The pool stage of the 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the opening phase of the annual competition, in which 24 teams were arranged into six pools contesting of four teams each and then competed in a home-and-away double round robin. Eight teams, specifically the six pool winners and the two best runners-up, qualified for the quarter-finals, starting a knock-out phase that will end with the final at Stade de France in the Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.
For the first time, the third- through fifth-ranking runners-up parachuted into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup. Also for the first time, the winner of the Heineken Cup will receive an automatic berth in the following season's competition. The draw for the pools took place on 9 June 2009 in Paris.BBC Sport: Clubs learn Heineken Cup groups
Seeding within pools The seeding system was the same as in the 2008–09 tournament. The 24 competing teams were ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each pool receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier. The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applied (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).
The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the start of the 2009–10 season.
Tier 1 Munster (1) Leicester Tigers (2) Leinster (3) Toulouse (4) Bath (5) Biarritz (6) Tier 2 Cardiff Blues (8) Stade Français (9) Gloucester (10) Perpignan (11) Ospreys (13) London Irish (14) Tier 3 Northampton Saints (15) Sale Sharks (16) Clermont (17) Scarlets (18) Ulster Rugby (20) Newport Gwent Dragons (21) Tier 4 Harlequins (23) Glasgow Warriors (24) Edinburgh (26) Benetton Treviso (28) Brive (29) Viadana (36)
Seeding for the knockout phase The winners of each of the six pools were seeded 1 to 6 first by competition points, then tries scored, and finally score difference. The runners-up were similarly sorted, and the best two were seeded seven and eight and progressed 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.
After the two second-place teams advancing to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals were determined, the next three second-place finishers parachuted into the quarter-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup. These teams became the 5th through 7th seeds in the Challenge Cup knockout phase, and played their quarter-finals away.
Pools {| class="wikitable" |+ Key to colours |- |bgcolor="#ccffcc"| |Winner of each pool,advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses |- |bgcolor="#ccccff"| |Two highest-scoring second-place teams,advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses. |- |bgcolor="#ffffcc"| |Third- through fifth-highest-scoring second-place teamsparachute into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup.Seed # in brackets [ ].
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Munster (1)65011910918594913124 Northampton Saints (8)64021688138104342119 Perpignan620412102108123−151211 Benetton Treviso6105726−1968178−110015
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Biarritz (2)65011981118897913023 Gloucester 640212120119129−101017 Glasgow Warriors6204914−5120140−20019 Newport Gwent Dragons61051218−6108169−61026
This match was moved to the Scarlets' home ground due to a frozen pitch at the Dragons' home of Rodney Parade.
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Clermont Auvergne (5)6402241113201120813221 Ospreys (7)6411211110188121672020 Leicester Tigers6312231013187123643118 Viadana6006642−3683295−212000
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Stade Français (6)6402117412495291118 Ulster 6402116512794330117 Edinburgh6303310−76494−300113 Bath610568−284116−32037
This match was originally scheduled to be held at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, but heavy snowfall forced it to be moved to Paris.
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Toulouse (3)6501139414392512123 Cardiff Blues 640214104149104451118 Sale Sharks63031516−1126153−271114 Harlequins60061320−7102171−69022
Pool 6 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Leinster (4)64111961315460943122 Scarlets 64021220−8116147−311017 London Irish6312168814094462117 Brive6006720−1368177−109011
Scarlets win the tiebreaker over London Irish by virtue of a head-to-head sweep.
Seeding and runners-up Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarter-final seeding. Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarter-final seeding.
SeedPool WinnersPtsTF+/−1 Munster 2419+912 Biarritz2319+913 Toulouse2314+514 Leinster 2219+945 Clermont2124+816 Stade Français1811+29SeedPool Runners-upPtsTF+/−7 Ospreys2017+678 Northampton1916+345C Cardiff Blues1814+456C Gloucester1712−107C Scarlets1712−29 – Ulster 1711+33
See also 2009-10 Heineken Cup
References
External links Official ERC website