2008–09 Heineken Cup Explained

2008–09 Heineken Cup
Countries:	France Ireland Italy
Tournament Format:	Round-robin and Knockout
Date:	10 October 2008 – 23 May 2009
Teams:	24
Matches:	79
Attendance:	1177064
Top Point Scorer:	Ben Blair (Cardiff) (99 points)
Top Try Scorer:	Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) (5 tries)
Venue:	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance2:	66,523
Champions:	Leinster
Count:	1
Runner-Up:	Leicester Tigers
Website:	https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/
Previous Year:	2007–08
Previous Tournament:	2007–08 Heineken Cup
Next Year:	2009–10
Next Tournament:	2009–10 Heineken Cup

The 2008–09 Heineken Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Irish side Leinster became the champions, defeating Leicester Tigers 19–16 in the final.^[1]

Teams

Seven French teams competed, as a French team, Toulouse, progressed further in the previous year's tournament than any English or Italian team.

Four Welsh teams competed, as Italy forfeited its place in the Italo-Celtic playoff^[2] and a Welsh team were the highest-placed team in the previous year's Celtic league not to qualify otherwise.^[3] Other nations had their usual number of participants: England six, Ireland three, Italy two and Scotland two.^[4]

width=16%	England	width=16%	France	width=16%	Wales	width=16%	Ireland	width=16%	Scotland	width=16%	Italy
Gloucester London Wasps Bath Leicester Tigers Sale Sharks Harlequins	Toulouse Biarritz Stade Français Clermont Perpignan Castres Montauban	Cardiff Blues Scarlets Ospreys Newport Gwent Dragons	Leinster Munster Ulster	Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors	Calvisano Benetton Treviso

Seeding

The seeding system for participating teams changed from previous editions of the Heineken Cup. Previously, each participating nation would seed one of their teams and these six teams would be drawn in different groups at the group stage.^[5] Starting with the 2008–09 edition, the 24 competing teams were ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each group receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier.^[6] The requirement to have only one team per country in each group however, still applied (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh French team).^[7]

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking before the start of the 2008–09 season.

width=6%	Tier 1	width=15%	Munster (1)	width=15%	Toulouse (2)	width=15%	Biarritz (3)	width=15%	Leicester Tigers (4)	width=15%	Stade Français (5)	width=15%	London Wasps (6)
Tier 2	Leinster (7)	Bath (8)	Gloucester (9)	Perpignan (10)	Sale Sharks (12)	Scarlets (13)
Tier 3	Ospreys (15)	Cardiff Blues (17)	Clermont (18)	Newport Gwent Dragons (20)	Ulster (21)	Castres (22)
Tier 4	Glasgow Warriors (24)	Benetton Treviso (25)	Edinburgh (28)	Calvisano (32)	Harlequins (35)	Montauban

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stages took place on 17 June 2008 in Dublin.

Key to colours

Winner of each pool, and two best runners-up, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Munster (2)	6	5	0	1	18	6	12	161	98	63	2	1	23
Sale	6	3	0	3	14	11	3	136	115	21	2	1	15
Clermont	6	3	0	3	14	13	1	137	129	8	1	0	13
Montauban	6	1	0	5	5	21	−16	81	173	−92	0	2	6

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (6)	6	4	0	2	15	3	12	140	70	70	2	2	20
Wasps	6	4	0	2	9	12	−3	114	112	2	0	1	17
Edinburgh	6	2	0	4	8	8	0	91	103	−12	1	0	9
Castres	6	2	0	4	6	15	−9	73	133	−60	0	1	9

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers (4)	6	4	0	2	23	6	17	191	90	101	3	2	21
Ospreys (7)	6	4	0	2	17	3	14	155	71	84	2	2	20
Perpignan	6	4	0	2	17	10	7	154	120	34	1	1	18
Benetton Treviso	6	0	0	6	5	43	−38	72	291	−219	0	0	0

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Harlequins (3)	6	5	0	1	16	12	4	144	115	29	2	0	22
Stade Français	6	3	0	3	13	11	2	131	109	22	1	2	15
Ulster	6	2	1	3	13	13	0	113	134	−21	0	1	11
Scarlets	6	1	1	4	12	18	−6	124	154	−30	0	2	8

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Bath (5)	6	4	1	1	13	8	5	107	92	15	2	1	21
Toulouse (8)	6	4	1	1	12	8	4	121	88	33	1	1	20
Glasgow	6	2	0	4	14	17	−3	134	150	−16	1	3	12
Newport Gwent Dragons	6	1	0	5	8	14	−6	83	115	−32	0	3	7

Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Cardiff Blues (1)	6	6	0	0	23	9	14	202	99	103	3	0	27
Biarritz	6	3	0	3	14	4	10	121	88	33	1	2	15
Gloucester	6	3	0	3	17	12	5	156	109	47	2	1	15
Calvisano	6	0	0	6	8	37	−29	87	270	−183	0	0	0

Seeding and runners-up

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Cardiff Blues	27	23	+103
2	Munster	23	18	+63
3	Harlequins	22	16	+29
4	Leicester Tigers	21	23	+101
5	Bath	21	13	+15
6	Leinster	20	15	+70
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
7	Ospreys	20	17	+84
8	Toulouse	20	12	+33
–	Sale	19	14	+21
–	Wasps	17	7	+8
–	Biarritz	15	14	+33
–	Stade Français	15	13	+22

Knockout stage

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 27 January at Murrayfield Stadium.^[8]

Quarter-finals

• This match became notorious for the "Bloodgate" scandal. Quins coach Dean Richards was banned from rugby for three years for his role in faking an injury to wing Tom Williams so that Quins could send in a blood replacement. Williams himself was initially banned for a year, but after he revealed the full extent of the scheme, the ban was reduced to four months.^[9]

Semi-finals

See main article: Cardiff Blues vs Leicester Tigers (2008–09 Heineken Cup).

Final

See main article: 2009 Heineken Cup Final.

Notes and References

1. News: Leinster soar highest in bluest of blue days . The Irish Times . Gerry . Thornley. 10 August 2011 .
2. Web site: Fourth team for Ireland or Wales in 2008/2009 . European Rugby Cup . 8 May 2008 . 6 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080513103306/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/5019_10266.php . 13 May 2008 . dead .
3. Web site: Newport Gwent Dragons Secure 4th Heineken Cup Spot for Wales . European Rugby Cup . 8 May 2008 . 7 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080512180708/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_10267.php . 12 May 2008 . dead .
4. Web site: Heineken Cup – Key Tournament Rules . European Rugby Cup . 8 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080517050633/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/31_264.php . 17 May 2008 . dead .
5. Web site: Heineken Cup Pool Draw Confirmed . European Rugby Cup . 8 May 2008 . 11 June 2007 . https://web.archive.org/web/20071214203957/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/5018_7099.php . 14 December 2007 . live .
6. Web site: ERC European Rankings (May 2008) . European Rugby Cup . 8 May 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080511192313/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/121_9900.php . 11 May 2008 . dead .
7. Web site: ERC Draw Regulations (June 2008) . European Rugby Cup . 16 June 2008 . https://web.archive.org/web/20080620091737/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_10454.php . 20 June 2008 . dead .
8. Web site: Heineken Cup semi-final draw completed . European Rugby Cup . 27 January 2009 . 27 January 2009 . https://archive.today/20090131102230/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_12201.php . January 31, 2009 . dead .
9. News: Dean Richards ban: how 'Bloodgate' saga unfolded . Emily . Benammar . . 2009-08-18 . 2009-08-18 . London.