# 2009–10 Heineken Cup

The 2009–10 Heineken Cup was the 15th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2009 and ended on 22 May 2010 with the final at Stade de France in which Toulouse defeated Biarritz 21–19 to win the trophy for the fourth time.

## Teams

Seven English teams participated, as an English team, Leicester Tigers, progressed further in the previous year's tournament than any French or Italian team. France had six participants, Ireland three, Wales four, Italy two and Scotland two.
On 29 May 2009, Newport Gwent Dragons defeated Calvisano 42–17 in a play-off to secure the 24th and final qualification place.
| England | France | Wales | Ireland | Scotland | Italy |
| Leicester Tigers Harlequins London Irish Gloucester Bath Sale Sharks Northampton Saints | Perpignan Toulouse Clermont Stade Français Biarritz Brive | Ospreys Cardiff Blues Scarlets Newport Gwent Dragons | Leinster Munster Ulster | Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors | Benetton Treviso Viadana |

## Seeding

The seeding system was the same as in the 2008–09 tournament. The 24 competing teams are ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each pool receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier. The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applied (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).
The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the start of the 2009–10 season.
| Tier 1 | Munster (1) | Leicester Tigers (2) | Leinster (3) | Toulouse (4) | Bath (5) | Biarritz (6) |
| Tier 2 | Cardiff Blues (8) | Stade Français (9) | Gloucester (10) | Perpignan (11) | Ospreys (13) | London Irish (14) |
| Tier 3 | Northampton Saints (15) | Sale Sharks (16) | Clermont (17) | Scarlets (18) | Ulster (20) | Newport Gwent Dragons (21) |
| Tier 4 | Harlequins (23) | Glasgow Warriors (24) | Edinburgh (26) | Benetton Treviso (28) | Brive (29) | Viadana (36) |

## Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 9 June 2009 in Paris.
    Key to colours   Winner of each pool, and best two runners-up, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses   Third- through fifth- highest-scoring second-place teams parachute into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup. Seed # in brackets

### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Munster (1) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 185 | 94 | 91 | 3 | 1 | 24 |
| Northampton Saints (8) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 138 | 104 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 19 |
| Perpignan | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 12 | 10 | 2 | 108 | 123 | −15 | 1 | 2 | 11 |
| Benetton Treviso | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 26 | −19 | 68 | 178 | −110 | 0 | 1 | 5 |

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Biarritz (2) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 19 | 8 | 11 | 188 | 97 | 91 | 3 | 0 | 23 |
| Gloucester [6] | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 12 | 0 | 119 | 129 | −10 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Glasgow Warriors | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 9 | 14 | −5 | 120 | 140 | −20 | 0 | 1 | 9 |
| Newport Gwent Dragons | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 12 | 18 | −6 | 108 | 169 | −61 | 0 | 2 | 6 |

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Clermont Auvergne (5) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 24 | 11 | 13 | 201 | 120 | 81 | 3 | 2 | 21 |
| Ospreys (7) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 11 | 10 | 188 | 121 | 67 | 2 | 0 | 20 |
| Leicester Tigers | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 23 | 10 | 13 | 187 | 123 | 64 | 3 | 1 | 18 |
| Viadana | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 42 | −36 | 83 | 295 | −212 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Stade Français (6) | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 124 | 95 | 29 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 6 | 5 | 127 | 94 | 33 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 10 | −7 | 64 | 94 | −30 | 0 | 1 | 13 |
| Bath | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 6 | 8 | −2 | 84 | 116 | −32 | 0 | 3 | 7 |

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulouse (3) | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 9 | 4 | 143 | 92 | 51 | 2 | 1 | 23 |
| Cardiff Blues [5] | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 14 | 10 | 4 | 149 | 104 | 45 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Sale Sharks | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 15 | 16 | −1 | 126 | 153 | −27 | 1 | 1 | 14 |
| Harlequins | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 102 | 171 | −69 | 0 | 2 | 2 |

### Pool 6

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Leinster (4) | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 6 | 13 | 154 | 60 | 94 | 3 | 1 | 22 |
| Scarlets [7] | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 12 | 20 | −8 | 116 | 147 | −31 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| London Irish | 6 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 16 | 8 | 8 | 140 | 94 | 46 | 2 | 1 | 17 |
| Brive | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 20 | −13 | 68 | 177 | −109 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
* Scarlets win the tiebreaker over London Irish by virtue of winning both of the matches between the two teams.

### Seeding and runners-up

* Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarterfinal seeding.
* Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarterfinal seeding.
| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 1 | Munster | 24 | 19 | +91 |
| 2 | Biarritz | 23 | 19 | +91 |
| 3 | Toulouse | 23 | 14 | +51 |
| 4 | Leinster | 22 | 19 | +94 |
| 5 | Clermont | 21 | 24 | +81 |
| 6 | Stade Français | 18 | 11 | +29 |
| Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 7 | Ospreys | 20 | 17 | +67 |
| 8 | Northampton | 19 | 16 | +34 |
| 5C | Cardiff Blues | 18 | 14 | +45 |
| 6C | Gloucester | 17 | 12 | −10 |
| 7C | Scarlets | 17 | 12 | −29 |
| – | Ulster | 17 | 11 | +33 |

## Knock-out stage

The semi-final draw was conducted on 24 January in Paris. The winner of the topmost quarter-final on each side of the bracket receives home-country advantage in its semi-final. (The competition organisers have traditionally allowed Biarritz to take semi-finals to Spain, as it has stadiums that meet Heineken Cup semi-final hosting requirements that are far closer to Biarritz than any acceptable venue in France. The club also enjoys large support in the Basque Country of Spain, a region with which it shares a cultural affinity.)
All times are local times.

### Quarter-finals

* 9 April 2010 20:00
| Leinster | 29–28 | Clermont Auvergne |
| Try: Heaslip (2) 22' c, 33' c Con: Sexton (2/2) Pen: Sexton (5/6) 21', 37', 54', 65', 72' | Report | Try: Malzieu (3) 11' c, 44' m, 62' c Con: James (2/3) Pen: James (3/7) 16', 49', 60' |
* RDS Arena, Dublin Attendance: 20,000 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
* 10 April 2010 16:00
| Biarritz | 29–28 | Ospreys |
| Try: Ngwenya 11' c Balshaw 50' c Con: Yachvili (2/2) Pen: Yachvili (2/3) 22', 48' Drop: Traille (3/4) 1', 23', 60' | Report | Try: R. Jones 19' c Byrne 35' m Walker 75' c Con: Biggar (2/3) Pen: Biggar (2/4) 45', 53' Drop: Biggar (1/4) 40' |
* Estadio Anoeta, Donostia-San Sebastián Attendance: 25,000 Referee: George Clancy (Ireland)
* 10 April 2010 17:30
| Munster | 33–19 | Northampton Saints |
| Try: Warwick 4' m Howlett (2) 24' m, 75' c de Villiers 52' c Con: O'Gara (2/4) 53', 76' Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 1', 58', 67' | Report | Try: Clarke 39' c Con: Myler (1/1) Pen: Myler (4/4) 10', 16', 28', 55' |
* Thomond Park, Limerick Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
* 11 April 2010 17:30
| Toulouse | 42–16 | Stade Français |
| Try: Jauzion 40' c Albacete 58' c Heymans 74' c Con: Skrela (3/3) Pen: Skrela (7/9) 24', 32', 45', 48', 66', 70', 79' | Report | Try: Roncero 20' Con: Beauxis (1/1) Pen: Beauxis (3/3) 26', 43', 47' |
* Stadium Municipal, Toulouse Attendance: 35,089 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

### Semi-finals

* 1 May 2010 16:45
| Toulouse | 26–16 | Leinster |
| Try: Jauzion 55' c Skrela 60' c Con: Skrela (2/2) Pen: Skrela (4/6) 4', 16', 30', 71' Drop: Élissalde (0/1) | Report | Try: Heaslip 64' c Con: Berne (1/1) Pen: Berne (2/2) 31', 40'+1' Kearney (1/1) 42' |
* Stadium Municipal, Toulouse Attendance: 34,951 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
* 2 May 2010 16:15
| Biarritz Olympique | 18–7 | Munster |
| Pen: Yachvili (6/6) 39', 44', 65', 72', 78', 80' | Report | Try: Earls 29' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) |
* Estadio Anoeta, Donostia-San Sebastián Attendance: 30,900 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

### Final

The final was played at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis.
* 22 May 2010 18:00
| Biarritz | 19–21 | Toulouse |
| Try: Hunt 73' c Con: Courrent (1/1) Pen: Yachvili (4/4) 4', 15', 29', 48' | Report | Pen: Fritz (1/1) 21' Skrela (3/5) 33', 36', 65' Drop: Fritz (1/1) 38' Skrela (2/2) 51', 58' |
* Stade de France, Saint-Denis Attendance: 78,962 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)