The 1996–97 Heineken Cup was the second edition of the Heineken Cup, a competition for the top European rugby union clubs. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales and, for the first time, England and Scotland, were divided into four pools of five, with each team playing the other teams once, meaning two home and two away games per team. The pool winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages. The competition was won by a French team for the second time, when Brive beat their English opponents Leicester Tigers 28–9 at the Cardiff Arms Park. The defending champions Toulouse were knocked out in the semi-final by Leicester Tigers and Brive beat Cardiff in the other semi-final.
Teams The qualifying teams were drawn from six countries. Generally, these were the strongest teams from the top division of domestic rugby; weaker teams participated in the Challenge Cup: England: 4 teams from the English Premiership France: 4 teams from the French Championship Ireland: 3 teams representing one of the four Provinces of Ireland Italy: 2 teams from the National Championship of Excellence Scotland: 3 teams representing one of the four geographical districts Wales: 4 teams from the Welsh Premier Division
England France Ireland Italy Scotland WalesBath Harlequins Leicester Tigers London WaspsBrive Dax Pau ToulouseLeinster Munster UlsterBenetton Treviso Rugby MilanoBorders Caledonia EdinburghCardiff Llanelli Neath Pontypridd
Pool stage In the pool matches teams received 2 points for a win 1 point for a draw
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Dax43011621414169726 Bath4301158713688486 Pontypridd43017349760376 Benetton Treviso41031315−2106135−292 Edinburgh4004629−2371199−1280
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Leicester44001431111443718 Llanelli42029909781164 Leinster4202912−386109−234 Pau410319109137103342 Scottish Borders4103724−1780178−982
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Brive4400138510665418 Harlequins43012081213195366 Neath42021016−683109−264 Ulster4103610−47587−122 Caledonia40041320−7117156−390
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffPts Toulouse430121138157142156 Cardiff4301167913597386 London Wasps420217143156115414 Munster42021122−11109135−264 Milan4004615−973141−680
Seeding SeedPool WinnersPtsTF+/−1 Leicester814+712 Brive813+413 Toulouse621+154 Dax616+72SeedPool Runners-upPtsTF+/−5 Harlequins620+366 Cardiff RFC616+387 Bath615+488 Llanelli RFC49+16
Knockout stage
Quarter finals
Semi finals
Final
The final was played on 25 January 1997 at the Arms Park in Cardiff. The match was contested by Brive of France and Leicester of England. Brive won the match 28–9; they took the lead early on through a fourth-minute penalty from Christophe Lamaison, and Sébastien Viars extended that lead with an unconverted try two minutes later. Leicester responded with three penalties from John Liley, but Brive finally made their pressure show with three second-half tries, one of which was converted, before Lamaison added a drop goal to seal a 19-point victory.
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