The pool stage of the 2007–08 Heineken Cup began on 9 November 2007, and was completed on 20 January 2008. Involved in the pool stage were the 23 clubs that qualified through their respective domestic leagues, and one that qualified via the Italo-Celtic play-off match in May 2007. The 24 teams were divided into six pools of four teams each, with each team to play each of the others in their pool once at home and once away. At the end of the pool stage, the winners of each pool advanced to the quarter-finals, along with the two best runners-up. The teams were then seeded, first by pool position, and then by points attained, in order to determine which teams received home advantage for the quarter-finals.
The draw for the pool stage took place on 20 June 2007 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.
The 2007–08 tournament was the first in which no team had yet secured a quarter-final place by the end of Round 5.
All times are local to the match venue.
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts London Irish (2)65012510+15182100+824024 Perpignan (7)6501207+1317179+922022 Newport Gwent Dragons61051622−6117191−74228 Benetton Treviso6105830−22107207−100015
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Gloucester (3)65012413+11184119+654024 Ospreys (8)6501169+7164102+621021 Bourgoin61051219−7118174−56138 Ulster61051324−11102173−71015
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Cardiff Blues (5)6411127+512476+481120 Stade Français6402128+412092+282018 Bristol6303109+18380+30012 Harlequins6015717−1062141−79002
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Saracens (1)65012711+16225119+1063124 Biarritz6402911−2109116−71118 Glasgow Warriors63031214−2130127+31316 Viadana60061325−12106208−1022173
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Munster (6)6402137+614895+531219 Clermont Auvergne64022215+7189128+612119 London Wasps64021912+7152127+252018 Llanelli Scarlets6006828−2074213−139000
Notes: Munster place above Clermont Auvergne by virtue of having earned more competition points in their two head-to-head matches: 6 to 4.
Pool 6 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Toulouse (4)6402137+613076+542220 Leicester Tigers6303105+511079+311114 Leinster6303711−495123−280012 Edinburgh6204815−785142−57019
Seeding and runners-up The winners of each of the six pools are seeded 1 to 6 first by points, then tries scored, and finally score difference. The runners-up are similarly sorted, and the best two are seeded seven and eight and progress to the quarter-finals alongside the six winners. The top four seeds are given home matches in the quarter-finals, with seed 1 playing seed 8, seed 2 playing seed 7 etc.
SeedPool winnersPtsTF+/−1 Saracens2427+1062 London Irish2425+823 Gloucester2424+654 Toulouse2013+545 Cardiff Blues2012+486 Munster1913+53SeedPool runners-upPtsTF+/−7 Perpignan2220+928 Ospreys2116+62 – Clermont Auvergne1922+61 – Stade Français1812+28 – Biarritz189−7 – Leicester Tigers1410+31
See also 2007–08 Heineken Cup
References
External links European Rugby Cup : Pools