Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup sponsored bi Heineken (kent as the H Cup in Fraunce acause o alcohol adverteesin laws) is an annual rugby union cup wi major club, regional an provincial teams frae the Sax Nations: England, Fraunce, Scotland, Wales, Ireland, an Italy. It is ane o the maist presteegious cups in sport.

The tournament wis lenched in the European simmer o 1995 on the ineetiative o the auld Five Nations Comattee for tae mak a new level o profeesional cross mairch competeetion. The current chaimpions is the Irish rugby team, Munster that beat Biarritz in the feenal at Cardiff.

Format

Qualification

Places in the Heineken Cup is allocate tae the sax competin nations on the follaein basis:

6 Fraunce (tap 6 in Tap 14)

6 England (tap 5 in Guinness Premiership, an winner o the Anglo-Welsh Cup an aw if English)

3 Ireland (tap 3 Irish sides in the Celtic League)

3 Wales (tap 3 Welsh sides in the Celtic League)

2 Scotland (tap 2 Scots sides in the Celtic League)

2 Italy (tap 2 in Super 10)

The ither twa places in the 24 team tournament is allocate as follaes:

Ane frae Fraunce, England or Italy; the place is allocate tae the kintra that's team progressed faurer in the afore gane saison's cup. Syne Toulouse wan the 2004-05 cup, thare wis sieven French teams in the 2005-06 competeetion. Seemilar, thare will be sieven French teams in the 2006-07 competeetion, courtesy o Biarritz makkin it tae the cup feenal agin the Irish side Munster.

The ither team is the winner o a pleyaff in Italy agin

(a) the best-placed team in the Celtic League that haesna syne qualifee'd, an

(b) the team feenishin 3rd in the Italian Super 10.

In 2005-06, this team wis Cardiff that beat Viadana in the pleyaff.

In 2006-07, this team wis Overmach Parma that beat Newport Gwent Draigons in the pleyaff.

Ilk nation sets its ain criteria for qualification for the Heineken Cup, but maun gie places tae the Cup winners an the winners o the European Chailenge Cup. Teams that daesna qualifee for the Heineken Cup can enter the European Chailenge Cup.

Frae 2005 ae team fae ilk nation will be seedit?.

Rules

Sax puils o fower teams pleys baith hame an awa gemmes. Fower pynts is awairdit for a win an twa pynts for a draw.

A bonus pynt is awairdit for a loss by sieven pynts or less, or for scorin fower tries or mair.

Quarter-feenals

The sax Puil winners (rankit 1-6 bi nummer o pynts scored) an twa best placed rinners-up (rankit 7 an 8) qualifee's for the Quarter-Feenals.

Teams rankit 1-4 haes hame advantage. The Quarter-Feenals is: Team 1 v Team 8; Team 2 v Team 7; Team 3 v Team 6; Team 4 v Team 5.

Hauf-feenals an feenal

Aw matches is pleyed at nominally neutral venues. Ilk o the twa hauf feenal venues is in the kintra o the foremaist team oot o the hat whan the draw is makkit. For example, in 2004, Munster v London Wasps wis pleyed at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, yit Stade Toulousain v Biarritz Olympique was pleyed in Bordeaux.

The hauf feenal venue maun meet the follawin addeetional criteria an aw:

It maun be in the same kintra as the designatit "hame" team. Houaniver, the Buird o the ERC (European Rugby Cup) that organises the competeetion, micht allou exceptions. In 2005-06, Biarritz, locate in a ceety less nor 20 km fae the Spanis mairch, wis alloued tae haud a hauf feenal ower the mairch at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastián.
The venue maun be able tae haud at least 20,000.

The feenal is hauden at a predetermined site, neist saison it's Twickenham

2006/07 groups

File:Heineken Cup trophy.jpg

The Heineken Cup trophy.

Puil 1: Benetton Treviso, Perpignan, Wasps, Castres

Puil 2: Edinburgh, SU Agen, Gloucester Rugby, Leinster

Puil 3: Sale Sharks, Stade Français, Calvisano, Ospreys

Puil 4: Cardiff Blues, Bourgoin, Leicester Tigers, Munster

Puil 5: Ulster, Toulouse, London Irish, Llanelli Scarlets

Puil 6: Biarritz, Northampton Saints, Overmach Rugby Parma, Border Reivers

Winners

By year

For mair details, see Heineken Cup feenals.

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Crowd
1995/96 Details	Toulouse	21-18	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	21-6	Colomiers	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	49,000
1999/00 Details	Northampton Saints	9-8	Munster	Twickenham, Lunnon	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	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, Lunnon	73,057
2004/05 Details	Toulouse	18-12	Stade Français	Murrayfield, Edinburgh	51,326
2005/06 Details	Munster	23-19	Biarritz	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,534

See an aw

Celtic League