2011–12 Heineken Cup

The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.

The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).

2011–12 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries2011–12 Heineken Cup England
2011–12 Heineken Cup France
2011–12 Heineken Cup Ireland
2011–12 Heineken Cup Italy
2011–12 Heineken Cup Scotland
2011–12 Heineken Cup Wales
Tournament format(s)Round-robin and Knockout
Date11 November 2011 – 19 May 2012
Tournament statistics
Teams24
Matches played79
Attendance1,172,127 (14,837 per match)
Tries scored320 (4.05 per match)
Top point scorer(s)Johnny Sexton (Leinster)
(103 points)
Top try scorer(s)Timoci Matanavou (Toulouse)
(8 tries)
Final
VenueTwickenham, London
Attendance81,774
ChampionsIreland Leinster (3rd title)
Runners-upIreland Ulster
← 2010–11 (Previous)
(Next) 2012–13 →

Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellow Pro12 and Irish side Ulster 42–14. The victory gave Leinster their third Heineken Cup title in four years – a run of success unprecedented in the competition's history.

Teams

The default allocation of teams is as follows:

  • England: 6 teams, based on performance in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup
  • France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Top 14
  • Ireland: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League
  • Wales: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League
  • Italy and Scotland: 2 teams each, based on participation in the Celtic League (although there are only 2 from each nation)

The remaining two places are filled by the winners of the previous year's Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. If the cup winners are already qualified through their domestic league, an additional team from their country will claim a Heineken Cup place (assuming another team is available). Accordingly, Harlequins claimed the Challenge Cup winner's berth, and since Heineken Cup winners Leinster were already domestically qualified, the extra Irish berth went to Connacht.

England France Ireland Wales Italy Scotland

Seeding

The seeding system was the same as in the 2010–11 tournament. The 24 competing teams are ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each pool receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier. The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applies (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Tier 1 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Leinster (1) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Toulouse (2) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Munster (3) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Cardiff Blues (4) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Biarritz (5) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Leicester Tigers (6)
Tier 2 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Northampton (7) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Clermont Auvergne (10) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Ospreys (11) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Bath (12) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Harlequins (13) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  London Irish (15)
Tier 3 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Ulster (16) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Saracens (17) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Gloucester (18) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Glasgow (20) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Scarlets (21) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Edinburgh (24)
Tier 4 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Connacht (25) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Benetton Treviso (30) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Castres (31) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Montpellier (32) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Racing Métro (33) 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Aironi (37)

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 7 June 2011.

Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, tiebreakers within each pool are as follows.

  • Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
  • Total tries scored in head-to-head matches
  • Point differential in head-to-head matches

ERC has four additional tiebreakers, used if tied teams are in different pools, or if the above steps cannot break a tie between teams in the same pool:

  • Tries scored in all pool matches
  • Point differential in all pool matches
  • Best disciplinary record (fewest players receiving red or yellow cards in all pool matches)
  • Coin toss
Key to colours
     Pool winners, and the two best pool runners-up, advance to quarterfinals.
     Third-, fourth- and fifth-highest-scoring second-place teams parachute into the knockout stage
of the European Challenge Cup.

Pool 1

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Munster 6 6 0 0 14 10 +4 163 118 +45 1 0 25
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Scarlets 6 3 0 3 12 9 +3 119 124 −5 1 2 15
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Northampton Saints 6 2 0 4 18 16 +2 176 160 +16 2 2 12
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Castres 6 1 0 5 10 19 −9 111 167 −56 1 2 7

Pool 2

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Edinburgh 6 5 0 1 17 11 +6 156 138 +18 2 0 22
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Cardiff Blues 6 5 0 1 9 5 +4 145 110 +35 0 1 21
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Racing Métro 6 1 0 5 13 19 −6 160 190 −30 1 4 9
2011–12 Heineken Cup  London Irish 6 1 0 5 7 11 −4 116 139 −23 1 4 9

Pool 3

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Leinster 6 5 1 0 18 7 +11 172 88 +84 2 0 24
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Glasgow Warriors 6 2 1 3 8 12 −4 106 133 −27 0 2 12
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Bath 6 2 0 4 11 15 −4 122 151 −29 0 3 11
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Montpellier 6 1 2 3 8 11 −3 84 112 −28 0 2 10

Pool 4

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Clermont Auvergne 6 4 0 2 26 5 +21 215 69 +146 2 2 20
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Ulster 6 4 0 2 16 8 +8 158 87 +71 3 1 20
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Leicester Tigers 6 4 0 2 13 8 +5 123 117 +6 1 0 17
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Aironi 6 0 0 6 4 38 −34 51 274 −223 0 0 0

Pool 5

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Saracens 6 5 0 1 13 10 +3 145 107 +38 1 1 22
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Biarritz 6 3 0 3 18 7 +11 143 105 +38 3 3 18
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Ospreys 6 2 1 3 13 16 −3 142 147 −5 1 2 13
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Benetton Treviso 6 1 1 4 12 23 −11 122 193 −71 0 0 6

Pool 6

Team P W D L Tries for Tries against Try diff Points for Points against Points diff TB LB Pts
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Toulouse 6 4 0 2 16 11 +5 150 105 +45 1 1 18
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Harlequins 6 4 0 2 11 7 +4 122 94 +28 0 1 17
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Gloucester 6 3 0 3 10 12 −2 111 122 −11 1 2 15
2011–12 Heineken Cup  Connacht 6 1 0 5 5 12 −7 68 130 −62 0 2 6

Seeding and runners-up

  • Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarterfinal seeding.
  • Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarterfinal seeding.
Seed Pool Winners Pts TF +/−
1 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Munster 25 14 +45
2 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Leinster 24 18 +84
3 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Edinburgh 22 17 +18
4 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Saracens 22 13 +38
5 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Clermont Auvergne 20 26 +146
6 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Toulouse 18 16 +45
Seed Pool Runners-up Pts TF +/−
7 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Cardiff Blues 21 9 +35
8 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Ulster 20 16 +71
5C 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Biarritz 18 18 +42
6C 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Harlequins 17 11 +28
7C 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Scarlets 15 12 −5
- 2011–12 Heineken Cup  Glasgow Warriors 12 12 −27

Knock-out stages

Quarter-finals

7 April 2012
15:00 BST
Edinburgh 2011–12 Heineken Cup 19–142011–12 Heineken Cup  Toulouse
Try: Blair 1' c
Con: Laidlaw (1/1)
Pen: Laidlaw (3/4) 46', 51', 80'
Drop: Laidlaw (1/1) 38'
ReportTry: Matanavou 30' m
Pen: Beauxis (3/5) 5', 19', 28'
Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance: 37,881
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

7 April 2012
17:45 IST
Leinster 2011–12 Heineken Cup 34–32011–12 Heineken Cup  Cardiff Blues
Try: Nacewa 12' c
Kearney (2) 30' c, 41' c
O'Driscoll 34' c
Con: Sexton (4/4)
Pen: Sexton (2/3) 8', 23'
ReportPen: Halfpenny (1/1) 2'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 50,340
Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

8 April 2012
13:45 IST
Munster 2011–12 Heineken Cup 16–222011–12 Heineken Cup  Ulster
Try: Zebo 34' c
Con: O'Gara (1/1)
Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 40', 49', 61'
ReportTry: Gilroy 16' c
Con: Pienaar (1/1)
Pen: Pienaar (4/5) 5', 11', 20', 59'
Drop: Humphreys (1/1) 32'
Thomond Park, Limerick
Attendance: 26,500
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

8 April 2012
16:30 BST
Saracens 2011–12 Heineken Cup 3–222011–12 Heineken Cup  Clermont Auvergne
Pen: Farrell (1/2) 16'ReportTry: Byrne 43' c
Con: James (1/1)
Pen: James (4/6) 7', 11', 13', 55'
Drop: James (1/1) 49'
Vicarage Road, Watford
Attendance: 11,047
Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Semi-finals

28 April 2012
17:45 IST
Ulster 2011–12 Heineken Cup 22–192011–12 Heineken Cup  Edinburgh
Try: Wannenburg 15' c
Con: Pienaar (1/1)
Pen: Pienaar (5/5) 5', 38', 58', 63', 75'
ReportTry: Thompson 80' c
Con: Laidlaw (1/1)
Pen: Laidlaw (4/4) 9', 11', 40', 45'
Aviva Stadium, Dublin
Attendance: 45,147
Referee: Romain Poite (France)

29 April 2012
16:00 HAEC
Clermont Auvergne 2011–12 Heineken Cup 15–192011–12 Heineken Cup  Leinster
Pen: James (5/6) 17', 31', 36', 39', 52'ReportTry: Healy 41' c
Con: Sexton (1/1)
Pen: Sexton (3/4) 7', 34', 62'
Drop: Kearney (1/1) 46'
Sexton (0/1)
Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux
Attendance: 32,397
Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

Final

19 May 2012
17:00 BST
Leinster 2011–12 Heineken Cup 42–142011–12 Heineken Cup  Ulster
Try: O'Brien 12' c
Healy 31' c
penalty try 44' c
van der Merwe 76' m
Cronin 80' c
Con: Sexton (3/3)
McFadden (1/2)
Pen: Sexton (3/4) 51', 67', 73'
ReportTry: Tuohy 60' m
Pen: Pienaar (3/3) 7', 40', 49'
Twickenham Stadium, London
Attendance: 81,774
Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

References

Tags:

2011–12 Heineken Cup Teams2011–12 Heineken Cup Seeding2011–12 Heineken Cup Pool stage2011–12 Heineken Cup Knock-out stages2011–12 Heineken Cup

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