# 2004–05 Heineken Cup

The 2004–05 Heineken Cup was the tenth edition of the Heineken Cup. Competing teams, from England, France, Ireland, Italy, Scotland and Wales, were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners of the pools, together with the two best runners-up, qualified for the knock-out stage. The French club Toulouse won a nail-biting final over fellow French side Stade Français by 18–12 after extra time. Toulouse became the first club to win the event three times.

## Format

In the pool matches teams received:
* four points for a win
* two points for a draw
* a bonus point for scoring four or more tries
* a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points
The teams that qualified for the knockout stage are indicated in bold type on a green background. Their seeds in the knockout stage are indicated next to the team name.

## Teams

| France | England | Wales | Ireland | Scotland | Italy |
| Stade Français Toulouse Biarritz Olympique Castres Bourgoin Perpignan | Leicester Tigers London Wasps Bath Northampton Saints Harlequins Newcastle Falcons Gloucester | Llanelli Scarlets Neath-Swansea Ospreys Newport Gwent Dragons Cardiff Blues | Leinster Munster Ulster | Glasgow Edinburgh | Calvisano Benetton Treviso |

## Pool stage
### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Biarritz Olympique (4) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 163 | 92 | 71 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Leicester Tigers (8) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 9 | 15 | 196 | 118 | 78 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| London Wasps | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 21 | 14 | 7 | 174 | 138 | 36 | 2 | 2 | 16 |
| Ghial Rugby Calvisano | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 10 | 43 | −33 | 79 | 264 | −185 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Leinster (1) | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 10 | 23 | 257 | 100 | 157 | 2 | 0 | 26 |
| Bath | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 11 | 4 | 149 | 122 | 27 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Benetton Treviso | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 21 | −7 | 136 | 181 | −45 | 2 | 0 | 14 |
| Bourgoin | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 9 | 29 | −20 | 98 | 237 | −139 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulouse (2) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 9 | 12 | 181 | 104 | 77 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Northampton Saints (7) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 128 | 101 | 27 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| Llanelli Scarlets | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 15 | 17 | −2 | 132 | 157 | −25 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| Glasgow | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 11 | 25 | −14 | 107 | 186 | −79 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Munster (5) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 | 8 | 121 | 74 | 47 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Castres | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 13 | 3 | 157 | 121 | 36 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| Neath-Swansea Ospreys | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 10 | 1 | 135 | 115 | 20 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| NEC Harlequins | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 81 | 184 | −103 | 0 | 1 | 3 |

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Newcastle Falcons (6) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 11 | −1 | 113 | 104 | 9 | 1 | 0 | 21 |
| Perpignan | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 10 | 5 | 133 | 107 | 26 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 17 | 12 | 5 | 124 | 99 | 25 | 2 | 1 | 15 |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 92 | 152 | −60 | 1 | 2 | 7 |

### Pool 6

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Stade Français (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 9 | 11 | 179 | 90 | 89 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Gloucester | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 12 | 2 | 144 | 128 | 16 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Ulster | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 13 | −8 | 88 | 139 | −51 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Cardiff Blues | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 8 | 13 | −5 | 98 | 152 | −54 | 0 | 3 | 7 |

## Seeding and runners-up

| Seed | Pool winners | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 1 | Leinster | 26 | 33 | +157 |
| 2 | Toulouse | 24 | 21 | +77 |
| 3 | Stade Français | 23 | 20 | +89 |
| 4 | Biarritz Olympique | 22 | 20 | +71 |
| 5 | Munster | 22 | 12 | +47 |
| 6 | Newcastle Falcons | 21 | 10 | +9 |
| Seed | Pool runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 7 | Northampton Saints | 21 | 11 | +27 |
| 8 | Leicester Tigers | 19 | 24 | +78 |
| — | Castres Olympique | 16 | 16 | +36 |
| — | Bath | 15 | 15 | +27 |
| — | Perpignan | 15 | 15 | +26 |
| — | Gloucester | 14 | 14 | +16 |

## Knockout stage
### Quarter-finals

* 1 April 2005 20:30 HAEC
| Toulouse | 37–9 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Michalak 21' c Heymans 32' c Clerc 49' c Labit 68' c Con: Élissalde (4/4) Pen: Michalak 43', 56' Drop: Michalak 41' | Report | Pen: Drahm (3) 23', 37', 46' |
* Stade Municipal, Toulouse Attendance: 37,000 Referee: Nigel Williams (Wales)
* 2 April 2005 16:00 HAEC
| Stade Français | 48–8 | Newcastle Falcons |
| Try: Blin (2) 9' m, 18' c Sarraméa (3) 30' c, 78' c, 79' m Poulain 63' c Arias 68' c Con: Skrela (3) Liebenberg (2) Pen: Skrela (1) 2' | Report | Try: Burke 72' m Pen: Burke 14' |
* Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 45,000 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)
* 2 April 2005 17:15 IST
| Leinster | 13–29 | Leicester Tigers |
| Try: Horgan 73' c Con: Holwell (1) Pen: Holwell (2) 17', 55' | Report | Try: Smith 32' c Gibson 56' c Con: Goode (2/2) Pen: Goode (4) 11', 30', 40', 64' Drop: Goode (1) 67' |
* Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 48,500 Referee: Joël Jutge (France)
* 3 April 2005 16:00 CEST
| Biarritz Olympique | 19–10 | Munster |
| Try: Gaitán 15' c Con: Yachvili (1/1) Pen: Yachvili (4) 12', 30', 40', 59' | Report | Try: Wallace 45' c Con: Burke (1/1) Pen: Burke (1) 67' |
* Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastián Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Chris White (England)

### Semi-finals

* 23 April 2005 16:00 HAEC
| Stade Français | 20–17 | Biarritz Olympique |
| Try: Fillol 72' c Dominici 80+5' c Con: Fillol (2/2) Pen: Fillol (2) 27', 50' | Report | Try: Traille 64' m Pen: Yachvili (4) 7', 17', 24', 53' |
* Parc des Princes, Paris Attendance: 41,000 Referee: Tony Spreadbury (England)
* 24 April 2005 15:30 BST
| Leicester Tigers | 19–27 | Toulouse |
| Try: Varndell 80+4' c Con: Goode (1/1) Pen: Goode (4) 10', 26', 33', 59' | Report | Try: Maka 2' c Élissalde 49' c Michalak 73' c Con: Élissalde (3/3) Pen: Élissalde (2) 15', 64' |
* Walkers Stadium, Leicester Attendance: 31,883 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

### Final

* 22 May 2005 15:00 BST
| Stade Français | 12–18 (a.e.t.) | Toulouse |
| Pen: Skrela (4) 9', 13', 27', 40' | Report | Pen: Élissalde (3) 23', 34', 48' Michalak (2) 80+6', 81' Drop: Michalak 91' |
* Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 51,326 Referee: Chris White (England)
Toulouse became the competition's first three-time champions.