The 2011–12 Heineken Cup pool stage is the first stage of the current season of the Heineken Cup

Heineken Cup

The Heineken Cup is one of two annual rugby union competitions organised by European Rugby Cup involving leading club, regional and provincial teams from the six International Rugby Board countries in Europe whose national teams compete in the Six Nations Championship: England, France, Ireland,...

, Europe's top competition for rugby union

Rugby union

Rugby union, often simply referred to as rugby, is a full contact team sport which originated in England in the early 19th century. One of the two codes of rugby football, it is based on running with the ball in hand...

 clubs. It involves 24 teams competing for eight quarter-final berths, awarded to the winners of each of six pools plus the two top-ranked second-place teams.

The pool stage began with two matches on the evening of 11 November 2011, and will continue through the weekend of 20–22 January 2012. The quarter-finalists will then participate in a knockout tournament that will ultimately end with the final on the weekend of May 19/20 at Twickenham Stadium

Twickenham Stadium

Twickenham Stadium is a stadium located in Twickenham, in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is the largest rugby union stadium in the United Kingdom and has recently been enlarged to seat 82,000...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

.

Seeding

The seeding system was the same as in the 2010–11

2010–11 Heineken Cup

The 2010–11 Heineken Cup was the 16th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby...

 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

European Rugby Club Rankings

The European Rugby Club Rankings were introduced for the 2008-09 European season. They are based on the points earned by teams in the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup over the past four years. They are used to aid in the seeding process for the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge...

 at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Tier 1	Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...   (1)	Toulouse Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...  (2)	Munster Munster Rugby Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...   (3)	Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....  (4)	Biarritz Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...  (5)	Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...  (6)
Tier 2	Northampton Saints Northampton Saints Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....  (7)	Clermont ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...  (10)	Ospreys (11)	Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...  (12)	Harlequins Harlequin F.C. The Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop...  (13)	London Irish London Irish London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...  (15)
Tier 3	Ulster Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...   (16)	Saracens Saracens F.C. Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...  (17)	Gloucester (18)	Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...  (20)	Scarlets (21)	Edinburgh (24)
Tier 4	Connacht Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Connacht that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 comprising teams from the Celtic nations plus Italy. Normally, it also competes in the second-tier pan-European club competition, the European Challenge Cup...  (25)	Benetton Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso are an Italian professional rugby union club currently competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup.They are based in Treviso in Veneto, and owned by the Benetton clothing company....  (30)	Castres Castres Olympique Castres Olympique is a French rugby union club located in the Midi-Pyrénées city of Castres and currently competing in the top level of the French league system.Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906...  (31)	Montpellier Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club is a professional French rugby union, based in Montpellier the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, in the Top 14. They originally played at Stade Sabathé but moved to the Stade Yves-du-Manoir in 2007...  (32)	Racing Métro (33)	Aironi Aironi Aironi Rugby are an Italian professional rugby club competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. They represent the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.- Home ground :...  (37)

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 7 June 2011. Competition organiser European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup

European Rugby Cup is the organising body of two European rugby union club tournaments; the Heineken Cup and the Amlin Challenge Cup. The organisation was established in 1995 and is headquartered in Dublin...

 (ERC) announced the fixtures, dates, and kickoff times for the first four rounds of pool play on 20 July 2011.

Under ERC rules, 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

	Winner of each pool, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses
	Two highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses
	Third- through fifth- highest-scoring second-place teams parachute into the knockout stage of the European Challenge Cup 2011–12 European Challenge Cup The 2011–12 Amlin Challenge Cup is the 16th season of the European Challenge Cup, Europe's second tier club rugby union competition. The tournament began with two matches on 10 November 2011 and is scheduled to end with the final in May 2012... . Seed # in brackets

All kickoff times are local to the match location.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Scarlets	2	2	0	0	7	4	+3	59	46	+13	1	0	9
Munster Munster Rugby Munster Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Munster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and Heineken Cup.The team represents the Irish Rugby Football Union Munster Branch which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish...	2	2	0	0	5	4	+1	50	45	+5	0	0	8
Northampton Saints Northampton Saints Northampton Saints are a professional rugby union club from Northampton, England. The Northampton Saints were formed in 1880. They play in green, black and gold colours. They play their home games at Franklin's Gardens, which has a capacity of 13,591....	2	0	0	2	4	6	−2	44	51	−7	0	2	2
Castres Castres Olympique Castres Olympique is a French rugby union club located in the Midi-Pyrénées city of Castres and currently competing in the top level of the French league system.Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906...	2	0	0	2	4	6	−2	47	58	−11	0	1	1

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Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Edinburgh	2	2	0	0	8	6	+2	68	66	+2	1	0	9
Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues Cardiff Blues are one of the four professional Welsh regional rugby union teams. Based in Cardiff, the capital of Wales, the team have played at Cardiff City Stadium since the start of the 2009/2010 season and are owned by Cardiff Rugby Football Club....	2	2	0	0	4	1	+3	50	38	+12	0	0	8
Racing Métro	2	0	0	2	6	8	−2	67	74	−7	1	2	3
London Irish London Irish London Irish RFC is an English rugby union club based in Sunbury, Surrey, where the senior squad train, the youth teams and senior academy play home games, and the club maintain their administrative offices. The senior squad play home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading and compete in the top...	2	0	0	2	1	4	−3	37	44	−7	0	2	2

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Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster Leinster Rugby Leinster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Leinster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Dublin, representing the Irish province of Leinster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro 12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...	2	1	1	0	6	2	+4	54	29	+25	1	0	7
Bath Bath Rugby Bath Rugby is an English professional rugby union club that is based in the city of Bath. They play in the Aviva Premiership league...	2	1	0	1	2	3	−1	37	39	−2	0	1	5
Glasgow Warriors Glasgow Warriors The Glasgow Warriors, formerly Glasgow Rugby, are one of two professional rugby union teams in Scotland, Edinburgh being the other. They play in the RaboDirect Pro12 and their home ground is Firhill Stadium, also the home of Partick Thistle Football Club.-History:Glasgow Rugby were created to...	2	1	0	1	3	5	−2	39	59	−20	0	0	4
Montpellier Montpellier Hérault RC Montpellier Hérault Rugby Club is a professional French rugby union, based in Montpellier the capital of Languedoc-Roussillon. The club competes in the top level of the French league system, in the Top 14. They originally played at Stade Sabathé but moved to the Stade Yves-du-Manoir in 2007...	2	0	1	1	2	3	−1	29	32	−3	0	1	3

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Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers Leicester Tigers is an English rugby union club that plays in the Aviva Premiership.Leicester are the most successful English club since the introduction of league rugby in 1987, a record 9 times English champions - 3 more than either Bath or Wasps, the last of which was in 2010...	2	2	0	0	4	0	+4	48	21	+27	0	0	8
Clermont ASM Clermont Auvergne Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne are a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system, ASMCA are the were the 2010 France Top 14 Champions. It is the rugby section of the multi-sport club...	2	1	0	1	9	1	+8	65	19	+46	1	1	6
Ulster Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Ulster, is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Belfast, representing the Irish province of Ulster, that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 and also competes in the Heineken Cup...	2	1	0	1	1	2	−1	25	31	−6	0	0	4
Aironi Aironi Aironi Rugby are an Italian professional rugby club competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. They represent the Italian regions of Lombardy and Emilia Romagna.- Home ground :...	2	0	0	2	0	11	−11	15	82	−67	0	0	0

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Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Saracens Saracens F.C. Saracens are a professional rugby union team based in St. Albans, England – although they play their home games at Vicarage Road, in Watford. They are currently members of the Aviva Premiership, the top level of domestic rugby union in England...	2	1	0	1	6	4	+2	52	32	+20	1	1	6
Ospreys	2	1	1	0	3	5	−2	54	47	+7	0	0	6
Biarritz Biarritz Olympique Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Aquitaine which competes in the Top 14 and the Heineken Cup...	2	1	0	1	4	2	+2	36	38	−2	0	1	5
Benetton Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso Benetton Rugby Treviso are an Italian professional rugby union club currently competing in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup.They are based in Treviso in Veneto, and owned by the Benetton clothing company....	2	0	1	1	5	7	−2	43	68	−25	0	0	2

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Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Toulouse Stade Toulousain Stade Toulousain, also referred to as Toulouse, is a French rugby union club from Toulouse in Midi-Pyrénées. Toulouse is one of the finest rugby clubs in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup four times – in 1996, 2003, 2005 and 2010. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps...	2	2	0	0	5	3	+2	57	27	+30	0	0	8
Harlequins Harlequin F.C. The Harlequin Football Club is an English rugby union team who play in the top level of English rugby, the Aviva Premiership. Their ground in London is Twickenham Stoop...	2	2	0	0	4	2	+2	53	26	+27	0	0	8
Gloucester	2	0	0	2	2	5	−3	26	49	−23	0	1	1
Connacht Connacht Rugby Connacht Rugby is an Irish professional rugby union team based in Connacht that competes in the RaboDirect Pro12 comprising teams from the Celtic nations plus Italy. Normally, it also competes in the second-tier pan-European club competition, the European Challenge Cup...	2	0	0	2	3	4	−1	27	61	−34	0	0	0

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