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A new innovation is the ability for clubs to include an "Additional Player" to their squads to help ease injury or selection worries during the Pool stages.
This additional player must be properly registered with the club and must replace one of their existing players, who will then be de-registered. The de-registered may return to replace the additional player.
There has also been a change to the rules regarding abandoned matches.
For games abandoned after 60 minutes of play (20 minutes into second half) the result will stand. Games abandoned before 60 minutes should be replayed or where both Clubs agree and subject to ERC Board approval the result may stand.
The 24 Heineken Cup clubs attracted record attendances of 659,804 for the Pool stages of last season's tournament. The total attendance figure for the tournament of 964,653 for the 79 matches was highest in the tournament's history.
Munster will be aiming to become only the third club in the history of the Heineken Cup to host more than 400,000 fans at home matches this season. Leicester Tigers lead the way with 458,264 fans at Welford Road and the Walkers Stadium and Toulouse have attracted 454,627 to Stade Ernest Wallon and Le Stadium.
Munster, who meet Bourgoin, Cardiff Blues and Leicester Tigers at Thomond Park this season, have attracted 374,685 fans to their 34 home games to date (Pool matches and quarter-finals only) at an average of just over 11,000.
Home gates for the three Irish provinces in the Heineken Cup broke through the 1 million mark last season and Leinster (337,091) could also reach 400,000 this season and Ulster (292,675) will go through 300,000 in their first home game.
