# 2011–12 Heineken Cup

The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).
Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellow Pro12 and Irish side Ulster 42–14. The victory gave Leinster their third Heineken Cup title in four years – a run of success unprecedented in the competition's history.

## Teams

The default allocation of teams is as follows:
* England: 6 teams, based on performance in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup
* France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Top 14
* Ireland: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League
* Wales: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League
* Italy and Scotland: 2 teams each, based on participation in the Celtic League (although there are only 2 from each nation)
The remaining two places are filled by the winners of the previous year's Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup. If the cup winners are already qualified through their domestic league, an additional team from their country will claim a Heineken Cup place (assuming another team is available). Accordingly, Harlequins claimed the Challenge Cup winner's berth, and since Heineken Cup winners Leinster were already domestically qualified, the extra Irish berth went to Connacht.
| England | France | Ireland | Wales | Italy | Scotland |
| Leicester Tigers Northampton Saints Gloucester Harlequins Bath London Irish Saracens | Toulouse Biarritz Clermont Auvergne Castres Montpellier Racing Métro | Leinster Munster Ulster Connacht | Cardiff Blues Ospreys Scarlets | Benetton Treviso Aironi | Glasgow Warriors Edinburgh |

## Seeding

The seeding system was the same as in the 2010–11 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 applies (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team).
The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2010–11 season.
| Tier 1 | Leinster (1) | Toulouse (2) | Munster (3) | Cardiff Blues (4) | Biarritz (5) | Leicester Tigers (6) |
| Tier 2 | Northampton (7) | Clermont Auvergne (10) | Ospreys (11) | Bath (12) | Harlequins (13) | London Irish (15) |
| Tier 3 | Ulster (16) | Saracens (17) | Gloucester (18) | Glasgow (20) | Scarlets (21) | Edinburgh (24) |
| Tier 4 | Connacht (25) | Benetton Treviso (30) | Castres (31) | Montpellier (32) | Racing Métro (33) | Aironi (37) |

## Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 7 June 2011.
Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, tiebreakers within each pool are as follows.
* Competition points earned in head-to-head matches
* Total tries scored in head-to-head matches
* Point differential in head-to-head matches
ERC has four additional tiebreakers, used if tied teams are in different pools, or if the above steps cannot break a tie between teams in the same pool:
* Tries scored in all pool matches
* Point differential in all pool matches
* Best disciplinary record (fewest players receiving red or yellow cards in all pool matches)
* Coin toss
Key to colours :
* Pool winners, and the two best pool runners-up, advance to quarterfinals.
* Third-, fourth- and fifth-highest-scoring second-place teams parachute into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup.

### Pool 1

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Munster | 6 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 163 | 118 | +45 | 1 | 0 | 25 |
| Scarlets | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 12 | 9 | +3 | 119 | 124 | −5 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Northampton Saints | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 18 | 16 | +2 | 176 | 160 | +16 | 2 | 2 | 12 |
| Castres | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 19 | −9 | 111 | 167 | −56 | 1 | 2 | 7 |

### Pool 2

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Edinburgh | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 11 | +6 | 156 | 138 | +18 | 2 | 0 | 22 |
| Cardiff Blues | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 9 | 5 | +4 | 145 | 110 | +35 | 0 | 1 | 21 |
| Racing Métro | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 13 | 19 | −6 | 160 | 190 | −30 | 1 | 4 | 9 |
| London Irish | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 7 | 11 | −4 | 116 | 139 | −23 | 1 | 4 | 9 |

### Pool 3

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Leinster | 6 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 172 | 88 | +84 | 2 | 0 | 24 |
| Glasgow Warriors | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 8 | 12 | −4 | 106 | 133 | −27 | 0 | 2 | 12 |
| Bath | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 15 | −4 | 122 | 151 | −29 | 0 | 3 | 11 |
| Montpellier | 6 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | 11 | −3 | 84 | 112 | −28 | 0 | 2 | 10 |

### Pool 4

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Clermont Auvergne | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 26 | 5 | +21 | 215 | 69 | +146 | 2 | 2 | 20 |
| Ulster | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 8 | +8 | 158 | 87 | +71 | 3 | 1 | 20 |
| Leicester Tigers | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 13 | 8 | +5 | 123 | 117 | +6 | 1 | 0 | 17 |
| Aironi | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 4 | 38 | −34 | 51 | 274 | −223 | 0 | 0 | 0 |

### Pool 5

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Saracens | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 10 | +3 | 145 | 107 | +38 | 1 | 1 | 22 |
| Biarritz | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 18 | 7 | +11 | 143 | 105 | +38 | 3 | 3 | 18 |
| Ospreys | 6 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 13 | 16 | −3 | 142 | 147 | −5 | 1 | 2 | 13 |
| Benetton Treviso | 6 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 12 | 23 | −11 | 122 | 193 | −71 | 0 | 0 | 6 |

### Pool 6

| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | TB | LB | Pts |
| Toulouse | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 16 | 11 | +5 | 150 | 105 | +45 | 1 | 1 | 18 |
| Harlequins | 6 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 7 | +4 | 122 | 94 | +28 | 0 | 1 | 17 |
| Gloucester | 6 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 12 | −2 | 111 | 122 | −11 | 1 | 2 | 15 |
| Connacht | 6 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 5 | 12 | −7 | 68 | 130 | −62 | 0 | 2 | 6 |

### 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 | 25 | 14 | +45 |
| 2 | Leinster | 24 | 18 | +84 |
| 3 | Edinburgh | 22 | 17 | +18 |
| 4 | Saracens | 22 | 13 | +38 |
| 5 | Clermont Auvergne | 20 | 26 | +146 |
| 6 | Toulouse | 18 | 16 | +45 |
| Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− |
| 7 | Cardiff Blues | 21 | 9 | +35 |
| 8 | Ulster | 20 | 16 | +71 |
| 5C | Biarritz | 18 | 18 | +42 |
| 6C | Harlequins | 17 | 11 | +28 |
| 7C | Scarlets | 15 | 12 | −5 |
| - | Glasgow Warriors | 12 | 12 | −27 |

## Knock-out stages
### Quarter-finals

* 7 April 2012 15:00 BST
| Edinburgh | 19–14 | Toulouse |
| Try: Blair 1' c Con: Laidlaw (1/1) Pen: Laidlaw (3/4) 46', 51', 80' Drop: Laidlaw (1/1) 38' | Report | Try: Matanavou 30' m Pen: Beauxis (3/5) 5', 19', 28' |
* Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 37,881 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)
* 7 April 2012 17:45 IST
| Leinster | 34–3 | Cardiff Blues |
| Try: Nacewa 12' c Kearney (2) 30' c, 41' c O'Driscoll 34' c Con: Sexton (4/4) Pen: Sexton (2/3) 8', 23' | Report | Pen: Halfpenny (1/1) 2' |
* Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 50,340 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)
* 8 April 2012 13:45 IST
| Munster | 16–22 | Ulster |
| Try: Zebo 34' c Con: O'Gara (1/1) Pen: O'Gara (3/4) 40', 49', 61' | Report | Try: Gilroy 16' c Con: Pienaar (1/1) Pen: Pienaar (4/5) 5', 11', 20', 59' Drop: Humphreys (1/1) 32' |
* Thomond Park, Limerick Attendance: 26,500 Referee: Romain Poite (France)
* 8 April 2012 16:30 BST
| Saracens | 3–22 | Clermont Auvergne |
| Pen: Farrell (1/2) 16' | Report | Try: Byrne 43' c Con: James (1/1) Pen: James (4/6) 7', 11', 13', 55' Drop: James (1/1) 49' |
* Vicarage Road, Watford Attendance: 11,047 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

### Semi-finals

* 28 April 2012 17:45 IST
| Ulster | 22–19 | Edinburgh |
| Try: Wannenburg 15' c Con: Pienaar (1/1) Pen: Pienaar (5/5) 5', 38', 58', 63', 75' | Report | Try: Thompson 80' c Con: Laidlaw (1/1) Pen: Laidlaw (4/4) 9', 11', 40', 45' |
* Aviva Stadium, Dublin Attendance: 45,147 Referee: Romain Poite (France)
* 29 April 2012 16:00 HAEC
| Clermont Auvergne | 15–19 | Leinster |
| Pen: James (5/6) 17', 31', 36', 39', 52' | Report | Try: Healy 41' c Con: Sexton (1/1) Pen: Sexton (3/4) 7', 34', 62' Drop: Kearney (1/1) 46' Sexton (0/1) |
* Stade Chaban-Delmas, Bordeaux Attendance: 32,397 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

### Final

* 19 May 2012 17:00 BST
| Leinster | 42–14 | Ulster |
| Try: O'Brien 12' c Healy 31' c penalty try 44' c van der Merwe 76' m Cronin 80' c Con: Sexton (3/3) McFadden (1/2) Pen: Sexton (3/4) 51', 67', 73' | Report | Try: Tuohy 60' m Pen: Pienaar (3/3) 7', 40', 49' |
* Twickenham Stadium, London Attendance: 81,774 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)