Points requirement:Under the current format, it is an immensely difficult task to reach the knockout stages of the Heineken European Cup.
Munster, Toulouse and Wasps have all lifted the trophy since the new, and ever so complicated, qualification system was introduced in the 2003/04 season. Four of the Pool runners-up fail to progress each year, making it paramount to amass additional bonus points, for tries scored and for staying within a converted try in defeat.
Just ask Ulster, who have failed to make it past the group stages since winning the competition in 1999, when the English clubs declined to enter the fray. After a narrow defeat to London Irish last Saturday, they are bottom of Pool Five so even three bonus point victories may not be enough for them to move forward.
Munster's remarkable ability to win on the road puts them on an elite plane, although Leinster have started to address this handicap with valuable victories in recent seasons at Bath and Toulouse.
In a huge compliment to Munster, English clubs Sale (23 points) and Gloucester (24 points) amassed enough points to win most pools only to be edged into second, and the inevitable away quarter-final, after two epic defeats at Thomond Park in recent times.
So what must a team do to qualify in the two runners-up slots? Losing only one game and racking up a hatful of tries helps, although last season Leinster proved that two defeats does not necessarily end a campaign if bonus points can be salvaged in defeat. Scoring 28 tries also helps. Leinster amassed six of their 22 points from the bonus system. They even managed to commit the cardinal sin of losing at home to Bath in round one last season.
Leicester pulled off a similar trick in 2004/05 losing home and away to Biarritz before sneaking into the quarter-finals.
The presence of Europe's whipping boys in a pool, like the Italian teams Parma, Calvisano and Treviso or previously Glasgow, before they were demoted to the Challenge Cup, also provides handy five-point games in a competition that is anything but easy to negotiate.
