2008–09 Heineken Cup
2008–09 Heineken Cup
| 2008–09 Heineken Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Countries |  England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Date | 10 October 2008 – 23 May 2009 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Teams | 24 |
| Matches played | 79 |
| Attendance | 1,177,064 (14,900 per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Ben Blair (Cardiff) (99 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) (5 tries) |
| Final | |
| Venue | Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh |
| Attendance | 66,523 |
| Champions | Leinster (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Leicester Tigers |
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]
| 2008–09 Heineken Cup | |
|---|---|
| Tournament details | |
| Countries | EnglandFranceIrelandItalyScotlandWales |
| Tournament format(s) | Round-robin and Knockout |
| Date | 10 October 2008 – 23 May 2009 |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Teams | 24 |
| Matches played | 79 |
| Attendance | 1,177,064 (14,900 per match) |
| Top point scorer(s) | Ben Blair (Cardiff) (99 points) |
| Top try scorer(s) | Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) (5 tries) |
| Final | |
| Venue | Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh |
| Attendance | 66,523 |
| Champions | Leinster (1st title) |
| Runners-up | Leicester Tigers |
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]
| England | France | Wales | Ireland | Scotland | Italy |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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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.
| Tier 1 | Munster (1) | Toulouse (2) | Biarritz (3) | Leicester Tigers (4) | Stade Français (5) | 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.
| 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]