Heineken Cup - Quarter-final qualification explained...
Scrum.com
January 15, 2008
Not quite sure how the quarter-final picture is shaping up in this season's Heineken Cup? Let us cleaer things up for you... The race for quarter-final qualification is entering the home straight with the coveted eight places set to go all the way to the completion of Round 6 matches. The format of the two best runners-up qualifying for the quarter-finals as the No 7 and No 8 ranked teams has been in operation since the 1999 / 2000 season - with bonus points coming into the equation in season 2003 / 2004. Since then, no team has qualified as a best runner up with less than 19 points although in 2003 / 2004 Celtic Warriors and in 2006 / 2007 the Ospreys both discovered that even 20 points was not sufficient to make the knock-out stages. POOL MATCHES Four points for a win, two points for a draw (match points). A bonus point will be earned by a team scoring four or more tries and by a team losing by seven or less points. The six Pool winners and two best placed runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals and will be decided by the following criteria: (i) the Pool winner will be the Club with the highest number of match points earned in each Pool. The runners-up will be the two second placed Clubs from all six Pools with the next highest number of points. For the quarter-final round, the Pool winners will be ranked 1 - 6 in terms of the number of points earned. The runners-up will be ranked 7 and 8. CLUBS IN THE SAME POOL
(ii) if two or more Clubs are equal on points and the Clubs are in the same Pool, then qualification / ranking will be based on the matches played between the Clubs concerned: CLUBS FROM DIFFERENT POOLS
(iii) if still unresolved, or the teams have not played each other previously in the Pool stage, qualification / ranking will be based on:
Since the format of the two best runners-up qualifying for the quarter-finals as the No 7 and No 8 ranked teams has been in operation since the 1999 / 2000 season and bonus points coming into the equation in season 2003 / 2004, here are some quarter-final qualification pointers:
* No team has qualified as one of the best runners-up on less than four wins. * Since bonus points were introduced no team has qualified as a Pool winner on less than 18 points (Stade Francais Paris in 2003 / 2004). * Since bonus points were introduced no team has qualified as one of the best runners-up on less than 19 points (Leicester Tigers in 2004 / 2005)
Maximum points and wins attainable: POOL 2
Maximum points and wins attainable: POOL 3
Maximum points and wins attainable: POOL 4
Maximum points and wins attainable: POOL 5
Maximum points and wins attainable: POOL 6
Maximum points and wins attainable: © Scrum.com
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