Jonny Wilkinson will be heading home to Newcastle next season after the Pool draw for the 2011 /12 Amlin Challenge Cup paired his French club, Toulon, with the Falcons in Pool 2.

Wilkinson, who scored 2,005 points in 180 appearances for the Falcons in a 12-year stint in the north-east of England, helped Toulon reach the quarter-finals in their first foray into the Heineken Cup last season having steered them into the Amlin Challenge Cup final in 2010.

The Italian champions, Petrarca Padova, and French Top 14 and tournament newcomers, Lyon Rugby, make up the rest of Pool 2.

London Wasps, the 2003 Amlin Challenge Cup champions, have been drawn in Pool 3 and will face the challenge of two French clubs, Bayonne and Bordeaux-Begles. The Italian club, Femi-CZ Rovigo join them.

The draw for the 16th tournament was made in Dublin today and Stade Français Paris, the 2011 finalists, were paired with English Championship winners Worcester Warriors, Crociati Parma and Bucharest Wolves of Romania in Pool 1.

Spain’s representative, Club de Rugby La Vila, who will join Lyon in making their debut in the competition, find themselves in Pool 5 along with two times Amlin Challenge Cup winners Sale Sharks, 1997 Heineken Cup winners Brive and Agen.

The five Pool winners will progress into the quarter-finals where they will be joined by three Pool runners-up from the Heineken Cup. Harlequins, who won the Amlin Challenge Cup for a record third time last season, gained promotion into the Heineken Cup as a result of their victory.

The draw was overseen by IRB Legal Counsel, Ben Rutherford.

Amlin Challenge Cup 2011 / 2012 Pools

Pool 1: Stade Francais Paris, Worcester Warriors, Crociati Parma, Bucharest Wolves

Pool 2: Toulon, Newcastle Falcons, Petrarca Padova, Lyon Rugby

Pool 3: London Wasps, Bayonne, Femi-CZ Rovigo, Bordeaux-Begles

Pool 4: Perpignan, Newport Gwent Dragons, Exeter Chiefs, Cavalieri Prato

Pool 5: Sale Sharks, Brive, Agen, Club de Rugby La Vila

Amlin Challenge Cup 2011/12 Dates

ROUND 1 – 10/11/12/13 November 2011

ROUND 2 – 17/18/19/20 November 2011

ROUND 3 – 8/9/10/11 December 2011

ROUND 4 – 15/16/17/18 December 2011

ROUND 5 – 12/13/14/15 January 2012

ROUND 6 – 19/20/21/22 January 2012

QUARTER-FINALS – 6/7/8 April 2012

SEMI-FINALS – 27/28/29 April 2012

The 16th Amlin Challenge Cup Final – 18/19/20 May 2012