Wikipedia

2011–12 Heineken Cup

The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham[1] on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).[2][3]

2011–12 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
Date11 November 2011 – 19 May 2012
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Matches played79
Attendance1,172,127 (14,837 per match)
Tries scored320 (4.05 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
(103 points)
Top try scorer(s)Timoci Matanavou (Toulouse)
(8 tries)
Final
VenueTwickenham, London
Attendance81,774
ChampionsIreland Leinster (3rd title)
Runners-upIreland Ulster
← 2010–11 (Previous)
(Next) 2012–13 →

Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellow Pro12 and Irish side Ulster 42–14. The victory gave Leinster their third Heineken Cup title in four years – a run of success unprecedented in the competition's history.[4]

Teams edit

The default allocation of teams is as follows:[5]

  • England: 6 teams, based on performance in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup[6]
  • France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Top 14[7]
  • Ireland: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League[8]
  • Wales: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League[8]
  • Italy and Scotland: 2 teams each, based on participation in the Celtic League (although there are only 2 from each nation)[8]

The remaining two places are filled by the winners of the previous year's Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. If the cup winners are already qualified through their domestic league, an additional team from their country will claim a Heineken Cup place (assuming another team is available). Accordingly, Harlequins claimed the Challenge Cup winner's berth, and since Heineken Cup winners Leinster were already domestically qualified, the extra Irish berth went to Connacht.

England France Ireland Wales Italy Scotland

Seeding edit

The seeding system was the same as in the 2010–11 tournament. The 24 competing teams are 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 applies (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).[9]

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Tier 1   Leinster (1)   Toulouse (2)   Munster (3)   Cardiff Blues (4)   Biarritz (5)   Leicester Tigers (6)
Tier 2   Northampton (7)   Clermont Auvergne (10)   Ospreys (11)   Bath (12)   Harlequins (13)   London Irish (15)
Tier 3   Ulster (16)   Saracens (17)   Gloucester (18)   Glasgow (20)   Scarlets (21)   Edinburgh (24)
Tier 4   Connacht (25)   Benetton Treviso (30)   Castres (31)   Montpellier (32)   Racing Métro (33)   Aironi (37)

Pool stage edit

Further information: 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 7 June 2011.

Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, tiebreakers within each pool are as follows.[10]

  • Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
  • Total tries scored in head-to-head matches
  • Point differential in head-to-head matches

ERC has four additional tiebreakers, used if tied teams are in different pools, or if the above steps cannot break a tie between teams in the same pool:

  • Tries scored in all pool matches
  • Point differential in all pool matches
  • Best disciplinary record (fewest players receiving red or yellow cards in all pool matches)
  • Coin toss
Key to colours
     Pool winners, and the two best pool runners-up, advance to quarterfinals.
     Third-, fourth- and fifth-highest-scoring second-place teams parachute into the knockout stage
of the European Challenge Cup.

Pool 1 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Munster 6 6 0 0 14 10 +4 163 118 +45 1 0 25
  Scarlets 6 3 0 3 12 9 +3 119 124 −5 1 2 15
  Northampton Saints 6 2 0 4 18 16 +2 176 160 +16 2 2 12
  Castres 6 1 0 5 10 19 −9 111 167 −56 1 2 7

Pool 2 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Edinburgh 6 5 0 1 17 11 +6 156 138 +18 2 0 22
  Cardiff Blues 6 5 0 1 9 5 +4 145 110 +35 0 1 21
  Racing Métro 6 1 0 5 13 19 −6 160 190 −30 1 4 9
  London Irish 6 1 0 5 7 11 −4 116 139 −23 1 4 9

Pool 3 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Leinster 6 5 1 0 18 7 +11 172 88 +84 2 0 24
  Glasgow Warriors 6 2 1 3 8 12 −4 106 133 −27 0 2 12
  Bath 6 2 0 4 11 15 −4 122 151 −29 0 3 11
  Montpellier 6 1 2 3 8 11 −3 84 112 −28 0 2 10

Pool 4 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Clermont Auvergne 6 4 0 2 26 5 +21 215 69 +146 2 2 20
  Ulster 6 4 0 2 16 8 +8 158 87 +71 3 1 20
  Leicester Tigers 6 4 0 2 13 8 +5 123 117 +6 1 0 17
  Aironi 6 0 0 6 4 38 −34 51 274 −223 0 0 0

Pool 5 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Saracens 6 5 0 1 13 10 +3 145 107 +38 1 1 22
  Biarritz 6 3 0 3 18 7 +11 143 105 +38 3 3 18
  Ospreys 6 2 1 3 13 16 −3 142 147 −5 1 2 13
  Benetton Treviso 6 1 1 4 12 23 −11 122 193 −71 0 0 6

Pool 6 edit

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Toulouse 6 4 0 2 16 11 +5 150 105 +45 1 1 18
  Harlequins 6 4 0 2 11 7 +4 122 94 +28 0 1 17
  Gloucester 6 3 0 3 10 12 −2 111 122 −11 1 2 15
  Connacht 6 1 0 5 5 12 −7 68 130 −62 0 2 6

Seeding and runners-up edit

  • Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarterfinal seeding.
  • Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarterfinal seeding.
Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/−
1   Munster 25 14 +45
2   Leinster 24 18 +84
3   Edinburgh 22 17 +18
4   Saracens 22 13 +38
5   Clermont Auvergne 20 26 +146
6   Toulouse 18 16 +45
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/−
7   Cardiff Blues 21 9 +35
8   Ulster 20 16 +71
5C   Biarritz 18 18 +42
6C   Harlequins 17 11 +28
7C   Scarlets 15 12 −5
-   Glasgow Warriors 12 12 −27

Knock-out stages edit

Quarter-finals edit

7 April 2012
15:00 BST
Edinburgh  19–14  Toulouse
Try: Blair 1' c
Con: Laidlaw (1/1)
Pen: Laidlaw (3/4) 46', 51', 80'
Drop: Laidlaw (1/1) 38'		ReportTry: Matanavou 30' m
Pen: Beauxis (3/5) 5', 19', 28'
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance: 37,881
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
7 April 2012
17:45 IST
Leinster  34–3  Cardiff Blues
Try: Nacewa 12' c
Kearney (2) 30' c, 41' c
O'Driscoll 34' c
Con: Sexton (4/4)
Pen: Sexton (2/3) 8', 23'		ReportPen: Halfpenny (1/1) 2'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 50,340
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
8 April 2012
13:45 IST
Munster  16–22  Ulster
Try: Zebo 34' c
Con: O'Gara (1/1)
Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 40', 49', 61'		ReportTry: Gilroy 16' c
Con: Pienaar (1/1)
Pen: Pienaar (4/5) 5', 11', 20', 59'
Drop: Humphreys (1/1) 32'
Thomond Park, Limerick
Attendance: 26,500
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
8 April 2012
16:30 BST
Saracens  3–22  Clermont Auvergne
Pen: Farrell (1/2) 16'ReportTry: Byrne 43' c
Con: James (1/1)
Pen: James (4/6) 7', 11', 13', 55'
Drop: James (1/1) 49'
Vicarage Road, Watford
Attendance: 11,047
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Semi-finals edit

28 April 2012
17:45 IST
Ulster  22–19  Edinburgh
Try: Wannenburg 15' c
Con: Pienaar (1/1)
Pen: Pienaar (5/5) 5', 38', 58', 63', 75'		ReportTry: Thompson 80' c
Con: Laidlaw (1/1)
Pen: Laidlaw (4/4) 9', 11', 40', 45'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 45,147
Referee: Romain Poite (France)
29 April 2012
16:00 HAEC
Clermont Auvergne  15–19  Leinster
Pen: James (5/6) 17', 31', 36', 39', 52'ReportTry: Healy 41' c
Con: Sexton (1/1)
Pen: Sexton (3/4) 7', 34', 62'
Drop: Kearney (1/1) 46'
Sexton (0/1)
Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Attendance: 32,397
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Final edit

Main article: 2012 Heineken Cup Final
19 May 2012
17:00 BST
Leinster  42–14  Ulster
Try: O'Brien 12' c
Healy 31' c
penalty try 44' c
van der Merwe 76' m
Cronin 80' c
Con: Sexton (3/3)
McFadden (1/2)
Pen: Sexton (3/4) 51', 67', 73'		ReportTry: Tuohy 60' m
Pen: Pienaar (3/3) 7', 40', 49'
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 81,774
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

References edit

  1. ^ "ERC : Finals : Twickenham 2012". Ercrugby.com. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  2. ^ "ERC : News : Heineken Cup 2011 and 2012 Finals". Ercrugby.com. 17 May 2010. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  3. ^ "Teams learn 2011/2012 Heineken Cup pool stages fate". BBC Sport. 7 June 2011. Archived from the original on 10 June 2011. Retrieved 9 June 2011.
  4. ^ Palmer, Bryn (19 May 2012). "Heineken Cup final: Leinster beat Ulster to retain trophy". BBC Sport. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  5. ^ "ERC : Heineken Cup : Rules : Qualification Process". Ercrugby.com. 13 August 2010. Archived from the original on 18 December 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  6. ^ "ERC : European Qualification : England". Ercrugby.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  7. ^ "ERC : European Qualification : France". Ercrugby.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  8. ^ a b c "ERC : European Qualification : Celtic Countries". Ercrugby.com. Archived from the original on 6 August 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2012.
  9. ^ Heineken Cup Pool Draw. European Rugby Cup. 7 June 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2011.
  10. ^ "Key Tournament Rules". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 10 October 2010.
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