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| 2011–12 Heineken Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Countries |  England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin andKnockout |
| Date | 11 November 2011 – 19 May 2012 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Teams | 24 |
| Matches played | 79 |
| Attendance | 1,172,127 (14,837 per match) |
| Tries scored | 320 (4.05 per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Johnny Sexton (Leinster) (103 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Timoci Matanavou (Toulouse) (8 tries) |
| Final | |
| Venue | Twickenham, London |
| Attendance | 81,774 |
| Champions | Leinster (3rd title) |
| Runners-up | Ulster |
The2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of theHeineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held atTwickenham[1] on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).[2][3]
Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellowPro12 andIrish sideUlster 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]
The default allocation of teams is as follows:[5]
The remaining two places are filled by the winners of the previous year'sHeineken Cup andAmlin 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 winnersLeinster were already domestically qualified, the extra Irish berth went toConnacht.
| England | France | Ireland | Wales | Italy | Scotland |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
The seeding system was the same as in the2010–11 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'sEuropean 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) |
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]
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:
| 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 theEuropean Challenge Cup. |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 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 |
| 7 April 2012 15:00BST |
| Edinburgh | 19–14 | Toulouse |
| Try:Blair 1' c Con:Laidlaw (1/1) Pen:Laidlaw (3/4) 46', 51', 80' Drop:Laidlaw (1/1) 38' | Report | Try:Matanavou 30' m Pen:Beauxis (3/5) 5', 19', 28' |
| Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 37,881 Referee:Nigel Owens (Wales) |
| 7 April 2012 17:45IST |
| 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' | Report | Pen:Halfpenny (1/1) 2' |
| Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 50,340 Referee:Dave Pearson (England) |
| 8 April 2012 13:45IST |
| Munster | 16–22 | Ulster |
| Try:Zebo 34' c Con:O'Gara (1/1) Pen:O'Gara (3/4) 40', 49', 61' | Report | Try: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 16:30BST |
| Saracens | 3–22 | Clermont Auvergne |
| Pen:Farrell (1/2) 16' | Report | Try: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) |
| 28 April 2012 17:45IST |
| Ulster | 22–19 | Edinburgh |
| Try:Wannenburg 15' c Con:Pienaar (1/1) Pen:Pienaar (5/5) 5', 38', 58', 63', 75' | Report | Try: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 16:00HAEC |
| Clermont Auvergne | 15–19 | Leinster |
| Pen:James (5/6) 17', 31', 36', 39', 52' | Report | Try: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) |
| 19 May 2012 17:00BST |
| 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' | Report | Try:Tuohy 60' m Pen:Pienaar (3/3) 7', 40', 49' |
| Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 81,774 Referee:Nigel Owens (Wales) |