RUGBY:LEINSTER AND Munster will again be top seeds in the draw for next season's Heineken Cup, and Ulster will also remain amongst the third tier, while Connacht remain one of the four sides still in the mix for the remaining two places in next season's tournament.
All but two of the 24 places in the 2011-12 Cup were finalised over the weekend by the conclusion to the regular season campaigns in the Magners League, French Top 14 and English Premiership, and with that much of the seeding has already taken shape.
Joining the three Irish qualifiers are the Ospreys, Scarlets and Cardiff Blues from Wales, the Italian duo of Treviso and Aironi and the Scottish pair of Edinburgh and Glasgow. In France, Biarritz and Montpellier secured the final two automatic places in the Top 14 play-offs and the Heineken Cup.
Montpellier make it for the first time at the expense of Toulon, whom they beat 27-3 on Saturday. They join Toulouse, Racing Metro, Castres and Clermont.
In England, Leicester, Saracens, Gloucester, Northampton and Bath have been joined by London Irish, with Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins now required to win the Amlin Challenge Cup final against Stade Français to qualify. Similarly, Michael Cheika’s Stade need to win that match to qualify for next season’s Heineken Cup.
Even if Quins lose, they could still qualify by dint of Northampton beating Leinster in the Heineken Cup final the next day, but if Leinster win, then Connacht will automatically qualify for the first time.
In the event of both Harlequins and Northampton winning, then as England cannot have more than seven teams in the tournament, the 24th place would go to the highest-ranked ERC team outside of the Premiership, which would be Perpignan.
The six top seeds in the draw will be Toulouse, Leinster, Munster, Cardiff, Biarritz and Northampton, with the latter set to displace Leicester, who are destined to be drawn from the second tier.
The seedings have still to be finalised, but Ulster look sure to remain in the third tier, with the Scarlets in danger of slipping into the fourth tier alongside Racing and Montpellier as well as the Italians and Edinburgh.
