The 2005–06 Heineken Cup was the eleventh edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. 24 teams from 7 countries took part, with the opening game played on Friday October 21, 2005. Munster won the tournament, beating Biarritz in the final held at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 20 May 2006.
The teams were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners of the pools, together with the two best runners-up, qualified for the knock-out stage.
Format In the pool matches, teams receive: four points for a win two points for a draw a bonus point for scoring four or more tries a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points
Ties between two teams are broken in the following order: Match points earned in head-to-head matches. For example, if tied teams are in the same pool, and split their head-to-head matches, but one team earned a bonus point and the other failed to do so, the team that earned the bonus point will win. Munster won a tiebreaker over Sale Sharks in Pool 1 in this very manner. Tries scored in head-to-head matches. Point difference in head-to-head matches. Tries scored in all pool matches. This is the first tiebreaker between teams in different pools, which can come into play for determining seeding among first-place teams, or breaking ties among second-place teams. Point difference in all pool matches. Best disciplinary record in pool play. The team with the fewest players sent off or sin-binned during pool play wins. Coin toss.
The quarterfinals are seeded from 1 to 8. The six pool winners receive the top six seeds, based on their point totals. The top two-second-place finishers are seeded 7 and 8. The seeds of the qualifying teams are in parentheses next to their names in the tables.
Teams FranceEnglandWalesIrelandScotlandItaly Castres Perpignan Stade Français Clermont Auvergne Biarritz Bourgoin Toulouse Sale Sharks Leeds Tykes Leicester Tigers Saracens Bath London Wasps Newport Gwent Dragons Cardiff Blues Ospreys Llanelli Scarlets Munster Ulster Leinster Glasgow Edinburgh Calvisano Benetton Treviso
Pool stage Full results can be found at 2005–06 Heineken Cup pool stage. All times are local to the match location.
Pool 1 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Munster (4)65012261618687993023 Sale Sharks (7)6501179815984753023 Newport Gwent Dragons61051420−699168−69116 Castres6105826−1890195−105116
Note: Munster took first place over Sale Sharks on competition points in head-to-head matches, 5–4.
Pool 2 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Perpignan (5)650120515160521082123 Leeds Tykes64021991014391523120 Cardiff Blues63031618−2128145−173015 Calvisano6006427−2348191−143000
Pool 3 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Leicester Tigers (3)650119109179111683124 Stade Français6402167914898502220 Ospreys6204920−1190144−54019 Clermont Auvergne61051421−7136200−64116
Pool 4 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Biarritz (2)650124101418293894024 Saracens64021213−1128129−11017 Ulster630315132126111152014 Benetton Treviso60061328−15104207−103213
Pool 5 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Bath (6)65011899166111553023 Leinster (8)6402281315214124904222 Bourgoin6204924−15109195−86109 Glasgow61051625−9131190−59116
Pool 6 TeamPWDLTries forTries againstTry diffPoints forPoints againstPoints diffTBLBPts Toulouse (1)6510221111188124643025 Wasps621318135173118552214 Llanelli Scarlets62041826−8152206−542212 Edinburgh62041422−8121186−651211
Seeding and runners-up SeedPool WinnersPtsTF+/−1 Toulouse2522+642 Biarritz2424+893 Leicester Tigers2419+684 Munster2322+995 Perpignan2320+1086 Bath2318+55SeedPool runners-upPtsTF+/−7 Sale Sharks2317+758 Leinster2228+90 – Leeds Tykes2019+108 – Stade Français2016+50 – Saracens1712−1 – London Wasps1418+55
Knockout stage
Quarter-finals
Semi-finals
Final
Statistics
Top point scorers 131 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) 115 – Ronan O'Gara (Munster) 99 – Andy Goode (Leicester Tigers)
Top try scorers 6 – Sireli Bobo (Biarritz Olympique) 6 – Vincent Clerc (Toulouse) 6 – Felipe Contepomi (Leinster)
External links ERC Rugby