2006–07 EDF Energy Cup

The 2006–07 EDF Energy Cup marked the 36th season of English domestic rugby union cup competition. It was the second season under the Anglo-Welsh Cup format and the first with EDF Energy as title sponsor. The competition began on 1 September and concluded with the final on Sunday 15 April at Twickenham, where Leicester Tigers beat the Ospreys 41–35.

2006–07 EDF Energy Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and knockout
Date	September 2006 - April 2007
Tournament statistics
Teams	16
Matches played	27
Attendance	321,262 (11,899 per match)
Tries scored	142 (5.26 per match)
Final
Venue	Twickenham Stadium
Attendance	43,312
Champions	Leicester Tigers (6th title)
Runners-up	Ospreys

The teams competing remained the same as the previous season with the exception of newly promoted NEC Harlequins replacing Leeds Tykes, who were relegated to National Division One.

Group stage

Group A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts
1	Ospreys	3	3	0	0	114	46	+68	14	3	2	0	14
2	Gloucester	3	2	0	1	112	86	+26	13	11	2	0	10
3	Bristol	3	1	0	2	50	112	−62	6	15	0	0	4
4	Bath	3	0	0	3	51	83	−32	6	10	0	2	2

29 September 2006 19:10

Ospreys	49–19	Gloucester
Try: S. Williams B. Williams Parker (2) Marshall Henson Con: Henson (5) Pen: Henson (3)	Report	Try: Richards Con: Mercier Pen: Mercier (4)

Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 7,557 Referee: Hugh Watkins (Wales)

1 October 2006 15:00

Bristol	22–15	Bath
Try: Hobson Pozzebon Stanojevic Con: Gray (2) Drop: Gray	Report	Try: Duncan Bell Stephenson Con: Malone Pen: Malone

Memorial Stadium, Bristol Attendance: 10,103 Referee: Sean Davey (England)

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7 October 2006 14:30

Bath	24–31	Ospreys
Try: Cheeseman (2) 57' c, 60' m Con: Walshe Pen: Walshe (4) 6', 20', 34', 48'	Report	Try: Vaughton 17' m Hook 22' c Terblanche 52' c Con: Connor (2) Pen: Connor 30' Drop: Connor 27' Terblanche 73' Hook 76'

Recreation Ground, Bath Attendance: 10,600 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

7 October 2006 15:00

Gloucester	63–25	Bristol
Try: Foster 28' c Richards 38' c Goodridge (2) 46' m, 56' c Lamb 55' c Bailey 65' c Forrester 69' c Lawson 80' c Con: Mercier (7) Pen: Mercier (3) 4', 14', 25'	Report	Try: Stortoni 32' c Sambucetti 72' m Reay 78' c Con: Gray (2) Pen: Gray (2) 9', 23'

Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester Attendance: 6,743 Referee: Ashley Rowden (England)

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2 December 2006 17:30

Gloucester	30–12	Bath
Try: Penalty try 7' c Balding 18' c Merriman 52' m Walker 70' m Con: Walker (2) Pen: Walker (2) 40', 65'	Report	Try: Parkes 34' m Cheeseman 55' c Con: Malone

Kingsholm Stadium, Gloucester Attendance: 7,453 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

2 December 2006 17:30

Ospreys	34–3	Bristol
Try: Marshall 13' c Hook 43' c Bennett 49' m Walker 52' m B. Williams 75' c Con: Hook (3) Pen: Hook 3'	Report	Pen: Strange 5'

Liberty Stadium, Swansea Attendance: 6,093 Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)

Group B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts
1	Cardiff Blues	3	3	0	0	107	56	+51	11	5	1	0	13
2	London Irish	3	1	0	2	56	78	−22	7	7	1	0	5
3	Saracens	3	1	0	2	79	91	−12	6	13	0	0	4
4	London Wasps	3	1	0	2	58	75	−17	7	6	0	0	4

30 September 2006 14:30

Cardiff Blues	36–20	London Wasps
Try: Jenkins Czekaj Luveitasau Con: Blair (3) Pen: Blair (4) Drop: Robinson	Report	Try: Lewsey Brooks Con: Staunton (2) Pen: Staunton Drop: Staunton

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 10,237 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

30 September 2006 15:00

London Irish	36–24	Saracens
Try: Rees (2) Horak Leguizamón Flutey Con: Everitt (4) Pen: Everitt	Report	Try: Penalty try Ratuvou Con: Jackson Pen: Jackson (4)

Madejski Stadium, Reading Attendance: 7,172 Referee: Bruce Robertson (England)

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8 October 2006 15:30

London Wasps	23–13	London Irish
Try: Dallaglio 7' c Voyce 45' c Con: Cipriani (2) Pen: Cipriani 26' King (2) 60', 72'	Report	Try: Flutey 21' c Con: Everitt Pen: Everitt 15' Flutey 68'

Adams Park, High Wycombe Attendance: 7,249 Referee: Andrew Small (England)

8 October 2006 16:10

Saracens	29–40	Cardiff Blues
Try: De Vedia 17' c Johnston 73' c Con: Jackson (2) Pen: Jackson (5) 6', 25', 28', 31', 40'	Report	Try: Stcherbina 3' c Shanklin (2) 14' m, 49' m Lewis 47' c Luveitasau 66' c Con: Blair (3) Pen: Blair (3) 22', 56', 65'

Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 5,742 Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)

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1 December 2006 19:40

Cardiff Blues	31–7	London Irish
Try: M. Williams 31' c Czekaj (2) 37' m, 79' c Con: Blair (2) Pen: Blair (4) 17', 20', 26', 70'	Report	Try: Bishop 13' c Con: Geraghty

Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff Attendance: 7,245 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

1 December 2006 19:40

Saracens	26–15	London Wasps
Try: Russell 42' c Hill 46' c Con: Castaignède (2) Pen: Castaignède (3) 23', 34', 65' Drop: Castaignède 55'	Report	Try: Voyce (2) 13' m, 59' m Ward 29' m

Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 6,616 Referee: Chris White (England)

Group C

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts
1	Sale Sharks	3	3	0	0	77	37	+40	8	6	0	0	12
2	Newcastle Falcons	3	2	0	1	51	55	−4	7	5	0	0	8
3	Llanelli Scarlets	3	1	0	2	40	53	−13	5	6	1	0	5
4	NEC Harlequins	3	0	0	3	52	75	−23	7	10	1	2	3

29 September 2006

Sale Sharks	28–5	Newcastle Falcons
	Report

Edgeley Park, Stockport Attendance: 8,606 Referee: Andrew Small (England)

1 October 2006

Llanelli Scarlets	26–7	NEC Harlequins
	Report

Stradey Park, Llanelli Attendance: 6,148 Referee: Tim Hayes (Wales)

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6 October 2006

Newcastle Falcons	25–9	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne Attendance: 4,368 Referee: Chris White (England)

6 October 2006

NEC Harlequins	27–28	Sale Sharks
	Report

Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 10,219 Referee: Sean Davey (England)

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2 December 2006

Sale Sharks	21–5	Llanelli Scarlets
	Report

Edgeley Park, Stockport Attendance: 8,339 Referee: Rob Debney (England)

2 December 2006

Newcastle Falcons	21–18	NEC Harlequins
	Report

Kingston Park, Newcastle upon Tyne Attendance: 3,438 Referee: Rob Debney (England)

Group D

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	PF	PA	PD	TF	TA	TBP	LBP	Pts
1	Leicester Tigers	3	2	0	1	81	55	+26	11	7	2	0	10
2	Worcester Warriors	3	2	0	1	67	57	+10	7	8	0	0	8
3	Newport Gwent Dragons	3	1	0	2	53	71	−18	5	9	0	0	4
4	Northampton Saints	3	1	0	2	37	55	−18	6	5	0	0	4

30 September 2006

Northampton Saints	12–24	Worcester Warriors
	Report

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 12,482 Referee: Dean Richards (England)

30 September 2006

Leicester Tigers	41–17	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Welford Road Stadium, Leicester Attendance: 16,057 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

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7 October 2006

Worcester Warriors	20–35	Leicester Tigers
	Report

Sixways Stadium, Worcester Attendance: 6,260 Referee: Roy Maybank (England)

7 October 2006

Newport Gwent Dragons	26–7	Northampton Saints
	Report

Rodney Parade, Newport Attendance: 5,628 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

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2 December 2006

Northampton Saints	18–5	Leicester Tigers
	Report

Franklin's Gardens, Northampton Attendance: 13,058

2 December 2006

Worcester Warriors	23–10	Newport Gwent Dragons
	Report

Sixways Stadium, Worcester Attendance: 5,998 Referee: Tim Beddow (England)

Semi-finals

24 March 2007 14:30

Leicester Tigers	29–19	Sale Sharks
Try: Tuilagi 38' c Hipkiss 67' c Con: Goode (2) Pen: Burke (2) 4', 31' Goode (2) 56', 62' Drop: Goode 74'	Report	Try: Chabal 41' m I. Fernández Lobbe 70' m Pen: Larrechea 2' Thomas (2) 46', 64'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 27,558 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

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24 March 2007 17:15

Cardiff Blues	10–27	Ospreys
Try: Blair 70' c Con: Blair Pen: Blair 14'	Report	Try: Parker 27' c Byrne 46' m Con: Hook Pen: Hook (4) 23', 52', 61', 69' Drop: Hook 72'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 40,293 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Final

15 April 2007 14:30

Leicester Tigers	41–35	Ospreys
Try: Varndell (2) 13' c, 63' c Croft 15' c Kay 26' c Tuilagi 30' c Con: Burke (4) Goode Pen: Goode (2) 54', 70'	Report	Try: Byrne 44' c S. Williams (2) 49' m, 57' c Walker 74' c Con: Hook (3) Pen: Hook (3) 2', 11', 37'

Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 60,000 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

FB 15 Sam Vesty RW 14 Tom Varndell OC 13 Dan Hipkiss IC 12 Daryl Gibson LW 11 Alesana Tuilagi FH 10 Paul Burke SH 9 Harry Ellis N8 8 Martin Corry (c) OF 7 Shane Jennings BF 6 Tom Croft RL 5 Ben Kay LL 4 Leo Cullen TP 3 Julian White HK 2 George Chuter LP 1 Martin Castrogiovanni Replacements: HK 16 Gavin Hickie PR 17 Alex Moreno LK 18 Louis Deacon FL 19 Brett Deacon SH 20 Frank Murphy FH 21 Andy Goode FB 22 Geordan Murphy Coach: Pat Howard

FB 15 Lee Byrne RW 14 Shane Williams OC 13 Sonny Parker IC 12 Andrew Bishop LW 11 Nikki Walker FH 10 James Hook SH 9 Justin Marshall N8 8 Filo Tiatia OF 7 Jonathan Thomas BF 6 Ryan Jones RL 5 Alun Wyn Jones LL 4 Brent Cockbain TP 3 Adam Jones HK 2 Huw Bennett LP 1 Duncan Jones Replacements: HK 16 Barry Williams PR 17 Paul James LK 18 Mike Powell FL 19 Richie Pugh SH 20 Jason Spice FH 21 Shaun Connor WG 22 Stefan Terblanche Coach: Lyn Jones

Broadcast rights

Television rights for the competition were held exclusively by BBC Sport, with games shown as part of the BBC's Grandstand and Scrum V programmes, and on Welsh-language channel S4C.

See also

• 2006–07 English Premiership (rugby union)
• 2006–07 Celtic League