The Heineken Cup Thread

[Dinny Breen]

Do you seriously believe Ferris is not 1st choice No.6 for Ireland?

He is resting him and O'Brien after a long season. The way Ulster and its staff are treating Ferris' body he may not be playing in a Ireland shirt for much longer, I foresee a bad injury down the line if Ulster keep pushing him out at half fitness.

Toner is still filling out his body, his height is advantage come scrum and obviously line-out time. Like Hound I agree that his ball carrying has improved but Trileacman has pointed his biggest deficiency, his rucking and it's just not good enough but he is a better option than DOC. He will come good.

Interesting story about Cronin - he's not much of a drinker and after the England this year he was on the mic on the bus, making an eejit of himself, Mick Kearney (Team Manager) tried to take the mic off him and words ensued. After things had calmed down Kidney came down to Cronin for a quiet word and remind him off his responsibilities finishing up with "Going forward Sean if you want to be a part of the Irish Set up you will have to look at your behaviour today and apologise for it". Cronin's response was "After that display today Deccie it's not me that has to worry about been part of the Irish set-up going forward"

Funny story alright, but is it even true?

I like to disagree with Dinny on all rugby matters but I'd say this story you could believe.

Anyhow Ferris is out, big Kev McLaughlin in. Feel sorry for Ferris but well deserved chance for McLaughlin, my man of the match last week.

[Myles Na G.]

Do you seriously believe Ferris is not 1st choice No.6 for Ireland?

He is resting him and O'Brien after a long season. The way Ulster and its staff are treating Ferris' body he may not be playing in a Ireland shirt for much longer, I foresee a bad injury down the line if Ulster keep pushing him out at half fitness.

Toner is still filling out his body, his height is advantage come scrum and obviously line-out time. Like Hound I agree that his ball carrying has improved but Trileacman has pointed his biggest deficiency, his rucking and it's just not good enough but he is a better option than DOC. He will come good.

Interesting story about Cronin - he's not much of a drinker and after the England this year he was on the mic on the bus, making an eejit of himself, Mick Kearney (Team Manager) tried to take the mic off him and words ensued. After things had calmed down Kidney came down to Cronin for a quiet word and remind him off his responsibilities finishing up with "Going forward Sean if you want to be a part of the Irish Set up you will have to look at your behaviour today and apologise for it". Cronin's response was "After that display today Deccie it's not me that has to worry about been part of the Irish set-up going forward"

Funny story alright, but is it even true?

I like to disagree with Dinny on all rugby matters but I'd say this story you could believe.

Anyhow Ferris is out, big Kev McLaughlin in. Feel sorry for Ferris but well deserved chance for McLaughlin, my man of the match last week.

From a purely selfish, Ulster perspective I'm glad 1F is missing this tour. He'll be able to enjoy a proper rest and come back in August ready to motor.

[Hoof Hearted]

Reigning champions, Leinster Rugby, will be the first club allocated a pool for the 2012/13 Heineken Cup when the draw for the composition of the six pools for the 18th tournament takes place at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Tuesday, 12 June (11.00am).The pool draw for the 24 qualified clubs, which will be streamed live on ercrugby.com, will launch the countdown to the Dublin 2013 Heineken Cup final at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, 18 May.
Having won European club rugby's premier competition three times in the past four years, Leinster also sit proudly at the top of the ERC European Rankings with 40 points, the highest total achieved by any club since the system was introduced in 2007.

To view the current ERC European Rankings, please follow this link ERC European Ranking


The rankings aim to reward and incentivise clubs which consistently perform at the highest level in European competition over four seasons.

They are used for the purposes of the Heineken Cup pool draw to allocate the clubs that have qualified into four tiers of six clubs and to ensure the highest-ranked clubs are separated in the six pools.

Leinster are joined in Tier 1 by three Heineken Cup winners in Toulouse, Munster Rugby and Northampton Saints, while Biarritz Olympique and Cardiff Blues complete the top tier of six clubs.

Once the Tier 1 clubs have each been allocated a different pool, no club from the same tier will be drawn in the same pool, and no pool will have more than one club from the same country with the exception of France, as there are seven French clubs in next season's competition.

Exeter Chiefs from England have qualified for the first time while a second Italian club will be nominated by the Italian Federation.

2012/13 Heineken Cup clubs and tiers

Tier 1 - Leinster Rugby, Toulouse, Biarritz Olympique, Munster Rugby, Cardiff Blues, Northampton Saints
Tier 2 - ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ulster Rugby, Leicester Tigers, Harlequins, Toulon, Edinburgh Rugby
Tier 3 - Ospreys, Scarlets, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens, Connacht Rugby, Sale Sharks
Tier 4 - Castres Olympique, Benetton Treviso, Racing Metro 92, Montpellier, Exeter Chiefs, Italian club (to be confirmed)

• The draw for the 2012/13 Heineken Cup pools will take place at the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Tuesday, 12 June at 11.00am

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Some of those Tier 4 teams are going to end up with bitches of Pool;s

eg Leinster, Clermont and Saracens or Toulouse, Leicester and Ospreys. Going to some groups of death !

[trileacman]

Clermont are easily a tier 1 side.

[Hoof Hearted]

Draw for 2012/2013 competition on within the hour

[screenexile]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/18403809

Premiership Rugby announces possible Heineken Cup withdrawal

The governing body of England's top rugby union clubs has given notice of its intention to pull out of the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup.

The move comes amid disagreements over how the competitions are organised.

French clubs have also threatened to withdraw, but as two years' notice has to be given the move is perceived as an attempt to force others to negotiate.

"We hope that there will now be an urgent dialogue," said Premiership Rugby chief executive Mark McCafferty.

In May, Leinster beat Ulster 42-14 in the Heineken Cup final to retain the trophy.

Premiership Rugby's intention to exit the competition will affect such top English sides as Northampton, Saracens, Gloucester, Bath, Harlequins, Leicester and London Irish, all of whom competed in the 2011-12 tournament.

McCafferty added that he hopes discussions can commence soon regarding "the future of European cup rugby, including qualification, competition formats and ambition to expand into new markets".

The governing body's notice period extends to the end of the 2013-14 event, at which point they say they will exit the competitions.

[Declan]

Defending champions Leinster have been drawn in Pool 5 for next season's Heineken Cup along with Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets and Exeter.
Pool 1: Munster, Edinburgh, Saracens, Racing Metro 92
Pool 2: Toulouse, Leicester, Ospreys, Benetton Treviso
Pool 3: Biarritz, Harlequins, Connacht, Zebre
Pool 4: Northampton, Ulster, Glasgow Warriors, Castres
Pool 5: Leinster, Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets, Exeter
Pool 6: Cardiff Blues, Toulon, Sale, Montpellier

[Capt Pat]

Those could be two very tough groups for Leinster and Munstee. Leinster didn't want Clermont.

Biaritz and Harlequins will make the Quarter finals out of that group with Connacht and Zebra.

[trileacman]

Apart from Clermont, Leinster have a soft enough group.

Munster in a bad group, Edinburgh are becoming a force, Saracens remain reasonably strong and Racing Metro are a decent French side. No soft away ties there.

[Myles Na G.]

Not a bad group for Ulster. Pedrie W. making a swift comeback to Ravenhill with Castres.

[Hoof Hearted]

Not a bad group for Ulster. Pedrie W. making a swift comeback to Ravenhill with Castres.

with Roger Wilson making a swift return to Franklins Gardens too.

[Capt Pat]

Apart from Clermont, Leinster have a soft enough group.

Munster in a bad group, Edinburgh are becoming a force, Saracens remain reasonably strong and Racing Metro are a decent French side. No soft away ties there.

It is still a tough break for Leinster getting the second best team in the competition in their group. Munster didn't get much benefit from being top seeds either.

[seafoid]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/22/premiership-top-14-breakaway-heineken-cup

The leading clubs in the Aviva Premiership in England and Top 14 in France are ready to organise an alternative tournament to the Heineken Cup because they feel European rugby's premier club competition is weighted too heavily in favour of the Celtic nations.

[turk]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/aug/22/premiership-top-14-breakaway-heineken-cup

The leading clubs in the Aviva Premiership in England and Top 14 in France are ready to organise an alternative tournament to the Heineken Cup because they feel European rugby's premier club competition is weighted too heavily in favour of the Celtic nations.

Those guys have a fair point!

[FermGael]

Let battle commence

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sport/rugby/heineken-cup/heineken-cup-doomed-as-tv-war-breaks-out-16210416.html

Heineken Cup doomed as TV war breaks out

1 6 106By Chris Hewett
Thursday, 13 September 2012


The landscape of professional club rugby across Europe is likely to change dramatically as a result of a highly lucrative deal between England's leading teams and the telecoms giant BT – the latest big-money player in the sports broadcasting market, ambitious enough to have splashed out £1bn on rights over the last three months.

The contract, worth up to £152m to the Premiership teams over four years, threatens to transform the politics of the game in the northern hemisphere, as well as its economics.


Premier Rugby, the umbrella organisation representing the 12 top-flight sides in the country, announced yesterday that BT had bought exclusive rights to league matches, starting next season. Negotiations were also held with the current broadcasters, BSkyB and ESPN, who have been splitting live broadcasts between them, but they either would not or could not match the BT bid. For BSkyB, the broadcasters who helped drive the sport towards professionalism in the mid-1990s and have been at the heart of the action ever since, it appeared to be a particularly heavy defeat.


As part of the new deal, BT will also have exclusive rights to any European matches involving Premiership clubs – and this is where the controversy begins. Premier Rugby, at serious loggerheads with Heineken Cup administrators over both the format and the commercial status of the world's leading club tournament, have, together with the French clubs, threatened to walk away from the competition in 2014 unless significant changes are agreed. This new money will strengthen their position when negotiations begin in earnest next week.


According to the Premiership clubs, the new money ring-fenced for European broadcasts will go into the common pot if agreement is reached, thereby increasing the financial take for all those involved. But by selling their European rights unilaterally, the English are effectively saying to the three Celtic nations and the Italians: "You can either see things our way, or you can do without our money."


The immediate response was very sharp indeed. Within hours, Heineken Cup officials upped the political ante by announcing that they had reached a new exclusive agreement with their existing broadcasters, BSkyB, until the end of the 2017-18 European campaign. Two rival TV companies: two exclusive deals. Something will have to give.