With the final round of the Pool stage coming up this weekend, here is a run down of the Tournament Rules concerning qualification for the knockout-phase of the Heineken Cup
HOW THEY QUALIFY FOR THE QUARTER-FINALS
POOL MATCHES
Four points for a win, two points for a draw (match points). A bonus point will be earned by a team scoring four or more tries and by a team losing by seven or less points. The six Pool winners and two best placed runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals and will be decided by the following criteria:
(i) the Pool winner will be the Club with the highest number of match points earned in each Pool. The runners-up will be the two second placed Clubs from all six Pools with the next highest number of points. For the quarter-final round, the Pool winners will be ranked 1 - 6 in terms of the number of points earned. The runners-up will be ranked 7 and 8.
CLUBS IN THE SAME POOL
(ii) if two or more Clubs are equal on points and the Clubs are in the same Pool, then qualification / ranking will be based on the matches played between the Clubs concerned:
(a) the Club which has earned the most number of match points from the matches
(b) the Club which has scored the most tries in the matches
(c) the Club with the best aggregate points difference from the matches
CLUBS FROM DIFFERENT POOLS
(iii) if still unresolved, or the teams have not played each other previously in the Pool stage, qualification / ranking will be based on:
(a) the number of tries scored in all Pool matches
(b) aggregate points difference from all Pool matches
(c) the Club with the fewest number of players sent off and / or suspended in all Pool
matches
(d) toss of a coin
Teams ranked 1-4 will have home advantage. The quarter-finals will be:
Team 1 v Team 8; Team 2 v Team 7; Team 3 v Team 6; Team 4 v Team 5
BEST RUNNERS-UP
The format of the two best runners-up qualifying for the quarter-finals as the No 7 and No 8 ranked teams has been in operation since the 1999/00 season - with bonus points coming into the equation in season 2003/04.
Since then, no team has qualified as a best runner up with less than 19 points although in 2003/04 Celtic Warriors and in 2006/07 the Ospreys both discovered that even 20 points was not sufficient to make the knock-out stages.
