NEWS: MUNSTER HAVE been officially named the top-ranked rugby team in Europe. With the inaugural ERC European Rankings released yesterday, Declan Kidney's side have, based on performance over the past four seasons, come out ahead of second-placed Toulouse, third-placed Biarritz Olympique and fourth-placed Leicester.
Leinster come in as the seventh-ranked team of the 40 listed.
The former cup winners Ulster are ranked 21st.
The timing should be of some motivational benefit as Munster face into their Heineken Cup quarter-final next week against Gloucester.
If they lose in Kingsholm the rankings could change and that would have a knock-on effect for next season, when the draw for the composition of the pools for the competition will be based on the new, merit-based rankings.
But for this summer's Heineken Cup draw, Munster will be one of the six seeded sides, with Leinster falling just outside.
The change is designed to eliminate imbalances that have created so-called "pools of death". In the past, for example, Munster have been paired with Wasps, now ranked sixth, and Toulouse have been paired with Leicester.
The system apportions an increasing number of points from pool positions all the way up to winning the trophy. Teams can earn between one and 11 points each season in the Heineken Cup and up to five points in the European Challenge Cup. Those points then go toward the four-season roll-over rankings.
Munster top the league on the strength of their last four seasons.
In 2004-2005 they earned five points for a quarter-final. The following season they earned the maximum 11 points for beating Biarritz in the final. They collecting four points in 2006-2007 and five points so far this season.
The 24 competing teams will continue to qualify through their domestic tournaments and will then, for the purposes of the pool draw, be awarded different points for their finishing positions over the previous four seasons.
The rankings will then establish four tiers of six teams each, with the reigning Heineken Cup champions automatically going into top spot of Tier One along with Europe's other, currently, most successful teams.
The draw for next season, which is scheduled to take place in June, will distribute one team from each of the four tiers into each of the six pools.
As before, Munster cannot be drawn in a pool with Leinster. No teams from the same country will be drawn in the same pool of the Heineken Cup, the possible exception being when one country has seven teams, as has happened with England and France.
Under the new system teams will have stronger incentives than heretofore to finish in the highest possible position, irrespective of whether they have qualified for the knock-out stages.
"We believe this new ranking system to be a major and important step forward in the ongoing development and growth of European club rugby's premier tournaments, a bold move that reflects the positive thinking of those involved in the ERC competitions following the signing of the recent 2007 Accord," said the ERC chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux.
"European results have become the accepted yardstick by which clubs judge themselves and now those same results will have a direct bearing on their European rankings as we look forward to the initiative enhancing both tournaments in the seasons ahead."
ERC Rankings How they stand
1 Munster 25pts
2 Toulouse 24
3 Biarritz Olympique 24
4 Leicester23
5 Stade Français 20
6 Wasps 18
7 Leinster 18
8 Gloucester 15
9 Perpignan15
10 Bath 14
21 Ulster 7
• Points available per season: fourth in pool 1 pt; third in pool 2 pts; second in pool 3 pts; first in pool 4 pts; win in quarter-final 1 pt; win in semi-final 2 pts; win in final 4 pts.
• Maximum points: 11 - Pool winner (4) plus all the points available from the knock-out rounds (7).
