HEINEKEN CUP NEWS:A THIRD Irish Heineken Cup win in a row next year would pave the way for Connacht to enter the competition in the autumn of 2010, after amendments to the qualification format were revealed by the ERC yesterday. Under new rules, the winners of both the European Challenge Cup (ECC) and the Heineken Cup (HEC) will secure an additional place in the latter for a team from their country.
With Ireland having three HEC spots guaranteed, a successful Leinster defence, a third win for Munster or another for 1999 champions Ulster, would afford Connacht a taste at the top table of European rugby.
Michael Bradley’s side could also qualify by winning the ECC, but after amendments were made to its format, it has become a more difficult competition to win.
Connacht were drawn in pool two yesterday, alongside last year’s semi-finalists Worcester Warriors, French club Montpellier and Spanish invitational team Olympus Rugby XV Madrid.
Only one team will emerge from each pool from now on and then a meeting with a Heineken Cup side could await.
The five pool winners will be joined by the three Heineken Cup teams that finish as third, fourth and fifth-best runners-up in their respective pools.
The top four ECC pool winners will have home advantage in the quarter-finals, with the best of them welcoming the fifth-best and the other three hosting the Heineken Cup sides. If Connacht were to win the ECC, while the other Irish sides claimed their places, the additional spot would be awarded to the highest-ranked European team not to qualify.
The rankings system was also amended yesterday, to grant the ECC winner six points rather than five and the European champions up to 11, depending on how they finish in their pool. The three Heineken Cup teams that end up in the ECC will carry over three points and win another for each round in which they progress, adding to a total of six.
EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP 2009/10: Pool 1: Bourgoin, Leeds Carnegie, Overmach Rugby Parma, Bucuresti Oaks. Pool 2: Worcester Warriors, Connacht Rugby, Montpellier, Olympus Rugby XV Madrid. PooL 3: Saracens, Castres Olympique, Toulon, Rugby Rovigo. PooL 4: London Wasps, Rugby Calvisano, Bayonne, Racing-Metro 92. PooL 5: Newcastle Falcons, Montauban, Petrarca Rugby, Albi.
Round one begins on October 8th, 2009.
