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Brewery giant Heineken is once again the sponsor of the European Cup. Munster won the competition in 2006. The final was played at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff. Previous finals have been played in France, England, Wales and Ireland.
In advance of the start of the competition, Sky Sports' rugby expert
Stuart Barnes was seen to comment on the Competition's Official Web Site:
He said: "It is growing into a quite magnificent tournament with the
colour, power and finesse of the French challenge, the professional determination
and organisation (too much perhaps?) of the English, the potential of the
Welsh, the enthusiasm of Treviso from Italy, the eternal Munster Odyssey
that would have Odysseus himself wondering if he'll ever make his final
destination and the quiet optimism of Scotland where Frank Hadden's presence
as national coach and the much respected Todd Blackadder at Edinburgh have
them hoping for better things north of the border. Unfortunately for Edinburgh,
they have drawn Wasps and Toulouse, not to mention the Scarlets. Qualification
would be an amazing achievement; a few wins would be excellent while player
development will be expected. That is how the tournament functions, on
many levels. The Italian teams need the oxygen of this high octane tournament
to help their best learn to play at test match pace, while the clubs of
England and France seek victory, however it comes.
Planet Rugby have a special web site dedicated to the competition as do Scrum.com
The Official Site of European Rugby can be found at www.ercrugby.com
Once again, the teams were devided into Six Pools for the initial stages of the tournament. The six Pool winners and two best placed runners-up* qualified for the quarter-finals, thus eight teams in all. (*ERC had said that no sides placed third in their Pool can qualify as a "runner-up"). The Pool winner was the club with the highest number of Pool points within that Pool.
The best placed runners-up were the two clubs from all the six Pools with the highest number of Pool points.
Pool 1
Castres Olympique
Dragons
Munster
Sale Sharks
Pool 2
Calvisano
Cardiff Blues
Leeds Tykes
Perpignan
Pool 3
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Leicester Tigers
Ospreys
Stade Francais
Pool 4
Benetton Treviso
Biarritz Olympique
Saracens
Ulster
Pool 5
Bath Rugby
Bourgoin
Glasgow Warriors
Leinster
Pool 6
Edinburgh Gunners
Llanelli Scarlets
London Wasps
Toulouse
Results
Group 1
21/01/2006 Gwent Dragons 28-17 Castres
21/01/2006 Munster 31-9 Sale Sharks
15/01/2006 Sale Sharks 30-10 Gwent Dragons
13/01/2006 Castres 9-46 Munster
17/12/2005 Munster 30-18 Gwent Dragons
16/12/2005 Sale Sharks 35-3 Castres
10/12/2005 Gwent Dragons 8-24 Munster
09/12/2005 Castres 16-20 Sale Sharks
29/10/2005 Munster 42-16 Castres
28/10/2005 Gwent Dragons 11-38 Sale Sharks
22/10/2005 Castres 29-24 Gwent Dragons
21/10/2005 Sale Sharks 27-13 Munster
Group 2
21/01/2006 Leeds Tykes 48-3 Cardiff Blues
21/01/2006 Perpignan 45-0 Calvisano
15/01/2006 Calvisano 0-0 Leeds Tykes
14/01/2006 Cardiff Blues 3-21 Perpignan
17/12/2005 Perpignan 12-8 Leeds Tykes
17/12/2005 Cardiff Blues 43-16 Calvisano
11/12/2005 Leeds Tykes 21-20 Perpignan
10/12/2005 Calvisano 10-25 Cardiff Blues
28/10/2005 Leeds Tykes 33-16 Calvisano
28/10/2005 Perpignan 37-14 Cardiff Blues
22/10/2005 Cardiff Blues 40-13 Leeds Tykes
22/10/2005 Calvisano 6-25 Perpignan
Group 3
20/01/2006 Montferrand 27-40 Leicester Tigers
20/01/2006 Stade Francais 43-10 Ospreys
15/01/2006 Leicester Tigers 29-22 Stade Francais
14/01/2006 Ospreys 26-12 Montferrand
18/12/2005 Ospreys 15-17 Leicester Tigers
17/12/2005 Stade Francais 47-28 Montferrand
11/12/2005 Leicester Tigers 30-12 Ospreys
10/12/2005 Montferrand 12-16 Stade Francais
30/10/2005 Montferrand 34-14 Ospreys
29/10/2005 Stade Francais 12-6 Leicester Tigers
23/10/2005 Ospreys 13-8 Stade Francais
22/10/2005 Leicester Tigers 57-23 Montferrand
Group 4
21/01/2006 Benetton Treviso 26-43 Ulster
21/01/2006 Biarritz 43-13 Saracens
15/01/2006 Saracens 35-30 Benetton Treviso
13/01/2006 Ulster 8-24 Biarritz
17/12/2005 Saracens 18-10 Ulster
17/12/2005 Benetton Treviso 24-38 Biarritz
11/12/2005 Biarritz 34-7 Benetton Treviso
09/12/2005 Ulster 19-10 Saracens
29/10/2005 Biarritz 33-19 Ulster
29/10/2005 Benetton Treviso 17-30 Saracens
23/10/2005 Saracens 22-10 Biarritz
21/10/2005 Ulster 27-0 Benetton Treviso
Group 5
14/01/2006 Leinster 46-22 Glasgow Rugby
13/01/2006 Bourgoin 9-22 Bath Rugby
17/12/2005 Bourgoin 30-28 Leinster
17/12/2005 Glasgow Rugby 10-29 Bath Rugby
10/12/2005 Leinster 53-7 Bourgoin
10/12/2005 Bath Rugby 31-26 Glasgow Rugby
30/10/2005 Glasgow Rugby 20-33 Leinster
29/10/2005 Bath Rugby 39-12 Bourgoin
22/10/2005 Leinster 19-22 Bath Rugby
21/10/2005 Bourgoin 16-3 Glasgow Rugby
Group 6
21/01/2006 Llanelli 42-49 Toulouse
21/01/2006 London Wasps 53-17 Edinburgh
14/01/2006 Edinburgh 33-32 Llanelli
14/01/2006 Toulouse 19-13 London Wasps
17/12/2005 London Wasps 48-14 Llanelli
16/12/2005 Toulouse 35-13 Edinburgh
11/12/2005 Llanelli 21-13 London Wasps
10/12/2005 Edinburgh 13-20 Toulouse
30/10/2005 London Wasps 15-15 Toulouse
29/10/2005 Llanelli 15-13 Edinburgh
23/10/2005 Edinburgh 32-31 London Wasps
22/10/2005 Toulouse 50-28 Llanelli
Quarter final
01/04/2006 Biarritz 11-6 Sale Sharks
01/04/2006 Leicester Tigers 12-15 Bath Rugby
01/04/2006 Toulouse 35-41 Leinster
01/04/2006 Munster 19-10 Perpignan
SEMI-FINALs
22/4/06 Biarritz Olympique 18-9 Bath Rugby
23/4/06 Leinster 6-30 Munster
CARDIFF '06 HEINEKEN CUP FINAL
Biarritz Olympique19 Munster 23
The 11th Heineken Cup Final was played at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on Saturday, 20 May.
For details of the previous European Cup competitions See below:
European Cup 2005
European Cup 2004
European Cup 2003
European Cup 2002
European Cup 2001
European Cup 2000