	Leicester Tigers
Tries: Robinson 44' c Spice 79' c Con: Blair (2) Pen: Blair (3) 6', 14', 73'	Report	Pen: Hougaard (3) 40+1', 49', 67'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 9,815 Referee: Dave Pearson

31 October 2008 19:35

Cardiff Blues	24 – 18	Bath
Tries: Molitika 4' c Filise 69' m Con: Blair Pen: Blair (4) 10', 20', 55', 80'		Tries: Maddock 60' m Higgins 74' c Con: Berne Pen: Cuthbert 3' Maddock 53'

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 10,139 Referee: Nigel Owens

31 October 2008 19:35

Leicester Tigers	30 – 20	Sale Sharks
Tries: Penalty try 19' c Youngs 57' c Crane 80' c Con: Hougaard (2) Newby Pen: Hougaard (3) 11', 14', 77'		Tries: Bell (2) 50' c, 70' c Con: Macleod (2) Pen: Macleod (2) 45', 48'

Welford Road, Leicester Attendance: 16,550 Referee: James Jones

Group C

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	BP	Pts
Ospreys	3	2	0	1	80	68	2	10
London Irish	3	2	0	1	60	58	1	9
Harlequins	3	1	0	2	67	70	1	5
Worcester Warriors	3	1	0	2	58	69	1	5

5 October 2008 15:00

Worcester Warriors	22 – 5	London Irish
Tries: Benjamin (2) 16' c, 61' m Kitchener 30' m Crichton 76' m Con: Jones	Report	Try: Richards 54'

Sixways Stadium, Worcester Attendance: 7,433

5 October 2008 15:05

Ospreys	24 – 23	Harlequins
Tries: Williams 35' m Bowe 78' c Con: Hook Pen: Hook (4) 13', 23', 33', 62'	Report	Tries: de Wet Barry 44' c Fuga 54' c Con: Luveniyali (2) Pen: Luveniyali (3) 29', 60', 65'

Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 8,057 Referee: Tim Wigglesworth

25 October 2008 15:00

Harlequins	17 – 32	London Irish
Tries: Davies 7' m Amesbury 13' c McMillan 46' m Con: Jewell	Report	Tries: Thorpe 36' m Hewat (2) 49' c, 78' c Thompstone 54' m Bailey 58' m Con: Hewat Hickey Pen: Geraghty 62'

Twickenham Stoop, Twickenham Attendance: 11,473

26 October 2008 15:05

Ospreys	37 – 22	Worcester Warriors
Tries: Walker 31' m Henson 39' m Williams 44' c Bowe 80+2' m Con: Hook Pen: Hook (5) 18', 28', 59', 63', 75'	Report	Try: Tuitupou 56' c Con: Jones Pen: Jones (5) 14', 34', 42', 48', 70'

Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 7,025

2 November 2008 15:00

London Irish	23 – 19	Ospreys
	Report

Madejski Stadium, Reading Attendance: 9,293

2 November 2008 15:00

Worcester Warriors	14 – 27	Harlequins
	Report

Sixways Stadium, Worcester Attendance: 8,113

Group D

Team	Pld	W	D	L	F	A	BP	Pts
Northampton Saints	3	2	0	1	82	70	2	10
Scarlets	3	2	0	1	73	50	0	8
Saracens	3	2	0	1	74	67	0	8
Bristol	3	0	0	3	39	81	1	1

4 October 2008 15:00

Northampton Saints	30 – 17	Bristol Rugby
Tries: Diggin 8' m Dickson 23' m Ashton 48' c Mayor 55' c Con: Everitt (2) Pen: Everitt (2) 35', 79'	Report	Tries: Turner (2) 3' m, 21' m Lilo 71' c Con: Ashwin

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 11,301 Referee: Nigel Owens

5 October 2008 15:00

Saracens	17 – 26	Scarlets
Tries: Leonelli 12' c Cato 18' c Con: Ross (2) Pen: Ross 43'	Report	Tries: Lyons 8' c Meeuws 48' c Con: S. Jones (2) Pen: S. Jones (4) 24', 32', 40', 63'

Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 6,068

24 October 2008 19:05

Scarlets	27 – 0	Bristol Rugby
Tries: Stoddart 3' c Easterby 37' c Higgitt 63' c Con: S. Jones (3) Pen: S. Jones (2) 15', 49'	Report

Stradey Park, Llanelli Attendance: 10,500 Referee: David Bodilly

• This was the Scarlets' last competitive match at Stradey Park, home to Llanelli RFC since 1879. The new Parc y Scarlets opened in November.

26 October 2008 15:00

Saracens	33 – 19	Northampton Saints
Tries: Cato 12' m Rauluni 23' c Con: Ross Pen: Ross (6) 17', 26', 49', 61', 68', 80' Drop: Ross 40'	Report	Tries: Foden 24' m Wilson 30' m Pen: Myler (3) 14', 20', 56'

Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 6,984 Referee: Martin Fox

1 November 2008 14:30

Bristol Rugby	22 – 24	Saracens
	Report

Memorial Stadium, Bristol Attendance: 5,025

1 November 2008 14:30

Northampton Saints	33 – 20	Scarlets
Tries: Ashton (2) 11' m, 29' m Reihana 45' c Sean Lamont Con: Myler Pen: Myler (2) 23' 61'		Tries: King 5' m Stoddart 8' m Davies Pen: C. Thomas 17'

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton

Semi-finals

28 March 2009 14:30

Gloucester	17 – 0	Ospreys
Try: Balshaw 76' m Pen: Lamb (3) 5', 45', 72' Drop: Lamb 67'	Report

Ricoh Arena, Coventry Attendance: 26,744 Referee: Nigel Owens

28 March 2009 17:15

Cardiff Blues	11 – 5	Northampton Saints
Try: Spice 33' m Pen: Blair (2) 2', 72'	Report	Try: Ansbro 42' m

Ricoh Arena, Coventry Attendance: 26,744 Referee: George Clancy

Final

18 April 2009 14:30

Gloucester	12 – 50	Cardiff Blues
Tries: Foster 29' m Penalty try 73' c Con: Barkley	Report	Tries: Halfpenny (2) 11' c, 20' c James 37' m Blair (2) 66' c, 77' c Sweeney 68' c Shanklin 80' c Con: Blair (6) Pen: Blair 19'

Twickenham, London Attendance: 54,899 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

FB 15 Olly Morgan RW 14 Matthew Watkins OC 13 James Simpson-Daniel IC 12 Anthony Allen LW 11 Mark Foster FH 10 Ryan Lamb SH 9 Rory Lawson N8 8 Gareth Delve (c) OF 7 Akapusi Qera BF 6 Luke Narraway RL 5 Alex Brown LL 4 Will James TP 3 Greg Somerville HK 2 Olivier Azam LP 1 Nick Wood Replacements: HK 16 Scott Lawson PR 17 Carlos Nieto LK 18 Marco Bortolami FL 19 Andy Hazell SH 20 Gareth Cooper FH 21 Olly Barkley WG 22 Charlie Sharples Coach: Dean Ryan

FB 15 Ben Blair RW 14 Leigh Halfpenny OC 13 Tom Shanklin IC 12 Jamie Roberts LW 11 Tom James FH 10 Nicky Robinson SH 9 Jason Spice N8 8 Xavier Rush OF 7 Martyn Williams BF 6 Maama Molitika RL 5 Paul Tito (c) LL 4 Bradley Davies TP 3 Taufa'ao Filise HK 2 Gareth Williams LP 1 Gethin Jenkins Replacements: PR 16 John Yapp HK 17 Rhys Thomas LK 18 Deiniol Jones FL 19 Andy Powell SH 20 Richie Rees FH 21 Ceri Sweeney FB 22 Gareth Thomas Coach: Dai Young

See also

• 2008–09 English Premiership (rugby union)
• 2008–09 Celtic League

External links

• EDF Energy Cup Homepage
• Live Scores from EDF Energy Cup Site