2009–10 Heineken Cup

The 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the 15th season 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 2009 and ended on 22 May 2010 with the final at Stade de France in which Toulouse defeated Biarritz 21–19 to win the trophy for the fourth time.[1]

2009–10 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
DateOct 2009 – May 2010
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Matches played79
Attendance1,080,598 (13,678 per match)
Top point scorer(s)France Dimitri Yachvili (Biarritz) (113 points)
Top try scorer(s)Ireland Tommy Bowe (Ospreys) (7 tries)
Final
VenueStade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance78,962
ChampionsFrance Toulouse (4th title)
Runners-upFrance Biarritz Olympique
← 2008–09 (Previous)
(Next) 2010–11 →

Teams

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Seven English teams participated, as an English team, Leicester Tigers, progressed further in the previous year's tournament than any French or Italian team. France had six participants, Ireland three, Wales four, Italy two and Scotland two.

On 29 May 2009, Newport Gwent Dragons defeated Calvisano 42–17 in a play-off to secure the 24th and final qualification place.[2]

England France Wales Ireland Scotland Italy

Seeding

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The seeding system was the same as in the 2008–09 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.[3] The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applied (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).[4]

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the start of the 2009–10 season.

Tier 1   Munster (1)   Leicester Tigers (2)   Leinster (3)   Toulouse (4)   Bath (5)   Biarritz (6)
Tier 2   Cardiff Blues (8)   Stade Français (9)   Gloucester (10)   Perpignan (11)   Ospreys (13)   London Irish (14)
Tier 3   Northampton Saints (15)   Sale Sharks (16)   Clermont (17)   Scarlets (18)   Ulster (20)   Newport Gwent Dragons (21)
Tier 4   Harlequins (23)   Glasgow Warriors (24)   Edinburgh (26)   Benetton Treviso (28)   Brive (29)   Viadana (36)

Pool stage

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The draw for the pool stage took place on 9 June 2009 in Paris.

Key to colours
     Winner of each pool, and best two runners-up,
advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses
     Third- through fifth- highest-scoring second-place teams
parachute into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup.
Seed # in brackets

Pool 1

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Munster (1) 6 5 0 1 19 10 9 185 94 91 3 1 24
  Northampton Saints (8) 6 4 0 2 16 8 8 138 104 34 2 1 19
  Perpignan 6 2 0 4 12 10 2 108 123 −15 1 2 11
  Benetton Treviso 6 1 0 5 7 26 −19 68 178 −110 0 1 5

Pool 2

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Biarritz (2) 6 5 0 1 19 8 11 188 97 91 3 0 23
  Gloucester [6] 6 4 0 2 12 12 0 119 129 −10 1 0 17
  Glasgow Warriors 6 2 0 4 9 14 −5 120 140 −20 0 1 9
  Newport Gwent Dragons 6 1 0 5 12 18 −6 108 169 −61 0 2 6

Pool 3

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Clermont Auvergne (5) 6 4 0 2 24 11 13 201 120 81 3 2 21
  Ospreys (7) 6 4 1 1 21 11 10 188 121 67 2 0 20
  Leicester Tigers 6 3 1 2 23 10 13 187 123 64 3 1 18
  Viadana 6 0 0 6 6 42 −36 83 295 −212 0 0 0

Pool 4

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Stade Français (6) 6 4 0 2 11 7 4 124 95 29 1 1 18
  Ulster 6 4 0 2 11 6 5 127 94 33 0 1 17
  Edinburgh 6 3 0 3 3 10 −7 64 94 −30 0 1 13
  Bath 6 1 0 5 6 8 −2 84 116 −32 0 3 7

Pool 5

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Toulouse (3) 6 5 0 1 13 9 4 143 92 51 2 1 23
  Cardiff Blues [5] 6 4 0 2 14 10 4 149 104 45 1 1 18
  Sale Sharks 6 3 0 3 15 16 −1 126 153 −27 1 1 14
  Harlequins 6 0 0 6 13 20 −7 102 171 −69 0 2 2

Pool 6

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Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
  Leinster (4) 6 4 1 1 19 6 13 154 60 94 3 1 22
  Scarlets [7] 6 4 0 2 12 20 −8 116 147 −31 1 0 17
  London Irish 6 3 1 2 16 8 8 140 94 46 2 1 17
  Brive 6 0 0 6 7 20 −13 68 177 −109 0 1 1
  • Scarlets win the tiebreaker over London Irish by virtue of winning both of the matches between the two teams.

Seeding and runners-up

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  • Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarterfinal seeding.
  • Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarterfinal seeding.
Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/−
1   Munster 24 19 +91
2   Biarritz 23 19 +91
3   Toulouse 23 14 +51
4   Leinster 22 19 +94
5   Clermont 21 24 +81
6   Stade Français 18 11 +29
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/−
7   Ospreys 20 17 +67
8   Northampton 19 16 +34
5C   Cardiff Blues 18 14 +45
6C   Gloucester 17 12 −10
7C   Scarlets 17 12 −29
  Ulster 17 11 +33

Knock-out stage

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The semi-final draw was conducted on 24 January in Paris. The winner of the topmost quarter-final on each side of the bracket receives home-country advantage in its semi-final. (The competition organisers have traditionally allowed Biarritz to take semi-finals to Spain, as it has stadiums that meet Heineken Cup semi-final hosting requirements that are far closer to Biarritz than any acceptable venue in France. The club also enjoys large support in the Basque Country of Spain, a region with which it shares a cultural affinity.)

All times are local times.

Quarter-finals

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9 April 2010
20:00
Leinster  29–28  Clermont Auvergne
Try: Heaslip (2) 22' c, 33' c
Con: Sexton (2/2)
Pen: Sexton (5/6) 21', 37', 54', 65', 72'
ReportTry: Malzieu (3) 11' c, 44' m, 62' c
Con: James (2/3)
Pen: James (3/7) 16', 49', 60'
RDS Arena, Dublin
Attendance: 20,000
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

10 April 2010
16:00
Biarritz  29–28  Ospreys
Try: Ngwenya 11' c
Balshaw 50' c
Con: Yachvili (2/2)
Pen: Yachvili (2/3) 22', 48'
Drop: Traille (3/4) 1', 23', 60'
ReportTry: R. Jones 19' c
Byrne 35' m
Walker 75' c
Con: Biggar (2/3)
Pen: Biggar (2/4) 45', 53'
Drop: Biggar (1/4) 40'
Estadio Anoeta, Donostia-San Sebastián
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

10 April 2010
17:30
Munster  33–19  Northampton Saints
Try: Warwick 4' m
Howlett (2) 24' m, 75' c
de Villiers 52' c
Con: O'Gara (2/4) 53', 76'
Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 1', 58', 67'
ReportTry: Clarke 39' c
Con: Myler (1/1)
Pen: Myler (4/4) 10', 16', 28', 55'
Thomond Park, Limerick
Attendance: 26,000
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

11 April 2010
17:30
Toulouse  42–16  Stade Français
Try: Jauzion 40' c
Albacete 58' c
Heymans 74' c
Con: Skrela (3/3)
Pen: Skrela (7/9) 24', 32', 45', 48', 66', 70', 79'
ReportTry: Roncero 20'
Con: Beauxis (1/1)
Pen: Beauxis (3/3) 26', 43', 47'
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance: 35,089
Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

Semi-finals

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1 May 2010
16:45
Toulouse  26–16  Leinster
Try: Jauzion 55' c
Skrela 60' c
Con: Skrela (2/2)
Pen: Skrela (4/6) 4', 16', 30', 71'
Drop: Élissalde (0/1)
ReportTry: Heaslip 64' c
Con: Berne (1/1)
Pen: Berne (2/2) 31', 40'+1'
Kearney (1/1) 42'
Stadium Municipal, Toulouse
Attendance: 34,951
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

2 May 2010
16:15
Biarritz Olympique  18–7  Munster
Pen: Yachvili (6/6) 39', 44', 65', 72', 78', 80'ReportTry: Earls 29' c
Con: O'Gara (1/1)
Estadio Anoeta, Donostia-San Sebastián
Attendance: 30,900
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

Final

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The final was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis.

22 May 2010
18:00
Biarritz  19–21  Toulouse
Try: Hunt 73' c
Con: Courrent (1/1)
Pen: Yachvili (4/4) 4', 15', 29', 48'
ReportPen: Fritz (1/1) 21'
Skrela (3/5) 33', 36', 65'
Drop: Fritz (1/1) 38'
Skrela (2/2) 51', 58'
Stade de France, Saint-Denis
Attendance: 78,962[5]
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Leading scorers

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See also

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Notes and references

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  1. ^ Kitson, Robert (2010-05-22). "Toulouse outmuscle Biarritz to win uninspiring Heineken Cup final". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 27 May 2010. Retrieved 2010-05-24.
  2. ^ "Calvisano 17–42 NG Dragons". BBC. 2009-05-29. Retrieved 29 May 2009.
  3. ^ "ERC European Rankings (May 2009)". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  4. ^ "ERC Draw Regulations (May 2009)". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  5. ^ "Résultat et résumé Biarritz – Toulouse, match en direct – Coupe d'Europe 2009–2010, Finale, Samedi 22 Mai 2010".