The European Stage Part 3 Trivia Quiz

Answer: Leicester Tigers

The 1996-97 season was the first to feature English clubs in the Heineken Cup, with Leicester qualifying by virtue of their second place finish in the previous season's Courage League. Having won their opening pool with four wins out of four, Leicester became the first English club to reach the final of the competition, knocking out reigning champions Toulouse in the semi-final.

In the final, which was held at the National Stadium in Cardiff on 25 January 1997, they played the runners-up in the previous season's French Championship, Brive, who won the title by 28-9.

Answer: Bath

Bath gained their place in the 1997-98 Heineken Cup through their runners-up spot in the Courage League. Advancing to the knockout stage as winners of their pool with only a single defeat from six games, they got to the final past Welsh and French opposition.

In the final, held at the Parc Lescure in Bordeaux on 31 January 1998, Bath played reigning champions Brive, who they had previously played in the pool stage, and ended up winning the game by a single point, 19-18, to become the first English club to win a European trophy.

Answer: Northampton Saints

Northampton achieved their place in the 1999-2000 Heineken Cup through finishing second in the Allied Dunbar Premiership the previous season. Having won their pool thanks to five wins and only a single defeat, they got to the final by beating teams from England and Wales, facing off against Irish provincial side Munster.

In the final, held at Twickenham on 27 May 2000, the first time that it was held as the finale of the season, Northampton gained a narrow victory 9-8 to achieve England's second European success.

Answer: Harlequins

Harlequins got into the 2000-01 Challenge Cup following their 10th place finish in the Allied Dunbar Premiership the previous season. Finishing as the winners of their pool, they got past former European champions Brive in the quarter-final, and English side Newcastle Falcons in the semi-final, before facing French club Narbonne in the final.

Held at the Madejski Stadium in Reading on 20 May 2001, Harlequins became the first non-French club to reach the final, as well as being the first English club to win the trophy after their 42-33 victory. Harlequins' victory was the first of six successive English victories in the competition, with the club winning their second title in 2004 as part of this sequence.

Answer: Sale Sharks

Sale's place in the 2001-02 Challenge Cup came about thanks to their 10th place finish in the Zurich Premiership. The club came top of their pool in the competition with a perfect record of six wins out of six, before beating English opposition in both the quarter and semi-finals to reach the final.

In the final, held at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 26 May 2002, they played Welsh club Pontypridd, winning the game 25-22 to achieve England's second successive victory in the competition. Sale won a second Challenge Cup in 2005 as part of the sequence of six successive English victories in the competition.

Answer: Wasps

Wasps reached the 2002-03 Challenge Cup after finishing seventh in the previous season's Zurich Premiership. In this season's competition, the pool stage was abolished; instead a straight knockout tournament, with ties taking place over two legs, was undertaken. Wasps reached the final where they played their Premiership rivals Bath.

In the final, held at Reading's Madejski Stadium on 28 May 2003, Wasps ran out winners 48-30, for England's third successive victory in the tournament. Wasps' victory in the Challenge Cup gave them a place in the following season's Heineken Cup, which they went on to win, becoming the first club to win two different European trophies in successive seasons.

Answer: Worcester Warriors

Worcester's place in the European Shield came about following their victory in the previous season's National Division One, which gave them promotion to the Zurich Premiership and a place in the European Challenge Cup. Following defeat in the first round by former European champions Brive, Worcester dropped into the European Shield alongside eleven other first round losers, plus four teams entering the competition directly. Reaching the final, which was played at the Kassam Stadium in Oxford on 21 May 2005, Worcester played against French club Auch, losing 23-10.

The 2005 final was the last to be played in the European Shield, with the competition abolished the following season when the Challenge Cup reverted back to a pool stage in the first round.

Answer: Gloucester

Gloucester got into the 2005-06 Challenge Cup following a sixth place finish in the 2004-05 Zurich Premiership. With a perfect record in their pool, the team reached the knock-out stages where they defeated French and English opposition to reach the final, where they played Premiership rivals London Irish.

The final, held at the Twickenham Stoop on 21 May 2006, was the second in the competition's history to feature two English sides, and saw Gloucester win 36-34 after extra time. Gloucester went on to win their second Challenge Cup in 2015, the year of the competition's revamp into the European Rugby Challenge Cup.

Answer: Saracens

Saracens gained entry into the 2013-14 Heineken Cup through finishing top of the 2012-13 Aviva Premiership league table. The team finished the pool stage as one of the two second-place finishers ranked sufficiently to remain in the competition rather than dropping into the Challenge Cup's knockout stages. Getting past sides from Ireland and France in the quarter and semi-finals, Saracens reached the final to face reigning champions Toulon.

The final, played at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff on 24 May 2014, saw Toulon retain their title, beating Saracens 23-6 to gain the second of three successive victories in the competition.

Despite their defeat, Saracens went on to become one of the most successful teams in the competition, winning three out of four titles in the renamed European Champions Cup between 2016 and 2019.

Answer: Exeter Chiefs

Exeter qualified for the 2019-20 Heineken Champions Cup through finishing top of the league table in the 2018-19 Zurich Premiership. Winning their pool with five wins and a single defeat got the team into the knockout stages, where they were drawn against Premiership rivals Northampton Saints. Howeer, although originally scheduled for April 2020, the COVID-19 outbreak meant that the knockout stages had to be postponed to September. Exeter eventually defeated Northampton, before getting past four times former champions Toulouse in the semi-final.

This qualified Exeter for their first European final, played at Ashton Gate in Bristol on 17 October 2020, seeing Exeter win 31-27.