The landmark 15th season of Heineken Cup rugby will feature a number of changes and initiatives
WINNERS
The winner of the Heineken Cup final at Stade de France on Saturday, 22 May, 2010, will automatically qualify for the 2010/11 tournament. The winners will also earn their nation an additional place in the tournament. The same applies to the winners of the newly titled Amlin Challenge Cup. However, England and France, who have six automatic places, will be capped at a maximum of seven teams, so if either country wins both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup the second additional spot will pass to the club with the highest ERC European Ranking who has not qualified from any of the other five nations.
PARTNERS
ERC, the tournament organisers, are delighted to welcome new commercial partners adidas - official ball and apparel supplier to the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup - and Amlin, title partners of the Amlin Challenge Cup and an Heineken Cup premium partner.
AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP
The knock-out stages of the Amlin Challenge Cup will include three teams who will qualify through the Heineken Cup. The third, fourth and fifth ranked Heineken Cup Pool runners-up will meet the five Amlin Challenge Cup Pool winners, the top four Amlin Challenge Cup Pool winners enjoying home advantage in the quarter-finals.
ERC 15 AWARDS
To celebrate 15 seasons of European club rugby, ERC will be seeking to engage with fans, former players, broadcasters and the media in identifying some of the great games, players, coaches and standout moments that have combined to make European rugby so exciting over the last 14 seasons. The ERC 15 awards programme will be rolled out throughout the season honouring the ERC 15 best coach, best XV, best player and best final, among other awards, based on the action since 1995/96.
MATCH-DAY SQUADS
Both ERC tournaments will operate with up to 23-man match-day squads. Each club has registered up to 38 players for the Pool stages of which a minimum of 10 were front row qualified. Each match day squad must contain a minimum of three specialist front row players within the named eight replacements comprising two props and a hooker. If all front row replacements have been used, and there is a further front row injury, and no fit front row player is available from the original starting team or replacement bench, the injured player may not be replaced and his team reduced to 14 players.
DISCIPLINE
Independent Disciplinary hearings for ERC tournaments will be heard by single independent Judicial Officers selected from the ERC independent Disciplinary panel, replacing the three-man Disciplinary Committees system. A smaller elite panel of Judicial officers will be in line with ERC's policy of providing consistency and expediency in disciplinary matters. Independent Appeal hearings will continue to be heard by three-man panels.
PLACE KICKING COMPETITION
Following feedback from the European clubs, fans and the media after last season's Heineken Cup semi-final between Leicester Tigers and Cardiff Blues, which was decided by a place kicking competition, ERC has moved to revise the place-kick format.
If a place kicking competition is required to decide the winner of a knock-out match each team will nominate three kickers from the players on the pitch at the end of extra time. They will each take three kicks along the 22 metre line and if still undecided, sudden death using these kickers only will be used to determine the winner.
EUROPEAN SCHEDULING AND HEINEKEN CUP FINAL
The European weekends for the next three seasons have now been confirmed and agreed by all European Rugby stakeholders. ERC is now inviting tender proposals to host the 2011 and 2012 Heineken Cup finals with a view to confirming both finals by May, 2010.
