The European Rugby Cup (known as the Heineken Cup because of the tournament's sponsorship by Heineken) is an annual rugby union competition involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from six International Rugby Board (IRB) nations in Europe: England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales. Romania competed in the first year of the competition only. The competition is organised by the European Rugby Cup, who are also responsible for the secondary championship, the European Challenge Cup. It is one of the most prestigious trophies in the sport. The tournament was launched in the European summer of 1995 on the initiative of the then Five Nations committee to provide a new level of professional cross-border competition. It is sponsored by Dutch brewing company Heineken International (it is known as H-Cup in France because of alcohol advertising restrictions). Each European nation has a different qualifying system, though in total, 24 teams contest the pool stages in six pools of four. According to performances, the number of clubs from each nation changes. The tournament is held from October to May, with various stages scheduled around domestic club competitions. The 2008–09 tournament was won by Ireland's Leinster, who beat the Leicester Tigers of England 19–16 in the final at Murrayfield in Edinburgh. Toulouse have been the most successful team, winning the competition three times.

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Format

Qualification

The Heineken Cup is open to clubs in the Magners League, Guinness Premiership, Super 10 and the Top 14. Clubs that do not qualify for the Heineken Cup can enter the European Challenge Cup.

22 places are awarded by country, with each country deciding how to allocate their alloted places ^[1]:

• England: 6 teams (selected by performance in Guinness Premiership and EDF Energy Cup)
• France: 6 teams (selected by performance in Top 14 Championship)
• Ireland: 3 teams (selected by performance in Magners League)
• Wales: 3 teams (selected by performance in Magners League)
• Scotland: 2 teams (selected by participation in Magners League)
• Italy: 2 teams (selected by performance in Super 10 Championship)

Until the 2009–10 season, the remaining two places in the 24-team tournament were allocated as follows:

• One team comes from France, England or Italy; this place is allocated to the country whose team progressed further in the previous season's Heineken Cup. For example, Leicester have progressed further in the 2008–09 competition than any French or Italian team, so there will be seven English teams in the 2009–10 competition.
• The final team is the winner of a play off between the best placed team in the Magners League who has not already qualified, and the best placed semi-finalist in the Italian Super 10. The play-off is a single match, which takes place alternately in Italy or the home of the Magners League side. In 2007–08, this play-off was scheduled to take place before the Italian Super 10 semi-finals, so no Italian team was nominated to take part. This meant that the Magners League nominee, the Newport Gwent Dragons, qualified without a playoff.

After the 2009–10 season, the remaining two places go to the home nations of the previous season's Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup winners. However, England and France are capped at seven places each, so if both winners come from one of the two then the last place will be filled by the highest-ERC ranked club not of that nation to not have otherwise qualified. ^[2] Regardless of how well they perform domestically, the winners of the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup both qualify for the next year's Heineken Cup; from 2009–10 forward, these places are separate from the country allocations, except when England or France produces winners of both competitions in the same season.

The Heineken Cup is, generally speaking, the equivalent competition of the UEFA Champions League in professional football, whereas the European Challenge Cup is the equivalent to the secondary UEFA Europa League.

A proposal has been made that, in future, rather than Ireland, Wales and Scotland each sending their top-placed teams in the Magners League to the Heineken Cup, the top teams from the league as a whole should be sent, regardless of nationality. ^[3]

Competition

Pool stage

Six pools of four teams play both home and away games. Until the 2007/2008 season these pools were drawn mostly at random, with the following restrictions ^[4]:

• Each nation nominates one of their teams as top seed; these teams are drawn in separate pools.
• Each nation supplies at most one team to each pool, except where England or France supply seven teams in total; in this case, the seventh team drawn will appear in a pool with one other team from that nation. In some cases (such as for the 2007/2008 season) the unseeded Italian and Scottish teams may also deliberately be drawn in different pools.

From the 2008–09 season, there is more structure to the pools. The competing 24 teams are ranked based on past performance ^[5] and arranged into four tiers of six teams, with the reigning champion automatically appearing in the top tier. Each pool receives one team at random from each tier; again, this is subject to the restriction that each pool cannot contain more than one team from each competing nation, except where France or England supply seven teams. Four points are awarded for a win and two points for a draw. A bonus point is awarded for a loss by seven points or fewer, or for scoring four tries or more. The six pool winners (ranked 1–6 by number of points scored) and two best placed runners-up (ranked seven and eight) qualify for the quarter-finals. Teams ranked one to four have home advantage. The 3 next-best placed runners up qualify, starting with the 2009/10 season, for the knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup.

Knock-out stage

The quarter-finals are: team 1 v team 8; team 2 v team 7; team 3 v team 6; team 4 v team 5.

The quarter-finals are played at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded clubs, or sometimes at a larger stadium in or near the host team's city. The semi-finals, on the other hand, are always played at nominally neutral venues. Each of the two semi-final venues are in the country of the first team out of the hat when the draw is made. For example, in 2004, Munster v Wasps was played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, while Toulouse v Biarritz was played in Bordeaux. ^[6]

However, the neutrality requirement is satisfied simply by the designated home team playing outside of its normal stadium. Both 2005 semi-finals were held in the host's home city; Leicester Tigers v Toulouse was held at Walkers Stadium in Leicester, not far from Leicester's normal home of Welford Road, ^[7] while Stade Français v Biarritz was played at Parc des Princes in Paris, across the street from Stade's normal home field. The semifinal venue must also meet the following additional criteria; it must have a capacity of at least 20,000 ^[8] and it must be in the same country as the designated home team.

However, the European Rugby Cup, which organises the competition, may allow exceptions, such as with Biarritz, located in a city less than 20 km from the Spanish border, being allowed to host their 2006 semi-final across the border at Estadio Anoeta in Donostia-San Sebastián (which is the nearest stadium to Biarritz with a suitable capacity). ^[9] A similar exception was made for Bourgoin when they hosted Munster in Switzerland at Stade de Genève, Geneva. The final is held at a predetermined site. ^[10]

Finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
1995–96 Details	Toulouse	21 – 18 a.e.t.	Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	21,800
1996–97 Details	Brive	28 – 9	Leicester Tigers	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41,664
1997–98 Details	Bath	19 – 18	Brive	Stade Lescure, Bordeaux	36,500
1998–99 Details	Ulster (Ireland)	21 – 6	Colomiers	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	49,000
1999–2000 Details	Northampton Saints	9 – 8	Munster (Ireland)	Twickenham Stadium, London	68,441
2000–01 Details	Leicester Tigers	34 – 30	Stade Français	Parc des Princes, Paris	44,000
2001–02 Details	Leicester Tigers	15 – 9	Munster (Ireland)	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,000
2002–03 Details	Toulouse	22 – 17	Perpignan	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	28,600
2003–04 Details	London Wasps	27 – 20	Toulouse	Twickenham Stadium, London	73,057
2004–05 Details	Toulouse	18 – 12 a.e.t.	Stade Français	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	51,326
2005–06 Details	Munster (Ireland)	23 – 19	Biarritz	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,534
2006–07 Details	London Wasps	25 – 9	Leicester Tigers	Twickenham Stadium, London	81,076
2007–08 Details	Munster (Ireland)	16 – 13	Toulouse	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,417
2008–09 Details	Leinster (Ireland)	19 – 16	Leicester Tigers	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	66,523
2009–10 Details		v		Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris

History

1995–1998

The Heineken Cup was launched in the summer of 1995 on the initiative of the then Five Nations Committee to provide a new level of professional cross border competition. ^[11] Twelve sides representing Ireland, Wales, Italy, Romania and France competed in four pools of three with the group winners going directly into the semi-finals. ^[12] English and Scottish teams did not take part in the inaugural competition. ^[13] From an inauspicious beginning in Romania, where Toulouse defeated Farul Constanta 54–10 in front of a small crowd, the competition gathered momentum and crowds grew. Toulouse went on to become the first European cup winners, eventually beating Cardiff in extra time in front of a crowd of 21,800 at Cardiff Arms Park.

Clubs from England and Scotland joined the competition in 1996–97. ^[14] European rugby was further expanded with the advent of the European Challenge Cup for teams that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup. The Heineken Cup now had 20 teams divided into four pools of five. ^[15] Only Leicester and Brive reached the knock-out stages with 100 per cent records and ultimately made it to the final, Cardiff and Toulouse falling in the semi-finals. After 46 matches, Brive beat Leicester 28–9 in front of a crowd of 41,664 at Cardiff Arms Park, the match watched by an estimated television audience of 35 million in 86 countries.

1997–98 saw the introduction of a home and away format in the pool games. ^[16] The five pools of four teams, which guaranteed each team a minimum of six games, and the three quarter-final play-off matches all added up to a 70-match tournament. Brive reached the final again but were beaten late in the game by Bath with a penalty kick. Ironically, English clubs had decided to withdraw from the competition in a dispute over the way it was run.

Without English clubs, the 1998–99 tournament revolved around France, Italy and the Celtic nations. Sixteen teams took part in four pools of four, with Ulster invited into the competition to even up the numbers. French clubs filled the top positions in three of the groups and for the fourth consecutive year a French club, in the shape of Colomiers from the Toulouse suburbs, reached the final. Despite this it was to be Ulster's year as they beat Toulouse (twice) and reigning French champions Stade Français on their way to the final at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Ulster then carried home the trophy after a 21–6 win over Colmiers in front of a capacity 49,000 crowd.

1999–2004

English clubs returned in 1999–2000. The pool stages were spread over three months to allow the competition to develop alongside the nations’ own domestic competitions, and the knockout stages were scheduled to take the tournament into the early spring. For the first time clubs from four different nations – England, Ireland, France and Wales – made it through to the semi-finals. Munster's defeat of Toulouse in Bordeaux ended France's record of having contested every final and Northampton Saints' victory over Llanelli made them the third English club to make it to the final. The competition was decided with a final between Munster and Northampton, with Northampton coming out on top by a single point to claim their first major honour.

England supplied two of the 2000–01 semi-finalists – Leicester Tigers and Gloucester – with Munster and French champions Stade Francais also reaching the last four. Both semi-finals were close, Munster going down by a point 16–15 to Stade Français in Lille and the Tigers beating Gloucester 19–15 at Vicarage Road, Watford. The final, at Parc des Princes, Paris, attracted a crowd of 44,000 and the result was in the balance right up until the final whistle, but Leicester walked off 34–30 winners.

Munster reached the 2001–02 final with quarter-final and semi-final victories on French soil against Stade Francais and Castres. Leicester pipped Llanelli in the last four, after the Scarlets had halted Leicester's 11-match Heineken Cup winning streak in the pool stages. A record crowd saw Leicester become the first side to successfully defend their title.

From 2002, the European Challenge Cup winner now automatically qualified for the Heineken Cup. Toulouse's victory over French rivals Perpignan in 2003 meant that they joined Leicester as the only teams to win the title twice. Toulouse saw a 19-point half-time lead whittled away as the Catalans staged a dramatic comeback in a match in which the strong wind and showers played a major role, but Toulouse survived to win.

In 2003–04 the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) voted to create regions to play in the Celtic League and represent Wales in European competition. Henceforth, Wales entered regional sides rather than the club sides that had previously competed. English side London Wasps had earned their first final appearance by beating Munster 37–32 in a Dublin semi-final while Toulouse triumphed 19–11 in an all-French contest with Biarritz in a packed Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux. The 2004 final at Twickenham saw Wasps defeat defending champions Toulouse 27–20 at Twickenham to win the Heineken Cup for the first time. The match was widely hailed as one of the best finals. With extra time looming at 20–20, a late opportunist try by scrum half Rob Howley settled the contest.

2005–2010

The tenth Heineken Cup final saw the inaugural champions Toulouse battle with rising stars Stade Français when Murrayfield was the first Scottish venue to host the final. ^[17] Fabien Galthié's Paris side led until two minutes from the end of normal time before Frédéric Michalak levelled the contest for Toulouse with his first penalty strike. He repeated this in the initial stages of extra time and then sealed his side's success with a superb opportunist drop-goal. Toulouse became the first team to win three Heineken Cup titles.

In 2006, Munster defeated Biarritz in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 23–19. ^[18] It was third time lucky for the Irish provincial side, who had previously been denied the ultimate prize twice by Northampton and Leicester. South African Trevor Halstead and man of the match Peter Stringer scored Munster's two tries, having gone behind early in the first half to a try by Biarritz's Fijian winger, Sireli Bobo, which on video replay, showed that he had put his foot into touch before scoring. French international Dimitri Yachvili kept the side from the Basque country in contention with a 100% goal kicking record, but it was Irish international Ronan O'Gara who kicked the most important penalty goal to stretch Munster's lead to 4 points with under 10 minutes of the game left. Despite pressure from Biarritz, Munster held on and a penalty awarded by referee Chris White against Yachvili for being offside at the scrum ended the 2005–06 French champions' hopes of a double. Stringer kicked the ball out into touch to spark mass celebrations inside the stadium and in Limerick.

The 2006–07 Heineken Cup would be distributed to over 100 countries following Pitch International's securing of the rights. ^[19] That season was the first time in the history of the competition that two teams went unbeaten in pool play, with both Llanelli Scarlets and Biarritz doing so. Biarritz went into their final match at Northampton Saints with a chance to become the first team ever to score bonus-point wins in all their pool matches, but were only able to score two of the four tries needed. Leicester defeated Llanelli Scarlets to move into the final at Twickenham, with the possibility of winning a Treble of championships on the cards, having already won the EDF Energy Cup and the Guinness Premiership. However, Wasps won the final 25 points to 9 in front of a tournament record 81,076 fans. ^[20]

During competition there was uncertainty over the future of the tournament after the 2006–07 season as French clubs had announced that they would not take part because of fixture congestion following the Rugby World Cup and an ongoing dispute between English clubs and the RFU. ^{[21] [22]} It was speculated that league two teams might compete the next season, the RFU saying "If this situation is not resolved, the RFU owes it to the sport to keep this competition going...We have spoken to our FDR clubs, and if they want to compete we will support them.". ^[23] A subsequent meeting led to the announcement that the tournament would be played in 2007–08, with clubs from all the six nations. On May 20 it was announced that both French and English top-tier teams would be competing ^[24]

In 2008 Munster won the cup for their second time ever by beating Toulouse at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

Leinster won the title in 2009 in their first ever final after beating Munster in the semi-final front of a world record Rugby Union club match attendance in Croke Park. They beat the Leicester Tigers in the final at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh.

The 2010 final will be held at Stade de France.

Records and statistics

By nation

Nation	Winners	Runners-up	Winning clubs	Runners-up
	6	3	Leicester Tigers (2), London Wasps (2), Bath, Northampton Saints	Leicester Tigers (3)
collapsed	4	8	Toulouse (3), Brive	Stade Français (2), Toulouse (2), Biarritz, Brive, Colomiers, Perpignan
Ireland	4	2	Munster (2), Leinster, Ulster	Munster (2)
	0	1		Cardiff

By club

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years losing finalist
Toulouse	3	2	1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05	2003–04, 2007–08
Leicester Tigers	2	3	2000–01, 2001–02	1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09
Munster (Ireland)	2	2	2005–06, 2007–08	1999–2000, 2001–02
London Wasps	2	0	2003–04, 2006–07
Brive	1	1	1996–97	1997–98
Bath	1	0	1997–98
Leinster (Ireland)	1	0	2008–09
Northampton Saints	1	0	1999–2000
Ulster (Ireland)	1	0	1998–99
Stade Français	0	2		2000–01, 2004–05
Biarritz	0	1		2005–06
Cardiff	0	1		1995–96
Colomiers	0	1		1998–99
Perpignan	0	1		2002–03

By player

Player	Club	Tries
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets	29
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	28
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	25
Shane Horgan	Leinster	24
Michel Marfaing	Toulouse	24
Anthony Foley	Munster	23
Ben Cohen	Northampton Saints, Brive, Sale Sharks	22
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers	22
Tom Voyce	Bath, London Wasps	22
Christophe Dominici	Stade Français	21

Player	Club	Points
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	1,040
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne	759
Diego Domínguez	Milan, Stade Français	645
David Humphreys	Ulster	564
Neil Jenkins	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors	502
Felipe Contepomi	Bristol, Leinster	421
Lee Jarvis	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Neath, Newport Gwent Dragons	411
Andy Goode	Leicester Tigers	406
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	404
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde	Toulouse	398

Player	Club	Games
John Hayes	Munster	87
Anthony Foley	Munster	86
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	83
Fabien Pelous	Dax, Toulouse	81
Peter Stringer	Munster	80
David Wallace	Munster	71
Martyn Williams	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Cardiff Blues	71
Marcus Horan	Munster	70
Shane Horgan	Leinster	70
Martin Corry	Leicester Tigers	69

Attendance

Year	Total	Average	Highest
1995–96		6,502
1996–97		6,765
1997–98		6,613
1998–99		5,860
1999–00		7,924
2000–01		8,187
2001–02		8,308
2002–03		8,921
2003–04		10,352
2004–05		11,620
2005–06		12,370
2006–07	914,048	11,570
2007–08	942,373	11,928
2008–09	1,177,064	14,900	82,208

See also

Rugby union}}portal

• Heineken Cup finals
• European Challenge Cup
• Guinness Premiership (England)
• Magners League (Ireland, Scotland, Wales)
• Top 14 (France)
• Super 10 (Italy)

References

1. Heineken Cup – Key Tournament Rules
2. Format and qualification changes for Europe
3. Scots approach Welsh proposal with caution
4. Biarritz Olympique Secure French Top Seed with Championship Win
5. New European ranking to be introduced next season
6. Heineken Cup Semi Final Referees.
7. Leicester 19-27 Toulouse
8. Heineken Cup Semi Final Venues
9. Munster To Reign In Spain?
10. Munster to take on Bourgoin in Geneva
11. European Rugby Cup : History
12. European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1995/96
13. Big boys plan for more lucrative Heineken Cup
14. A history of the Heineken Cup
15. European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1996/97
16. European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1997/98
17. Stade Francais 12-18 Toulouse
18. Munster 23-19 Biarritz
19. 2006-07 Heineken Cup delivered to over 100 countries
20. Waspss crowned club champions in front of world record crowd
21. French clubs to quit Heineken Cup
22. French blame RFU for Heineken Cup boycott
23. Low division likely to fill Europe spots
24. ERC Press Statement