| 2000–01 Heineken Cup | |
| Countries: |  France Ireland Italy |
| Tournament Format: | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Date: | 6 October 2000 – 19 May 2001 |
| Teams: | 24 |
| Matches: | 79 |
| Attendance: | 646834 |
| Top Point Scorer: | Diego Domínguez (Stade Français) (188 points) |
| Top Try Scorer: | Matthew Robinson (Swansea) (9 tries) |
| Venue: | Parc des Princes, Paris |
| Attendance2: | 44,000 |
| Count: | 1 |
| Website: | www.ercrugby.com/eng |
| Previous Year: | 1999–2000 |
| Previous Tournament: | 1999–2000 Heineken Cup |
| Next Year: | 2001–02 |
| Next Tournament: | 2001–02 Heineken Cup |
The 2000–01 Heineken Cup was the sixth edition of the Heineken Cup, a rugby union tournament. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales, England and Scotland, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The pool winners and two best runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages.
In the pool matches teams received
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Biarritz Olympique | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 164 | 152 | 12 | 8 | |
| Edinburgh Reivers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 154 | 141 | 13 | 7 | |
| 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 14 | −1 | 149 | 156 | −7 | 7 | ||
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 138 | 156 | −18 | 2 |
Edinburgh finished above Leinster despite having a lower points difference, as the first tie-breaker was the results in the two matches between the teams.[1]
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Stade Français | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 36 | 4 | 32 | 297 | 85 | 212 | 10 | |
| 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 28 | 11 | 17 | 244 | 123 | 121 | 8 | ||
| Wasps | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 20 | 14 | 6 | 175 | 156 | 19 | 6 | |
| L'Aquila | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 3 | 58 | −55 | 40 | 392 | −352 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cardiff | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 13 | 5 | 182 | 146 | 36 | 8 | |
| 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 174 | 140 | 34 | 8 | ||
| Toulouse | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 19 | 15 | 4 | 171 | 182 | −11 | 5 | |
| Ulster | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 11 | 21 | −10 | 146 | 205 | −59 | 3 |
Cardiff won the pool despite having a lower points difference than Saracens, as the first tie-breaker was the results in the two matches between the teams.[2]
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 154 | 109 | 45 | 10 | ||
| Bath | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 139 | 106 | 33 | 8 | |
| Newport | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 10 | 22 | −12 | 122 | 183 | −61 | 4 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 1 | 135 | 152 | −17 | 2 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 2 | 186 | 140 | 46 | 9 | ||
| Llanelli | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 18 | 8 | 10 | 187 | 103 | 84 | 8 | |
| Colomiers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 11 | 3 | 148 | 120 | 28 | 7 | |
| 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 25 | −15 | 88 | 246 | −158 | 0 |
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 9 | 6 | 178 | 105 | 73 | 10 | ||
| Pau | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 154 | 142 | 12 | 8 | |
| Pontypridd | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 136 | 131 | 5 | 4 | |
| 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 24 | −12 | 137 | 227 | −90 | 2 |
| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Stade Français | 10 | 36 | +212 |
| 2 | 10 | 15 | +73 | |
| 3 | 10 | 15 | +45 | |
| 4 | 9 | 13 | +46 | |
| 5 | 8 | 18 | +36 | |
| 6 | Biarritz Olympique | 8 | 13 | +12 |
| Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 7 | 8 | 28 | +121 | |
| 8 | Pau | 8 | 19 | +12 |
| – | 8 | 18 | +84 | |
| – | 8 | 14 | +34 | |
| – | Bath | 8 | 14 | +33 |
| – | Edinburgh Reivers | 7 | 17 | +13 |
See main article: 2001 Heineken Cup Final.
Going into the final stages of the game, the scores were level at 27–27. A drop goal from Diego Domínguez then put Stade three points ahead. Meanwhile, Leicester brought on replacement scrum-half Jamie Hamilton for starting fly-half Andy Goode, with starting scrum-half Austin Healey switching to fly-half. Glenn Gelderbloom was also brought on at outside centre, with Leon Lloyd switching from outside centre to wing.
Leicester won a penalty just inside their own half and kicked to the left-hand touchline. The resulting line-out throw was too high and but it was cleaned up by Neil Back at the back of the line. Back passed the ball to out to Healey, though the pass forced Healey to check his run to gather the ball. With the two sets of opposing backs 20 metres apart for the line-out, the Tigers backs executed a pre-called backs move. Healey would dummy scissors with inside centre Pat Howard, another dummy scissors with outside centre Glenn Gelderbloom before the ball would be passed to the big full back Tim Stimpson who would take the ball into contact. Howard drew Domínguez and Gelderbloom drew the Stade inside centre, but the Stade outside centre who had only been on the field a few minutes, drifted onto Stimpson. Healey broke the Stade defensive line through the gap, before drawing the full back and putting Leon Lloyd in the right hand corner.
Lloyd's second try of the game gave Leicester a two-point lead, with the conversion to come. If Stimpson missed, another goal would give Stade the lead. If he scored the conversion, however, Stade would need a try. The kick from the right-hand touchline was from the most difficult position on the field for a right-footed kicker. Stimpson however hit the conversion straight between the posts, and Leicester were able to hang on to their lead for victory.