Following the completion of the Pool stages of the 2004 / 2005 Heineken Cup tournament, the six nations who have teams in the 2005 / 2006 competition will have at least the following representation:
ENGLAND - 6 teams (Five by right + 1 meritocracy)
FRANCE - 6 teams (Five by right + 1 meritocracy)
IRELAND - 3 teams (Two by right + 1 meritocracy)
WALES - 3 teams (Three by right)
SCOTLAND - 2 teams (Two by right)
ITALY - 2 teams (Two by right)
ERC, the tournament organisers, devised the following system for allocation of the final two places in the 24 for the 2005 / 2006 tournament.
a) The 23rd place would go to the most successful nation in this season's competition from England, France and Italy. Following Italy's failure to have a team qualifying for the knock-out stages, this is now a straight contest between England and France as to which of them will be offered a seventh team in the 11th season of the Heineken Cup.
Ireland, Scotland and Wales did not come into the reckoning for the 23rd place, but are in contention for the 24th spot via the Celtic League.
b) The 24th place will go to the winners of a play-off between the highest placed non-Heineken Cup qualifying team from Scotland, Ireland or Wales in the 2004 / 2005 Celtic League and the third-placed side in the 2004 / 2005 Italian Championship. This game will be played the weekend after the 2005 Heineken Cup final (27, 28 or 29 May) at a venue in Italy.
