2010–11 Heineken Cup

The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started with three matches on 8 October 2010 and ended on 21 May 2011 with the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium[1] where Leinster beat Northampton Saints 33 – 22.[2][3]

2010–11 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries England
 France
 Ireland
 Italy
 Scotland
 Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
Date8 October 2010 – 21 May 2011
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Matches played79
Attendance1,139,427 (14,423 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Ireland Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
(138 points)
Top try scorer(s)England Paul Diggin (Northampton)
(6 tries)
Final
VenueMillennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance72,456
ChampionsIreland Leinster (2nd title)
Runners-upEngland Northampton
← 2009–10 (Previous)
(Next) 2011–12 →

Teams

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The default allocation of teams is as follows:

  • England: 6 teams, based on performance in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup
  • France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Top 14
  • Ireland and Wales: 3 teams each, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League
  • Italy and Scotland: 2 teams each, based on participation in the Celtic League

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). The only exception is when teams from England or France win both cups, which did not happen in 2009–10.

Because 2010 Heineken Cup winners Toulouse were already qualified for this season's Heineken Cup by virtue of their fourth-place regular-season finish in the 2009–10 Top 14, the extra place for France went to seventh-placed Biarritz (who were also Toulouse's defeated opponent in the Heineken Cup Final). Because Amlin Challenge Cup winners Cardiff Blues were already qualified for the Heineken Cup by finishing second among the four Welsh teams in the 2009–10 Celtic League, the extra Welsh place went to the lowest-placed Welsh team in the league, Scarlets.

England France Wales Ireland Italy Scotland

Seeding

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The seeding system was the same as in the 2009–10 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.[4] The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applies (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh French team).[5]

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2009–10 season. Aironi inherited the ranking of Viadana, the principal shareholders in the new Celtic League team.

Tier 1   Munster (1)   Toulouse (2)   Leinster (3)   Leicester Tigers (4)   Biarritz (5)   Cardiff Blues (6)
Tier 2   London Wasps (7)   Clermont (9)   Ospreys (10)   Northampton Saints (11)   Bath (12)   Scarlets (13)
Tier 3   Perpignan (15)   London Irish (16)   Saracens (17)   Ulster (19)   Glasgow Warriors (21)   Edinburgh (23)
Tier 4   Newport Gwent Dragons (24)   Benetton Treviso (28)   Castres (29)   Toulon (30)   Aironi (34)   Racing Métro (40)

Pool stage

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The draw for the pool stage took place on 8 June 2010.

Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, tiebreakers within each pool are as follows.[6]

  • 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
     Winner of each pool, and best two pool runners-up, advance to quarter-finals. 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
  Northampton Saints (1) 6 6 0 0 16 7 +9 155 87 +68 1 0 25
  Cardiff Blues 6 3 0 3 6 8 −2 107 113 −6 0 2 14
  Castres 6 2 0 4 10 12 −2 105 115 −10 0 3 11
  Edinburgh 6 1 0 5 10 15 −5 98 150 −52 0 4 8

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
  Leinster (2) 6 5 0 1 21 9 +12 179 104 +75 3 1 24
  Clermont [6] 6 4 0 2 14 9 +5 114 94 +20 2 1 19
  Racing Métro 6 2 0 4 9 17 −8 104 151 −47 0 1 9
  Saracens 6 1 0 5 9 18 −9 107 155 −48 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
  Toulon (6) 6 4 0 2 13 13 0 143 134 +9 1 0 17
  Munster [7] 6 3 0 3 17 9 +8 143 122 +21 2 2 16
  Ospreys 6 3 0 3 7 11 −4 117 113 +4 0 2 14
  London Irish 6 2 0 4 9 13 −4 107 141 −34 0 1 9

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
  Biarritz (4) 6 4 0 2 16 9 +7 140 85 +55 4 2 22
  Ulster (8) 6 5 0 1 15 8 +7 145 93 +52 2 0 22
  Bath 6 2 0 4 20 8 +12 147 108 +39 2 4 14
  Aironi 6 1 0 5 4 30 −26 65 211 −146 0 0 4

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
  Perpignan (3) 6 4 1 1 23 9 +14 196 112 +84 4 0 22
  Leicester Tigers (7) 6 4 1 1 25 10 +15 215 118 +97 3 1 22
  Scarlets 6 3 0 3 16 24 −8 149 191 −42 3 0 15
  Benetton Treviso 6 0 0 6 11 32 −21 109 248 −139 0 1 1

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
  Toulouse (5) 6 5 0 1 15 6 +10 155 85 +70 1 1 22
  London Wasps [5] 6 4 0 2 15 6 +8 145 106 +59 2 1 19
  Glasgow Warriors 6 3 0 3 10 15 −5 116 141 −25 0 0 12
  Newport Gwent Dragons 6 0 0 6 5 18 −13 77 161 −84 0 2 2

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   Northampton Saints 25 16 +68
2   Leinster 24 21 +75
3   Perpignan 22 23 +84
4   Biarritz 22 16 +55
5   Toulouse 22 15 +70
6   Toulon 17 11 +21
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/−
7   Leicester Tigers 22 25 +97
8   Ulster 22 15 +52
5C   London Wasps 19 15 +39
6C   Clermont 19 14 +20
7C   Munster 16 17 +21
  Cardiff Blues 14 6 −6

Knockout stage

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The semi-final draw for both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup was conducted on 23 January at the press box of Adams Park in High Wycombe shortly after the London Wasps–Toulouse match.

All times are local times.

Quarter-finals

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9 April 2011
16:30
Perpignan  29–25  Toulon
Try: Planté 51' c
Freshwater 73' c
Con: Porical (2/2)
Pen: Porical (5/8) 30', 37', 42', 62', 68'
ReportTry: Smith 39' m
van Niekerk 53' c
Cibray 80'+1' c
Con: Wilkinson (2/3)
Pen: Wilkinson (2/2) 3', 35'
Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, Barcelona, Spain
Attendance: 55,000
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

9 April 2011
18:00
Leinster  17–10  Leicester Tigers
Try: Nacewa 48' m
Pen: Sexton (4/4) 3', 15' 36', 73'
ReportTry: Hawkins 76' c
Con: Flood (1/1)
Pen: Flood (1/2) 5'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 49,762
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

10 April 2011
14:00
Northampton Saints  23–13  Ulster
Try: Tongaʻuiha 2' c
Dickson 55' c
Con: Myler (2/2) 3', 56'
Pen: Myler (3/5) 40', 48', 65'
ReportTry: Trimble 32' c
Con: Humphreys (1/1) 33'
Pen: Humphreys (2/2) 7', 14'
Stadium:mk, Milton Keynes[7]
Attendance: 21,309
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

10 April 2011
17:30
Biarritz  20 – 27 (a.e.t)  Toulouse
Try: Bolakoro 78' m
Pen: Yachvili (5/6) 41', 46', 57', 67', 97'
ReportTry: Heymans 16' c
Médard 26' c
Nyanga 99' c
Con: Skrela (2/2)
Bézy (1/1)
Pen: Skrela (2/2) 36', 83'
Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastián, Spain
Attendance: 32,051
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Semi-finals

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30 April 2011
15:30 (UTC)
Leinster  32–23  Toulouse
Try: Heaslip 30' c
O'Driscoll 59' c
Con: Sexton (2/2)
Pen: Sexton (6/6) 10', 14', 40'+1', 47', 54', 80'
ReportTry: Fritz 4' c
Picamoles 43' c
Con: Skrela (2/2)
Pen: Skrela (1/2) 37'
Bézy (1/1) 75'
Drop: Skrela (1/1) 11'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 50,073
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

1 May 2011
15:00 (UTC)
Northampton Saints  23–7  Perpignan
Try: Foden 14' c
Clarke 30' c
Con: Myler (2/2)
Pen: Myler (3/5) 24', 37', 49'
ReportTry: Guirado 39' c
Con: Porical (1/1)
Drop: Laharrague (0/1)
Stadium:mk, Milton Keynes
Attendance: 18,231
Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)

Final

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21 May 2011
17:00
Northampton Saints  22–33  Leinster
Try: Dowson 7' c
Foden 30' c
Hartley 39' m
Con: Myler (2/3)
Pen: Myler (1/1) 20'
ReportTry: Sexton (2) 43' c, 52' c
Hines 64' c
Con: Sexton (3/3)
Pen: Sexton (4/5) 13', 35', 56', 60'
Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance: 72,456
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

Individual statistics

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Top points scorers

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Final Standings (correct as of 21 May 2011)

Pos Player Team Points
1   Johnny Sexton   Leinster 138
2   Stephen Myler   Northampton Saints 101
3   David Skrela   Toulouse 94
4   Jérôme Porical   Perpignan 86
5   Dimitri Yachvili   Biarritz 80
6   Ian Humphreys   Ulster 72
7   Ruaridh Jackson   Glasgow Warriors 71
8   Dave Walder   London Wasps 70
  Jonny Wilkinson   Toulon 70
10   Toby Flood   Leicester Tigers 67

[8]

Top try scorers

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Final Standings (Correct as of 21 May 2011)

Pos Player Team Tries
1   Paul Diggin   Northampton Saints 6
2   Matt Banahan   Bath 5
  Tommaso Benvenuti   Benetton Treviso 5
  Tom Biggs   Bath 5
  Thierry Dusautoir   Toulouse 5
  Takudzwa Ngwenya   Biarritz 5
  Johnny Sexton   Leinster 5
8   Ben Foden   Northampton Saints 4
  Seán O'Brien   Leinster 4
  Andrew Trimble   Ulster 4
  Alesana Tuilagi   Leicester Tigers 4
  Tom Varndell   London Wasps 4

[9]

See also

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2010–11 Amlin Challenge Cup

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References

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  1. ^ BBC Sport
  2. ^ "Shock turns to awe as Leinster join immortals". Irish Independent. 22 May 2011. Retrieved 24 May 2011.
  3. ^ McNally, Frank. "Lions of Leinster perform miracle with belated roar". The Irish Times.
  4. ^ "ERC European Rankings (May 2009)". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on 6 May 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  5. ^ "ERC Draw Regulations (May 2009)". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on June 20, 2008. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  6. ^ "Key Tournament Rules". European Rugby Cup. Archived from the original on 8 October 2010. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
  7. ^ Northampton forced to move Ulster tie to Milton Keynes – BBC Sport
  8. ^ "Points". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-30.
  9. ^ "Tries". itsrugby.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-30.