Heineken Cup

Friday, 23 November 2012

Rugby Union Heineken Cup 2012-13 Round 1 Harlequins vs Biarritz

Leicester Tigers vs Ospreys Heineken Cup 2012-2013

Heineken Cup 2012-2013: Racing Metro - Munster

Heineken Cup 2012 Final: Leinster v Ulster (full)

Heineken Cup 2012-2013: Leinster - Exeter Chiefs

Heineken Cup 2012-2013: Toulouse - Leicester

Rugby Union, Heineken Cup 2012-13, Northampton Saints vs Glasgow Warriors.

Heineken Cup Final 2011 highlights - Leinster vs Northampton Saints

Rugby Union 2012-13 Heineken Cup Round 1 Ulster-Castres

WRN- Heineken Cup 2012/13- Edinburgh vs Saracens- 13/10/12

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Belgium
Belgium (ⁱ/ˈbɛldʒəm/ BEL-jəm), officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO. Belgium covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres (11,787 sq mi), and it has a population of about 11 million people. Straddling the cultural boundary between Germanic and Latin Europe, Belgium is home to two main linguistic groups, the Dutch-speakers, mostly Flemish (about 60%), and the French-speakers, mostly Walloons (about 40%), plus a small group of German-speakers. Belgium's two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region, officially bilingual, is a mostly French-speaking enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia. Belgium's linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in the political history and a complex system of government.

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Brussels
Brussels (French: Bruxelles, pronounced [bʁysɛl] ( listen); Dutch: Brussel, pronounced [ˈbrʏ.səɫ] ( listen); German: Brüssel, pronounced [ˈbʁyː.səl]), officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region (French: Région de Bruxelles-Capitale (help·info), Dutch: Brussels Hoofdstedelijk Gewest (help·info)), is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union (EU). It is also the largest urban area in Belgium, comprising 19 municipalities, including the municipality of the City of Brussels, which is the de jure capital of Belgium, in addition to the seat of the French Community of Belgium and of the Flemish Community.
Brussels has grown from a 10th-century fortress town founded by a descendant of Charlemagne into a metropolis of more than one million inhabitants. The metropolitan area has a population of over 1.8 million, making it the largest in Belgium.
Since the end of the Second World War, Brussels has been a main centre for international politics. Hosting principal EU institutions as well as the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the city has become the polyglot home of numerous international organisations, politicians, diplomats and civil servants.

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Cardiff
Cardiff (ⁱ/ˈkɑrdɪf/; Welsh: Caerdydd (info) Welsh pronunciation: [kairˈdiːð, kaˑɨrˈdɨːð]) is the capital and largest city in Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for Wales. The unitary authority area's mid 2010 population was estimated to be 341,054, while the population of the Larger Urban Zone was estimated at 861,400 in 2009. Cardiff is a significant tourism centre and the most popular visitor destination in Wales with 18.3 million visitors in 2010. In 2011, Cardiff was ranked 6th in the world in National Geographic's alternative tourist destinations.
The city of Cardiff is the county town of the historic county of Glamorgan (and later South Glamorgan). Cardiff is part of the Eurocities network of the largest European cities. The Cardiff Urban Area covers a slightly larger area outside of the county boundary, and includes the towns of Dinas Powys and Penarth. A small town until the early 19th century, its prominence as a major port for the transport of coal following the arrival of industry in the region contributed to its rise as a major city.

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Cardiff Arms Park
Cardiff Arms Park (Welsh: Parc yr Arfau Caerdydd), also known as The Arms Park, is primarily known as a rugby union stadium, but it also has a bowling green, and is situated in the centre of Cardiff, Wales. The Arms Park was host to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1958, and hosted four games in the 1991 Rugby World Cup, including the 3rd / 4th place play-off. The Arms Park also hosted the inaugural Heineken Cup final of 1995-6 and the following year in 1996-7.
The history of the rugby ground begins with the first stands appearing for spectators in the ground in 1881–1882. Originally the Arms Park had a cricket ground to the north and a rugby union stadium to the south. By 1969, the cricket ground had been demolished to make way for the present day Cardiff rugby ground to the north and a second rugby stadium to the south, called the National Stadium. The National Stadium, which was used by Wales national rugby union team, was officially opened on 7 April 1984, however in 1997 it was demolished to make way for the Millennium Stadium in 1999, which hosted the 1999 Rugby World Cup and became the national stadium of Wales. The Cardiff rugby ground has remained the home of the semi-professional Cardiff RFC despite the professional Cardiff Blues regional rugby union team moving to the Cardiff City Stadium in August 2009. The site is owned by Cardiff Athletic Club and a decision on the future of the Arms Park has yet to be made.

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Dublin
Dublin ( /ˈdʌblɨn/; locally /ˈdʊbᵊlən/; Irish: Baile Átha Cliath, meaning "town of the hurdled ford", pronounced [blʲaˈklʲiə] or Áth Cliath, [aː klʲiə], occasionally Duibhlinn) is the capital and most populous city of Ireland. The English name for the city is derived from the Irish name Dubhlinn, meaning "black pool". Dublin is situated near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and the centre of the Dublin Region.
Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's principal city following the Norman invasion. The city expanded rapidly from the 17th century; it was briefly the second largest city in the British Empire and the fifth largest in Europe. Dublin entered a period of stagnation following the Act of Union of 1800, but it remained the economic centre for most of the island. Following the partition of Ireland in 1922, the new parliament, the Oireachtas, was located in Leinster House. Dublin became the capital of the Irish Free State and later the Republic of Ireland.

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Edinburgh
Edinburgh (ⁱ/ˈɛdɪnbʌrə/ ED-in-burr-ə; Scottish Gaelic: Dùn Èideann) is the capital city of Scotland and the seat of the Scottish Parliament. It is the second largest city in Scotland and the seventh most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a 30 square miles (78 km²) rural area. Located in the south-east of Scotland, Edinburgh lies on the east coast of the Central Belt, along the Firth of Forth, near the North Sea.
The city was one of the historical major centres of the Enlightenment, led by the University of Edinburgh, helping to earn it the nickname Athens of the North. The Old Town and New Town districts of Edinburgh were listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1995 in recognition of the unique character of the Medieval Old Town and the planned Georgian New Town. It covers both the Old and New Towns together with the Dean Village and the Calton Hill areas. There are over 4,500 listed buildings within the city. In May 2010, it had a total of 40 conservation areas covering 23% of the building stock and 23% of the population, the highest such ratios of any major city in the UK. In the 2011 mid-year population estimates, Edinburgh had a total resident population of 495,360.

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England
England ⁱ/ˈɪŋɡlənd/ is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, while the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separate it from continental Europe. Most of England comprises the central and southern part of the island of Great Britain in the North Atlantic. The country also includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly and the Isle of Wight.
The area now called England was first inhabited by modern humans during the Upper Palaeolithic period, but it takes its name from the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes who settled during the 5th and 6th centuries. England became a unified state in AD 927, and since the Age of Discovery, which began during the 15th century, has had a significant cultural and legal impact on the wider world. The English language, the Anglican Church, and English law—the basis for the common law legal systems of many other countries around the world—developed in England, and the country's parliamentary system of government has been widely adopted by other nations. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the world's first industrialised nation. England's Royal Society laid the foundations of modern experimental science.

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France
France (English ⁱ/ˈfræns/ FRANSS or /ˈfrɑːns/ FRAHNSS; French: [fʁɑ̃s] ( listen)), officially the French Republic (French: République française [ʁepyblik fʁɑ̃sɛz]), is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, and from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean. It is often referred to as l’Hexagone ("The Hexagon") because of the geometric shape of its territory. It is the largest western European country and it possesses the second-largest exclusive economic zone in the world, covering 11,035,000 km² (4,260,000 sq mi), just behind that of the United States (11,351,000 km² / 4,383,000 sq mi).
Over the past 500 years, France has been a major power with strong cultural, economic, military and political influence in Europe and around the world. During the 17th and 18th centuries, France colonised great parts of North America and Southeast Asia; during the 19th and early 20th centuries, France built the second largest colonial empire of the time, including large portions of North, West and Central Africa, Southeast Asia, and many Caribbean and Pacific Islands.

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Ireland
Coordinates: 53°20′N 08°00′W / 53.333°N 8°W / 53.333; -8
Ireland (pronounced [ˈaɪrlənd] ( listen); Irish: Éire [ˈeːɾʲə] ( listen); Ulster Scots: Airlann or Airlan) is an island to the northwest of continental Europe. It is the third-largest island in Europe and the twentieth-largest island on Earth. To its east is the larger island of Great Britain, from which it is separated by the Irish Sea.
Politically, Ireland is divided between the Republic of Ireland, which covers just under five-sixths of the island, and Northern Ireland, a part of the United Kingdom, which covers the remainder and is located in the northeast of the island. The population of Ireland is approximately 6.4 million. Just under 4.6 million live in the Republic of Ireland and just under 1.8 million live in Northern Ireland.
Relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain epitomise Ireland's geography with several navigable rivers extending inland. The island has lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable oceanic climate, which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the 17th century. Today, it is one of the most deforested areas in Europe. There are twenty-six extant mammal species native to Ireland.

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Italy
Italy ⁱ/ˈɪtəli/ (Italian: Italia [iˈtaːlja]), officially the Italian Republic or the Republic of Italy (Italian: Repubblica italiana), is a unitary parliamentary republic in south-central Europe. To the north, it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia along the Alps. To the south, it consists of the entirety of the Italian Peninsula, Sicily, Sardinia–the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea–and many other smaller islands. The independent states of San Marino and the Vatican City are enclaves within Italy, while Campione d'Italia is an Italian exclave in Switzerland. The territory of Italy covers some 301,338 km² (116,347 sq mi) and is influenced by a temperate seasonal climate. With 60.6 million inhabitants, it is the fifth most populous country in Europe, and the 23rd most populous in the world.
Rome, the capital of Italy, was for centuries a political and religious centre of Western civilisation as the capital of the Roman Empire and site of the Holy See. After the decline of the Roman Empire, Italy endured numerous invasions by foreign peoples, from Germanic tribes such as the Lombards and Ostrogoths, to the Byzantines and later, the Normans, among others. Centuries later, Italy became the birthplace of Maritime republics and the Renaissance, an immensely fruitful intellectual movement that would prove to be integral in shaping the subsequent course of European thought.

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Lansdowne Road
Lansdowne Road (Irish: Bóthar Lansdúin, IPA: [ˈbˠoːhəɾˠ ˈl̪ˠan̪ˠsˠd̪ˠuːn̪ˠ]) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that has been the location of a number of sports stadiums. It was used primarily for rugby union and for association football matches as well as some music concerts. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for the construction of the Aviva Stadium, which opened in 2010.
Lansdowne Road took its name from the adjacent street.
The stadium was situated in the neighbourhood of Ballsbridge in the city's Dublin 4 area. The stadium had convenient public transport links as the Lansdowne Road station of the Dublin Area Rapid Transit rail system is adjacent to the site and passed directly underneath the West Stand.
The stadium was named after the nearby road, which in turn was named after William Petty-FitzMaurice, 1st Marquess of Lansdowne. The Marquis was also the Earl of Shelburne, and nearby Shelbourne Road is also named after him.
The stadium had a total capacity of 49,250, with 25,000 seats. However, competitive international football matches could not use the entire capacity because the stands at both ends of the ground (North and South) were standing-only terraces. FIFA and UEFA both mandate that international matches be played in all-seated venues. A temporary capacity of 36,000 was the result for competitive soccer. The International Rugby Board does not impose this restriction on international rugby venues. For non-competitive international football matches (friendly matches), the FIFA/UEFA all-seated mandate does not apply.

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Leicester
Coordinates: 52°38′03″N 1°08′19″W / 52.63422°N 1.13852°W / 52.63422; -1.13852
Leicester (/lɛstər/ LESS-tər pronunciation (help·info)) is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England, and the county town of Leicestershire. The city lies on the River Soar and at the edge of the National Forest. In 2010, the population of the Leicester unitary authority was estimated at 306,600, the second highest in the region, whilst 441,213 people lived in the wider Leicester Urban Area in 2006, making Leicester the tenth most populous settlement in the United Kingdom and the UK's fourteenth largest urban area. It is the largest city in the East Midlands yet has the second largest urban area in the region behind Nottingham Urban Area. Eurostat's Larger Urban Zone listed the population of the area at 772,400 people as of 2004.
Ancient Roman pavements and baths remain in Leicester from its early settlement as Ratae Corieltauvorum, a Roman military outpost in a region inhabited by the Celtic Corieltauvi tribe. Following the demise of Roman society the early medieval Ratae Corieltauvorum is shrouded in obscurity, but when the settlement was captured by the Danes it became one of five fortified towns important to the Danelaw. The name "Leicester" is thought to derive from the words castra of the "Ligore", meaning camp of the dwellers on the (river) Legro. Leicester appears in the Domesday Book as "Ledecestre". Leicester continued to grow throughout the Early Modern period as a market town, although it was the Industrial Revolution that facilitated a process of rapid unplanned urbanisation in the area.

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London
London ⁱ/ˈlʌndən/ 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 founding by the Romans, who named it Londinium. London's ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its square-mile mediaeval boundaries. Since at least the 19th century, the name London has also referred to the metropolis developed around this core. The bulk of this conurbation forms the London region and the Greater London administrative area, governed by the elected Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
London is a leading global city, with strengths in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism and transport all contributing to its prominence. It is the world's leading financial centre alongside New York City and has the fifth-largest city GDP in the world (and the largest in Europe). London has been described as a world cultural capital. It was the world's most visited city during 2011 and London Heathrow is the world's busiest airport by number of international passengers. London's 43 universities form the largest concentration of higher education in Europe. In 2012 London will become the first city to host the modern Summer Olympic Games three times.

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Millennium Stadium
The Millennium Stadium (Welsh: Stadiwm y Mileniwm) is the national stadium of Wales, located in the capital city, Cardiff. It is the home of the Wales national rugby union team and also frequently stages games of the Wales national football team, but is also host to many other large scale events, such as the Super Special Stage of Wales Rally Great Britain, Speedway Grand Prix of Great Britain, boxing and many music concerts, including Tina Turner, Madonna, The Rolling Stones, U2, Stereophonics, Paul McCartney, and the Tsunami Relief concert. It was built to host the 1999 Rugby World Cup.
The Millennium Stadium is owned by Millennium Stadium plc which is a subsidiary company of the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU). The stadium was designed by a team led by architects Bligh Lobb Sports Architecture, who merged to become HOK Sport Venue Event, which would be renamed Populous in early 2009. WS Atkins were the structural engineers, and the building contractor was Laing. The total construction cost of the stadium was £121 million, of which the Millennium Commission funded £46 million.

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Pontypridd RFC
Coordinates: 51°36′02″N 3°20′48″W / 51.600460°N 3.346571°W / 51.600460; -3.346571 Pontypridd Rugby Football Club, known as Ponty, are a rugby union team from Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales, currently playing in the British and Irish Cup,SWALEC Cup, and are the current Principality Premiership Champions.
Established in 1876, Pontypridd RFC play their home games on the banks of the River Rhondda, at Sardis Road, Pontypridd, Rhondda Cynon Taf in Wales, with their age-grade section playing at Taff Vale Park in Pontypridd, and Pontypridd High School Fields in nearby Cilfynydd.
Pontypridd RFC experienced a successful period during the mid-nineties under head coach, Dennis John, referred to as the club's "Golden Age", and saw a resurgence during the 2000/01, 2001/02 and 2002/03 seasons with the appointment of head coach, Lynn Howells. The transition to Regional Rugby in Wales in 2003 saw the downgrading of Pontypridd to a semi-professional team, followed by the eventual financial collapse of the Club, and subsequent demise of Pontypridd's "Celtic Warriors" region.

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Romania
Romania (ⁱ/roʊˈmeɪniə/ roh-MAY-nee-ə; dated: Roumania; or Rumania;Romanian: România [romɨˈni.a] ( listen)) is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea. Romania shares a border with Hungary and Serbia to the west, Ukraine and Moldova to the northeast and east, and Bulgaria to the south.
At 238,400 square kilometers (92,000 sq mi), Romania is the ninth largest country of the European Union by area, and has the seventh largest population of the European Union with over 19 million people. Its capital and largest city is Bucharest, the tenth largest city in the EU with about two million people.
The Kingdom of Romania emerged when the principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia were united under Prince Alexander Ioan Cuza in 1859. Independence from the Ottoman Empire was declared on 9 May 1877, and was internationally recognized the following year. At the end of World War I, Transylvania, Bukovina and Bessarabia united with the Kingdom of Romania. Greater Romania emerged into an era of progression and prosperity that would continue until World War II. By the end of the War, many north-eastern areas of Romania's territories were occupied by the Soviet Union, and Romania forcibly became a socialist republic and a member of the Warsaw Pact.

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San Sebastián
San Sebastián (Spanish: [san seβasˈtjan]) or Donostia (Basque: [doˈnos̺tia]) is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, on the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 (2011), and its metropolitan area reaches 413,617 (2010). Locals call themselves donostiarras, in Spanish, and donostiarrak, in Basque.
The main economic activities are commerce and tourism, being one of the most famous tourism destinations in Spain. Despite the city’s small size, international events such as the San Sebastián International Film Festival have given it an international dimension. San Sebastián, along with Wrocław, Poland, will be the European Capital of Culture in 2016.
In spite of the apparent difference, both the Basque form Donostia and the Spanish form San Sebastián share the same meaning of Saint Sebastian. The dona/dono/doni element in Basque place-names signifies "saint" and is derived from Latin domine; the second part of Donosti(a) contains a shortened form of the saint's name.

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Scotland
Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: Alba ([ˈalˠ̪apə] listen (help·info))) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the southwest. In addition to the mainland, Scotland constitutes over 790 islands including the Northern Isles and the Hebrides.
Edinburgh, the country's capital and second largest city, is one of Europe's largest financial centres. Edinburgh was the hub of the Scottish Enlightenment of the 18th century, which transformed Scotland into one of the commercial, intellectual and industrial powerhouses of Europe. Glasgow, Scotland's largest city, was once one of the world's leading industrial cities and now lies at the centre of the Greater Glasgow conurbation. Scottish waters consist of a large sector of the North Atlantic and the North Sea, containing the largest oil reserves in the European Union. This has given Aberdeen, the third largest city in Scotland, the title of Europe's oil capital.

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Spain
Spain (ⁱ/ˈspeɪn/ SPAYN; Spanish: España, pronounced: [esˈpaɲa] ( listen)), officially the Kingdom of Spain (Spanish: Reino de España), is a sovereign state and a member of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Its mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar; to the north and north east by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the northwest and west by the Atlantic Ocean and Portugal.
Spanish territory also includes the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, the Canary Islands in the Atlantic Ocean off the African coast, and two autonomous cities in North Africa, Ceuta and Melilla, that border Morocco. Furthermore, the town of Llívia is a Spanish exclave situated inside French territory. With an area of 504,030 square kilometres (194,610 sq mi), it is the second largest country in Western Europe and the European Union after France, and the fourth largest country in Europe after Russia, Ukraine and France.

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Stade de France
The Stade de France (French pronunciation: [stad də fʁɑ̃s]) is the national stadium of France, situated just north of Paris in the commune of Saint-Denis. It has an all-seater capacity of 81,338, making it the eighth largest stadium in Europe, and is used by both the France national football team and French rugby union team for international competition. On 12 July 1998, France defeated Brazil 3–0 in the FIFA World Cup Final contested at the stadium. The Stade de France is listed as a category four stadium by UEFA and has hosted matches for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, some matches for the 1999 Rugby World Cup, 2003 World Championships in Athletics, and the 2007 Rugby World Cup making it the only stadium in the world to have hosted both a Football World Cup final and a Rugby World Cup final. The facility also hosted the annual Motorsport event Race of Champions in 2004, 2005, and 2006 before the event moved to Wembley Stadium in London. The stadium hosted the 2003 World Championships in Athletics and since 1999 it has hosted the annual Meeting Areva athletics meet.

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Stade Jean-Bouin
Stade Jean-Bouin is a multi-purpose stadium in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France. The facility, across the street from the much larger Parc des Princes, is currently used mostly for rugby union matches and is the home stadium of Stade Français. Through 2006, it hosted the annual Paris Sevens event in the IRB Sevens World Series, but that event has since been discontinued. Before its temporary closure for an expansion project that began in summer 2010, it seated 12,000 people, and is named after the athlete Jean Bouin, a 1908 Olympian. When it reopens in 2013, it will seat 20,000.
To accommodate the expansion, Stade Français has moved its primary home ground to Stade Sébastien Charléty, also in Paris, for 2010–11.
Coordinates: 48°50′35″N 2°15′10″E / 48.84306°N 2.25278°E / 48.84306; 2.25278

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Switzerland
Switzerland (German: die Schweiz[ˈʃvaɪts]; French: Suisse [sɥis(ə)]; Italian: Svizzera [ˈzvit͡sːɛra]; Romansh: Svizra [ˈʒviːtsrɐ] or [ˈʒviːtsʁːɐ]), in its full name the Swiss Confederation (Latin: Confoederatio Helvetica, hence its abbreviation CH), is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in western Europe, where it is bordered by Germany to the north, France to the west, Italy to the south, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east.
Switzerland is a landlocked country geographically divided between the Alps, the Swiss Plateau and the Jura, spanning an area of 41,285 km² (15,940 sq mi). While the Alps occupy the greater part of the territory, the Swiss population of approximately 8 million people is concentrated mostly on the Plateau, where the largest cities are to be found. Among them are the two global cities and economic centres of Zurich and Geneva.
The Swiss Confederation has a long history of armed neutrality—it has not been in a state of war internationally since 1815—and did not join the United Nations until 2002. It pursues, however, an active foreign policy and is frequently involved in peace-building processes around the world. Switzerland is also the birthplace of the Red Cross and home to a large number of international organizations, including the second largest UN office. On the European level, it is a founding member of the European Free Trade Association and is part of the Schengen Area – although it is notably not a member of the European Union, nor the European Economic Area.

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Wales
Wales ⁱ/ˈweɪlz/ (Welsh: Cymru;Welsh pronunciation: [ˈkəm.rɨ] ( listen)) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain,bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km² (8,023 sq mi). Wales has over 1,200 km (750 mi) of coastline, including its offshore islands; the largest, Anglesey (Ynys Môn), is also the largest island in the Irish Sea. Wales is largely mountainous, with its highest peaks in the north and central areas, especially in Snowdonia (Eryri), which contains Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), its highest summit.
During the Iron Age and early medieval period, Wales was inhabited by the Celtic Britons. A distinct Welsh national identity emerged in the centuries after the Roman withdrawal from Britain in the 5th century, and Wales is regarded as one of the modern Celtic nations today. Gruffydd ap Llywelyn was recognised as King of Wales in 1057. Llywelyn ap Gruffydd's death in 1282 marked the completion of Edward I of England's conquest of Wales. The castles and town walls erected to ensure its permanence are now UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Owain Glyndŵr briefly restored independence to what was to become modern Wales, in the early 15th century. Wales was subsequently annexed by England under the Laws in Wales Acts 1535–1542 since when, excluding those matters now devolved to Wales, English law has been the legal system of Wales and England. Distinctive Welsh politics developed in the 19th century. Welsh Liberalism, exemplified in the early 20th century by Lloyd George, was displaced by the growth of socialism and the Labour Party. Welsh national feeling grew over the century; Plaid Cymru was formed in 1925 and The Welsh Language Society in 1962. The National Assembly for Wales, created in 1999 following a referendum, holds responsibility for a range of devolved policy matters.

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Andy Goode
Andrew James Goode (born 3 April 1980 in Coventry) is a rugby union footballer who plays fly-half (and occasionally fullback) for Worcester and England.
Goode attended King Henry VIII School in Coventry and Bromsgrove School in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. He started playing rugby union at the age of five at Barkers Butts, before moving to Nuneaton at 12. Up until then he had played at scrum half but soon found out he enjoyed the game better at fly-half. He also played for Warwickshire and the Midlands. He joined Coventry aged 16.
In 1998 Goode was selected to play for England Schools U18 and has since represented England at U21 level, playing at the 2000 SANZAR tournament in New Zealand, as well as appearing 5 times for England A in 2001 and 2002. He has now also played 14 times for England.
Goode joined Leicester Tigers as a youngster, despite his youth he played a substantial part in Tigers record four successive Premiership titles and also won two Heineken Cup winners medals. He later moved to Saracens and after moved back to his old club Leicester in 2003.

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Anthony Foley
Anthony "Axel" Foley (born on 30 October 1973) is a retired Irish rugby union footballer. He was educated at St Munchin's College in Limerick.
He was part of the Shannon side that won 4 All-Ireland Leagues in a row for the Limerick club in the mid 1990s, with Foley playing in all 48 games of this sequence.
Foley made his debut for Munster against Swansea in November 1995, a game that was also Munster's first ever Heineken Cup fixture.
He was in the Munster team that lost 8-9 to Northampton Saints in the 2000 Heineken Cup Final, and was again the runner-up when Munster lost 15-9 to Leicester Tigers in the 2002 Heineken Cup Final.
Foley was finally on the winning side when Munster won the 2002-03 Celtic League.
When Mick Galwey resigned as Munster captain, Foley lost by one vote to Jim Williams in a vote to decide to next captain. When Williams left Munster in 2005, Foley became the new captain, and in his first season in the position, he led Munster to victory over Biarritz Olympique in the 2006 Heineken Cup Final.

wn.com/Anthony_Foley
Brian O'Driscoll
Brian Gerald O'Driscoll (born 21 January 1979) is an Irish professional rugby union player. He is the current captain of the Ireland Rugby team and captained Leinster Rugby until the start of 2008 season. He also captained the British and Irish Lions for their 2005 tour of New Zealand. Registered at University College Dublin RFC, he plays at outside centre for the Irish provincial team Leinster. O'Driscoll was chosen as Player of the Tournament in the 2006, 2007 and 2009 RBS Six Nations Championships.
O'Driscoll has 123 Test caps, 117 for Ireland (80 as captain), and 6 for the British and Irish Lions. He has scored 45 tries for Ireland and 1 try for the Lions in 2001, making him the highest try scorer of all time in Irish Rugby. He is 8th-highest try scorer in rugby union history, and the highest scoring centre of all time. O'Driscoll holds the Six Nations record for most tries scored with 25. He has scored the most Heineken Cup tries (30) for an Irishman. He is widely regarded as one of the best centres to have played the game.

wn.com/Brian_O'Driscoll
Clément Poitrenaud
Clément Poitrenaud (born 20 May 1982 in Castres, Tarn) is a French rugby union footballer. His usual position is at fullback but he also plays at centre. He plays for Stade Toulousain in the Top 14 club competition in France, and has played for France, including at the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia and the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France.
He played his first Heineken Cup match during the 2000–01 tournament, against Welsh side, the Cardiff Blues. He scored his first Heineken Cup try coming off the bench in a match against the Saracens, and did the same in the subsequent match against the Cardiff Blues. Toulouse won the Top 14 in 2001, defeating ASM Clermont Auvergne 34 to 22 in the final at Stade de France.
Poitrenaud made his debut for France during 2001, and was part of the French side which defeated the Springboks 20 to 10 in Paris. He earned a further two international caps for France that year, playing in the subsequent victories over Australia in Marseille and Fiji in Saint-Étienne. Toulouse made it to the final of the 2002-03 Heineken Cup, and defeated USA Perpignan to win the cup. Toulouse were also finalists of the domesttic competition, but were defeated by Stade Français.

wn.com/Clément_Poitrenaud
Dafydd James
Dafydd Rhys James (born 24 July 1975 in Mufulira, Zambia) is a former Welsh international rugby union footballer who plays on the wing or at centre. He toured with the British and Irish Lions in 2001. He has earned 48 caps for Wales and three for the British & Irish Lions. His clubs include Llanelli, Bridgend, Pontypridd, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues, Sale Sharks and HKCC Rugby.
He had his contract with the Scarlets terminated in 2009 alongside Simon Maling and Gavin Thomas after he was injured for most of the 2008/09 season with a neck injury. James considered taking legal action after he claimed he was 'humiliated' and was denied access to the team bus and training. The Scarlets said he was injured which allowed them to invoke a clause that allowed him to released if he was injured for 26 weeks, despite James claiming to be fit.
He moved on to the Cardiff Blues for the 2009/10 season, but with limited success, he started just one match in the Magners League. He moved to the Sale Sharks in January 2010 to cover for an injury crisis, but he failed to have an impact on them scoring no tries and he was released at the end of the season.

wn.com/Dafydd_James
David Skrela
David Skrela (born 2 March 1979, in Toulouse, France) is a French rugby union footballer. He plays for the French national side and for ASM Clermont Auvergne as a fly-half or centre. He is renowned for his tackles and his kick.
Skrela is the son of the famous French international rugby player and coach Jean-Claude Skrela. His sister, Gaëlle, is a professional basketball player. He is of Polish descent on his father's side. At his father's insistence, he completed a diploma in civil engineering at Toulouse's Institut National des Sciences Appliquées before beginning his rugby career full-time.Godwin, Hugh "Keys to No 10 rest in Skrela's hungry hands", The Independent, February 11, 2007 He is married to Celine, and has a daughter and a son. Cabiro and Mathieu "Carnet rose: Skrela papa". Stade Français official website, March 4, 2008 In tre years, he won the Heineken cup and The bouclier de brennus with Toulouse. On May 11, 2011, he was selected by Marc Lièvremont to participate in the next 2011 Rugby World Cup. The French coach underlined Skrela's skills and maturity. France were beaten in the final by hosts New Zealand.

wn.com/David_Skrela
Diego Domínguez
Diego Dominguez (born 25 April 1966 in Córdoba, Argentina) is a former Argentine rugby union fly-half who played for Argentina and Italy, winning 74 caps for the latter.
In 1986 Dominguez toured France with the Argentine national team, but saw his opportunities limited by Hugo Porta. After the tour, he played for a year in France, and then moved to Milan in Italy.
Dominguez then made his Italian debut in March 1991 against France. Dominguez played for the Azzurri at fly-half in three world cups in 1991, 1995 and 1999.
In 1997 he moved to Stade Français and was part of the French champions' 1998 side. Stade also reached the final of the Heineken Cup in 2001 but despite Dominguez kicking 30 points, they lost to Leicester Tigers.
He announced his retirement in 2000 but was persuaded to return as there was no heir apparent. He played his last game for Italy on 22 February 2003 against Ireland.

wn.com/Diego_Domínguez
Fabien Galthié
Fabien Galthié (born 20 March 1969) is a French rugby union coach and former player. His usual position was at scrum-half. He played much of his club rugby for Colomiers, and later on in his career, Stade Français. Galthié won 64 caps for France, including four Rugby World Cup appearances, as well as captaining the side at the 2003 World Cup. Former France national coach Bernard Laporte has described him as the greatest scrum-half in French history.[1] He was the IRB International Player of the Year in 2002.
Born in Cahors, Galthié began his career at a club in Tournefeuille, before joining Colomiers. He made his international debut for France in a match against Romania in June 1991. In 1991 he found himself getting a call up into France's 1991 Rugby World Cup squad, replacing the injured Pierre Berbizier. At the 1995 Rugby World Cup he played in the semi-final defeat to South Africa.
Galthié was a crucial member of the French team that upset New Zealand in the semi-final of the 1999 Rugby World Cup at Twickenham. In 2000, Colomiers reached the French championship final, but Galthié had to watch from the stands due to a knee injury. The club lost 28–23 to Stade Français, whom he joined the following season. In 2001 Galthié was appointed captain of France. A successful year in 2002, including a Six Nations Grand Slam, saw France dominate the 2002 IRB Awards, with Galthié named Player of the Year as well as French coach Bernard Laporte being named Coach of the Year.

wn.com/Fabien_Galthié
Fabien Pelous
Fabien Pelous (born 7 December 1973) is a retired French rugby union footballer. A lock who also occasionally played as a number eight and flanker, he played almost all of his professional career for Stade Toulousain, and is the all-time leader in appearances for the French national team. He also retired as the most-capped lock for any nation in rugby history, with 100 of his 118 France appearances at that position; this particular record is now held by South Africa's Victor Matfield.
The son of a family of local farmers, Pelous was born in Toulouse and was introduced to rugby in Saverdun.
Pelous made his test début on 17 October 1995 against Romania.
He proved himself an inspirational captain for France after succeeding Fabien Galthié ahead of the 2004 RBS 6 Nations and enjoyed immediate success, leading Les Bleus to the Grand Slam in his first year and followed that up with a second-placed finish in 2005.
Pelous missed the summer test matches in 2005 with a serious knee injury. He returned to action in September and helped France to a 26-16 win over Australia in November. However, he was handed a nine-week ban in the aftermath of that victory after being found guilty of elbowing Australia hooker Brendan Cannon.

wn.com/Fabien_Pelous
Geordan Murphy
Geordan Edward Andrew Murphy (born 19 April 1978 in Dublin) is an Irish rugby union rugby player and plays fullback or wing for the English club Leicester Tigers and Ireland.
He was officially named George after his father but his mother called him Geordan to avoid confusion. His six brothers and sister all played rugby union. Geordan was educated at Newbridge College, Newbridge, Co. Kildare before attending Waterford Institute of Technology and De Montfort University in Leicester.
Murphy played Gaelic football at Minor (U18) level with Kildare GAA in the All-Ireland Minor Football Championship. In 1997 shortly before he joined Leicester Tigers he gained his first U18 rugby cap for Ireland. He gradually made his way into the Tigers' first team squad, while gaining caps for Ireland U21. Opportunities at fullback were limited by the presence of Tim Stimpson, but he gained a place on the right wing. Murphy played in both of Leicester's back-to-back Heineken Cup final wins in 2001 & 2002.
In June 2000, after representing Ireland A and an Ireland XV, he made his full Ireland debut against the United States, scoring twice. The 2000/01 season saw him turning out regularly for Ireland A during the “shadow” Six Nations and led to him being picked for the Barbarians tour of the UK and Ireland that year. The 2001/02 season saw Murphy finishing the season as Tigers' top try scorer in all competitions. He also scored a try for Ireland against Samoa in November 2001, and two more against Wales in Dublin in that season's Six Nations, but was then injured in the game against England.

wn.com/Geordan_Murphy
Gordon D'Arcy
Gordon William D'Arcy (born 10 February 1980, Ferns, County Wexford) is an Irish rugby player, more specifically an inside centre. He is registered to Lansdowne RFC and plays for provincial and RaboDirect Pro12 side Leinster.
D'Arcy was a promising fullback for schools side Clongowes Wood in the late 1990s, and on the eve of his Leaving Cert was called into the Irish squad for the tour of South Africa by coach Warren Gatland. However, because of his studies he declined the opportunity. On leaving school he joined the Lansdowne Rugby Club and made his Ireland debut on 15 October 1999 as a substitute against Romania during the World Cup.
Following a falling out with his provincial coaches regarding his attitude – which almost drove him to retire from the game – D'Arcy was left out of the international setup for three years. His second game for his country came on 17 November 2002 as a late substitute in Ireland's 64–17 win over Fiji. He made a further three appearances as a substitute during 2003. He was not selected for the Irish squad for the 2003 Rugby World Cup in Australia, but was picked for the Leinster team during the absence of its World Cup players. It was then that he came into his own, playing some of the best rugby of his career at fullback/wing, where he displayed delightful skill in running from deep and finishing off the moves that he had started. After the World Cup, an injury to Brian O'Driscoll, his Leinster team mate, saw D'Arcy move to outside centre, where he made a great impression.

wn.com/Gordon_D'Arcy
Jonathan Sexton
Jonathan Sexton, is a rugby union player for Ireland and Leinster Rugby in the Celtic League and Heineken Cup. Sexton is a nephew of former Garryowen, Munster and Ireland rugby player William Sexton. Sexton born in Dublin also has strong family ties to North Kerry.
Sexton is registered to St. Mary's College RFC who play in AIB League Division 1. Sexton plays as Fly-half but has played several different positions in the back-line. He attended St. Marys college in Dublin and scored a drop goal in the dying moments of St. Marys' 2002 Leinster Senior Cup final win.
In May 2012 former Ireland and Leinster great Ollie Campbell stated before Leinster's unprecedented 3rd European Cup in four years that Sexton is a class act with hardly any weaknesses, and that during Leinster's rise to the summit of European rugby the only significant Heineken Cup defeat over the last four seasons occurred when Jonathan Sexton was not playing.
Sexton was part of Leinster's Celtic League winning side in 2007–08. On 2 May 2009, he established himself in the Leinster first team replacing the injured Argentine fly-half Felipe Contepomi as an early substitute in the Heineken Cup semi-final to help Leinster beat rivals Munster a convincing 25–6. He then started in Leinster's home match against the Scarlets in the Celtic League, scoring 15 points (including a try) in a man of the match performance.

wn.com/Jonathan_Sexton
Kenny Logan
Kenny Logan (born 3 April 1972 in Stirling, Scotland) is a rugby union footballer who played wing for London Scottish.
As a schoolboy, Logan had football trials as a goalkeeper for Dundee United and Hearts. He left school at 16 and began his rugby career with Stirling County, making his senior debut at 17.
In 1996, he joined Wasps for his first professional season. Logan was with Wasps for seven years. In 2004, he signed for Glasgow and in September 2005 made his debut for London Scottish.
He gained his first cap for Scotland in 1992 against Australia. Winning 70 caps over 13 years, he retired from international rugby union after the 2003 World Cup.
Logan dated newsreader Kirsty Young for three years before marrying television presenter Gabby Yorath. The couple live in London. After undergoing IVF treatment, Logan's twins were born on 28 July 2005.
Logan and his wife took part in the fifth series of the BBC celebrity dancing programme Strictly Come Dancing. Kenny was partnered with Ola and Gabby was partnered with James Jordan. Logan ended in 5th place. Gabby finished in 12th place.^{[citation needed]}

wn.com/Kenny_Logan
Marcus Horan
Marcus Horan (born 7 September 1977, Clonlara, County Clare, Ireland) is an Irish rugby union player who plays loose-head-prop for Munster and Ireland.
Horan was educated at St. Munchin's College and Limerick Institute of Technology. He sprang to notice when he replaced Peter Clohessy in the Munster team back in 1999.
Horan made his international debut against the United States during the 1999/2000 season, but did not win another cap until the 2002/2003 season, which came against Fiji. He lost his place to Reggie Corrigan during the 2003 World Cup and the 2004 and 2005 Six Nations, but consistently good performances for Munster saw him regain his place in the team. He held down his place for the 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 Six Nations, starting every match of Ireland's victorious Grand Slam campaign. He was also an integral part of Eddie O'Sullivan's 2007 World Cup squad. He missed the 2009 November Tests after having heart surgery, and lost his place to Cian Healy, who held on to the loosehead-prop position during the 2010 Six Nations. Horan played against the Barbarians and New Zealand Maori during Ireland's 2010 Summer Tests, but was ruled out of the 2010 November Tests with a broken hand. He missed the 2011 Six Nations, but was selected in Ireland's training squad for the 2011 World Cup warm-ups in August. He played against Scotland but missed out on selection in the final squad for the World Cup.

wn.com/Marcus_Horan
Martyn Williams
Martyn Elwyn Williams, MBE (born 1 September 1975) is a Welsh international rugby union player. A flanker, he plays for Cardiff Blues and the Wales national rugby union team as an open-side flanker. He is Wales' most-capped forward.
Williams, height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m), weight 15 st 10 lb (100 kg), played club rugby for Pontypridd, with whom he won the 1996-7 Welsh league, then moved to Cardiff in 1999. He captained Cardiff from 2002 until 2005, when Rhys Williams took over the role.
In the Heineken Cup semi final against Leicester Tigers on 3 May 2009, Williams missed a crucial kick in the penalty shootout after the game had finished level after extra time, allowing Jordan Crane to step up and score the winning kick. It was the first time that a rugby union match had been decided in a shootout.
After gaining international caps at every junior level he won his first Wales A cap in 1996 and then made the senior side against the Barbarians the same year. His first appearance in the Five Nations Championship was against England in 1998. He captained Wales for the first time against Scotland at Murrayfield in 2003.

wn.com/Martyn_Williams
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby, usually referred to simply as Munster, is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from Ireland. They compete in the RaboDirect Pro12 and the Heineken Cup. The team represents the IRFU Munster Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU and is responsible for rugby union in the Irish province of Munster. Their main home ground is Thomond Park, Limerick, though some smaller profile games are played at Musgrave Park, Cork. Munster currently play in a red and blue home strip, while the away strip is white striped horizontally with the colours of the six counties of Munster. The Munster Rugby logo consists of three crowns and a stag. The team motto is "To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible"; it is derived from the motto of the MacCarthy clan – "Forti et Fideli nihil difficile".
Munster is known for its passionate support and games involving Munster hold several Heineken Cup records for highest attendances in every stage of the finals, as well as the highest ever attendance for a rugby game in both Spain and Switzerland. In 2008, Director of Coaching Declan Kidney left to take up the head coach job with Ireland, and Munster ensured continuity by promoting Australian Tony McGahan to the position from within the coaching setup.

wn.com/Munster_Rugby
Neil Jenkins
Neil Jenkins MBE (born 8 July 1971) is a former rugby union football player and current coach. He played fly-half, centre, or full back for Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors, Wales and the British and Irish Lions. Jenkins is Wales' highest ever points-scorer and is the third highest on the List of leading Rugby union Test point scorers. He was the first player to score 1,000 points in international matches.
Jenkins was born in Church Village near Llantrisant, Wales to a scrap dealer and his wife. He attended Bryn Celynnog Comprehensive school in Beddau.
Jenkins first came to note as a rugby player when he joined Pontypridd in 1990, making his First XV debut on the 14th April. He made his Wales debut aged 19 along with Scott Gibbs on 19 January 1991 against England during the Five Nations Championship in Cardiff, a game that Wales lost 25–6. Despite a relatively uninteresting match Jenkins had the consolation of scoring his first three points thanks to a penalty. After the Five Nations campaign, Jenkins missed out on a place in the Welsh World Cup squad – the number ten position having been taken up by Mark Ring.

wn.com/Neil_Jenkins
Ronan O'Gara
Ronan John Ross O'Gara (born 7 March 1977 in San Diego, California) is an Irish rugby union player, playing at fly-half for both Munster and Ireland. He is the all time highest points scorer for both Munster and Ireland. In addition to his prolific point-scoring, he has captained Munster, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. He is Ireland's most-capped player, and the third most-capped player in rugby union history. He has started at fly-half in victorious European championship campaigns at both provincial and international level.
O'Gara was born in San Diego where his father, Fergal, was working as a professor of microbiology and who was also a wing for the UCG club in Connacht. Ronan was educated at Presentation Brothers College, Cork and won a Junior Cup medal in 1992 and a Senior Cup medal in 1995. He attended UCC and won an All-Ireland Under-20 medal in 1996. He graduated with a B.A. and Masters Degree in Business Economics in 1999.
O'Gara made his Munster debut against Connacht in August 1997, scoring 19 points. Current Munster and Ireland teammate David Wallace also made his debut in this game. His European debut came against Harlequins in September 1997 in the 1997-98 Heineken Cup.

wn.com/Ronan_O'Gara
Tim Stimpson
Timothy Richard George Stimpson (born 10 September 1973 in Liverpool) is a former rugby union international full back (and occasional wing). During his career he played for Wakefield, West Hartlepool, Newcastle Falcons, Leicester Tigers, Perpignan, Leeds Tykes and Nottingham, England and the British Lions. His international career was a start-stop affair, however he excelled at club level. In particular, during his five year spell at Leicester Tigers between 1998–2003, as a goalkicker, he was an integral part of the dominant Leicester side that won the league four times in succession to add to back-to-back Heineken Cup, becoming the Premierships top points scorer in the process (his points total has now been overtaken by both Jonny Wilkinson and Andy Goode).
Stimpson was educated at Silcoates School, Wakefield. In 1992, he went to the University of Durham, where he studied anthropology at Grey College, graduating in 1995.
He went on the 1997 British Lions tour to South Africa and would have played in the tests as first choice full back were it not for the better goal-kicking of Neil Jenkins that would be crucial to the Lions' series victory.

wn.com/Tim_Stimpson
Tom Voyce
Thomas Michael Dunstan Voyce (born 5 January 1981 in Truro, Cornwall) is an English rugby union footballer who plays at wing or fullback for Gloucester and England.
Voyce’s great uncle, Thomas Anthony Voyce, won 27 caps for England, while playing for Gloucester Rugby, during the 1920s and was a member of the first double Grand Slam winning team. He went on to become President of the RFU in 1960–61.
Voyce was educated at Penair School, Truro and then studied at King’s College, Taunton.
Outside the rugby field, Voyce is an Ambassador of the Wooden Spoon Society.
He first showed promise playing mini rugby at Penryn RFC in his native Cornwall, before going on to play for Truro RFC U15s and U16s.
Having left Cornwall at 16, he eventually joined Bath where he worked his way through the club’s lower sides and into the Zurich Premiership line up. At the same time he established himself in the England Under 21 side. He was selected for England's 2001 tour to North America, where he won his first cap against the USA.

wn.com/Tom_Voyce
Tommy Bowe
Thomas John "Tommy" Bowe (Irish: Tomás Ó Buaigh, born 22 February 1984) is an Irish rugby union footballer from County Monaghan, Ireland. He plays on the wing for the Ospreys, Ireland and the British and Irish Lions. In March 2012, Bowe confirmed that he would be returning to his native province, Ulster, for the 2012/13 season.
Tommy is an extremely proud Monaghan man and a former pupil of The Royal School, Armagh, Northern Ireland, he was a schoolboy provincial full-back, only converting to wing whilst playing for Ireland U-21s. Bowe played Gaelic football from U10 level with Emyvale, his local GAA club and he also ran for the Glaslough Harries and represented his local parish Donagh in the All-Ireland community games. He represented Monaghan at U16 and Minor level. As well as playing Gaelic football, he also played rugby with Monagahan RFC at underage levels as well as representing his primary school team. He attended the University of Ulster, Jordanstown and played for the Queens University Belfast rugby team, earning a selection to the Ireland U20 Team before transferring to Belfast Harlequins. He subsequently was capped at U21 level and was named as the Irish Rugby Union Players Association (IRUPA) ’Young Player of the Year’ in 2003.

wn.com/Tommy_Bowe
Vincent Clerc
Vincent Clerc (born May 7, 1981) is a French rugby union player who plays on the wing.
Born in the city of Échirolles, suburb of the south of Grenoble (Isère), Clerc first played rugby at FC Grenoble, helping them reach the Top 16 before moving to Toulouse in 2002, where he has been playing ever since. He earned his first cap for France on November 9, 2002 against South Africa, and was selected as a member of the 2007 Rugby World Cup squad. He scored 5 tries during the first two games of the 2008 Six Nations Championship against Scotland and Ireland. In a post-match interview after the match against Ireland Clerc stated to the French TV channel France 2 that he "never would have been able to score a hat-trick if Shane Horgan had been playing." Horgan and Clerc have had a long rivalry and, unfortunately for Ireland, Horgan was unfit to play. In the 2007 RBS 6 Nations tournament Vincent scored a last gasp try against Ireland. In the last game of that series of games Vincent Clerc helped France to trounce Scotland to give them the title.

wn.com/Vincent_Clerc

Rugby Union Heineken Cup 2012-13 Round 1 Harlequins vs Biarritz

This is the start of the competition for both teams. Harlequins are off to a good start in...

published: 14 Oct 2012

author: Tha Sinista Mane

Leicester Tigers vs Ospreys Heineken Cup 2012-2013

Leicester Tigers vs Ospreys Heineken Cup 2012-2013...

published: 27 Oct 2012

author: Jammy Twang

HEINEKEN CUP 2011-2012 : HIGHLIGHTS

Heineken Cup
Current season or competition: 2011–12 Heineken Cup
150px Competition logo
Sport	Rugby union
Instituted	1995
Inaugural season	1995–96
Chairman	Jean-Pierre Lux
Number of teams	24
Nations	England France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales
Holders	Leinster (2011–12)
Most titles	Toulouse (4 titles)
Website	Official site

Format [link]

Qualification [link]

Diagram showing how qualification is obtained for Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup until 2009-10 season.

The Heineken Cup is open to clubs in the RaboDirect Pro12 (originally the Celtic League), Aviva Premiership and the Top 14. The Italian Super 10 competition also sent clubs into the Heineken Cup through 2009–10, but no longer does so after the Celtic League expanded to include Italian franchises. Clubs that do not qualify for the Heineken Cup can enter the European Challenge Cup.

22 places are awarded by country, with each country deciding how to allocate their alloted places^[1]:

England: six teams (selected by performance in Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup)
France: six teams (selected by performance in Top 14 Championship)
Ireland: three teams (selected by performance in Pro 12)
Wales: three teams (selected by performance in Pro 12)
Scotland: two teams (selected by participation in Pro 12)
Italy: two teams (selected by participation in Pro 12)

Starting with the 2009–10 season, the remaining two places in the 24-team tournament for the following season are filled by the winners of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup. If a trophy winner has already qualified for the Heineken Cup by virtue of its league position, that country will receive an extra Heineken Cup place (assuming that the country has an extra team that can take up a place; Scotland has only two top-level professional teams, as does Italy since the 2010–11 season). However, England and France are capped at seven Heineken Cup places each. If either country produces the winners of both European cups, the last place will be filled by the highest ERC-ranked club not of that nation to not have otherwise qualified.^[2] The latter rule also applies if one of Scotland's two Pro 12 teams wins a European trophy. London Wasps could have benefited if either Clermont or Edinburgh had won the 2011–12 Heineken Cup,^[3] but both those clubs lost in the semi-finals, ending Wasps' hopes of a Heineken Cup lifeline.

Previously, the remaining two places were allocated as follows:

One team came from France, England or Italy; this place was allocated to the country whose team progressed further in the previous season's Heineken Cup.^[1] For example, because Leicester progressed further in the 2008–09 competition than any French or Italian team, there were seven English teams in the 2009–10 competition.
The final team was the winner of a play-off between the best placed team in the Celtic League (then sponsored as Magners League) who had not already qualified, and the best placed semi-finalist in the Italian Super 10.^[1] The play-off was a single match, which took place alternately in Italy or the home of the Magners League side. In 2007–08, this play-off was scheduled to take place before the Italian Super 10 semi-finals, so no Italian team was nominated to take part. This meant that the Magners League nominee, the Newport Gwent Dragons, qualified without a playoff.

A proposal has been made that, in future, rather than Ireland, Wales and Scotland each sending their top-placed teams in the Celtic League/Pro 12 to the Heineken Cup, the top teams from the league as a whole should be sent, regardless of nationality.^[4]

Competition [link]

The 2005–06 final at Millennium Stadium in Cardiff between Munster and Biarritz.

Pool stage [link]

Six pools of four teams play both home and away games. Until the 2007/2008 season these pools were drawn mostly at random, with the following restrictions^[5]:

Each nation nominates one of their teams as top seed; these teams are drawn in separate pools.
Each nation supplies at most one team to each pool, except where England or France supply seven teams in total; in this case, the seventh team drawn will appear in a pool with one other team from that nation. In some cases (such as for the 2007/2008 season) the unseeded Italian and Scottish teams may also deliberately be drawn in different pools.

From the 2008–09 season, there is more structure to the pools. The competing 24 teams are ranked based on past performance using the European club ranking from the ERC^[6] and arranged into four tiers of six teams, with the reigning champion automatically appearing in the top tier. Each pool receives one team at random from each tier; again, this is subject to the restriction that each pool cannot contain more than one team from each competing nation, except where France or England supply seven teams.

Four points are awarded for a win and two points for a draw. A bonus point is awarded for a loss by seven points or fewer, or for scoring four tries or more. The six pool winners (ranked 1–6 by number of points scored) and two best placed runners-up (ranked seven and eight) qualify for the quarter-finals. Teams ranked one to four have home advantage. The three next-best placed runners up qualify, starting with the 2009/10 season, for the knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup.^[2]

Knock-out stage [link]

The quarter-finals are: team 1 v team 8; team 2 v team 7; team 3 v team 6; team 4 v team 5.

The quarter-finals are played at the home stadiums of the higher-seeded clubs, or sometimes at a larger stadium in or near the host team's city. The semi-finals, on the other hand, are always played at nominally neutral venues. Each of the two semi-final venues are in the country of the first team out of the hat when the draw is made. For example, in 2004, Munster v Wasps was played at Lansdowne Road in Dublin, while Toulouse v Biarritz was played in Bordeaux.^[7]

However, the neutrality requirement is satisfied simply by the designated home team playing outside of its normal stadium. Both 2005 semi-finals were held in the host's home city; Leicester Tigers v Toulouse was held at Walkers Stadium in Leicester, not far from Leicester's normal home of Welford Road,^[8] while Stade Français v Biarritz was played at Parc des Princes in Paris, across the street from Stade's normal home field. The semifinal venue must also meet the following additional criteria; it must have a capacity of at least 20,000^[9] and it must be in the same country as the designated home team.

However, the European Rugby Cup, which organises the competition, may allow exceptions, such as with Biarritz, located in a city less than 20 km from the Spanish border, being allowed to host their 2006 and 2010 semi-finals across the border at Estadio Anoeta in Donostia-San Sebastián (which is the closest stadium to Biarritz that meets the requirements).^[10]^[11] During pool stages, these requirements are further relaxed; for example, Bourgoin hosted Munster in Switzerland at Stade de Genève, Geneva in the 2006–07 competition,^[12] and Stade Français planned to take their 2009–10 home fixture against Ulster to Belgium's largest stadium, King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, but that fixture was canceled and moved to Paris after heavy snowfall in Brussels on the intended matchday. The final is held at a predetermined site.

Finals [link]

Main article: Heineken Cup finals

Season	Winner	Score	Runner-up	Venue	Attendance
1995–96 Details	Toulouse	21 – 18 a.e.t.	Cardiff	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	21,800
1996–97 Details	Brive	28 – 9	Leicester Tigers	Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff	41,664
1997–98 Details	Bath	19 – 18	Brive	Stade Lescure, Bordeaux	36,500
1998–99 Details	Ulster	21 – 6	Colomiers	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	49,000
1999–2000 Details	Northampton Saints	9 – 8	Munster	Twickenham Stadium, London	68,441
2000–01 Details	Leicester Tigers	34 – 30	Stade Français	Parc des Princes, Paris	44,000
2001–02 Details	Leicester Tigers	15 – 9	Munster	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,000
2002–03 Details	Toulouse	22 – 17	Perpignan	Lansdowne Road, Dublin	28,600
2003–04 Details	London Wasps	27 – 20	Toulouse	Twickenham Stadium, London	73,057
2004–05 Details	Toulouse	18 – 12 a.e.t.	Stade Français	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	51,326
2005–06 Details	Munster	23 – 19	Biarritz	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,534
2006–07 Details	London Wasps	25 – 9	Leicester Tigers	Twickenham Stadium, London	81,076
2007–08 Details	Munster	16 – 13	Toulouse	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	74,417
2008–09 Details	Leinster	19 – 16	Leicester Tigers	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh	66,523
2009–10 Details	Toulouse	21 – 19	Biarritz	Stade de France, Saint-Denis, Paris	78,962
2010–11 Details	Leinster	33 – 22	Northampton Saints	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff	72,456
2011–12 Details	Leinster	42 – 14	Ulster	Twickenham Stadium, London	81,774
2012–13 Details				Aviva Stadium, Dublin

History [link]

1995 to 1998 [link]

The Heineken Cup was launched in the summer of 1995 on the initiative of the then Five Nations Committee to provide a new level of professional cross border competition.^[13] Twelve sides representing Ireland, Wales, Italy, Romania and France competed in four pools of three with the group winners going directly into the semi-finals.^[14] English and Scottish teams did not take part in the inaugural competition.^[15] From an inauspicious beginning in Romania, where Toulouse defeated Farul Constanţa 54–10 in front of a small crowd, the competition gathered momentum and crowds grew. Toulouse went on to become the first European cup winners, eventually beating Cardiff in extra time in front of a crowd of 21,800 at Cardiff Arms Park.^[14]

Clubs from England and Scotland joined the competition in 1996–97.^[16] European rugby was further expanded with the advent of the European Challenge Cup for teams that did not qualify for the Heineken Cup. The Heineken Cup now had 20 teams divided into four pools of five.^[17] Only Leicester and Brive reached the knock-out stages with 100 per cent records and ultimately made it to the final, Cardiff and Toulouse falling in the semi-finals. After 46 matches, Brive beat Leicester 28–9 in front of a crowd of 41,664 at Cardiff Arms Park, the match watched by an estimated television audience of 35 million in 86 countries.^[17]

The season 1997–98 saw the introduction of a home and away format in the pool games.^[18] The five pools of four teams, which guaranteed each team a minimum of six games, and the three quarter-final play-off matches all added up to a 70-match tournament. Brive reached the final again but were beaten late in the game by Bath with a penalty kick. Ironically, English clubs had decided to withdraw from the competition in a dispute over the way it was run.^[15]

Without English clubs, the 1998–99 tournament revolved around France, Italy and the Celtic nations. Sixteen teams took part in four pools of four. French clubs filled the top positions in three of the groups and for the fourth consecutive year a French club, in the shape of Colomiers from the Toulouse suburbs, reached the final. Despite this it was to be Ulster's year as they beat Toulouse (twice) and reigning French champions Stade Français on their way to the final at Lansdowne Road, Dublin. Ulster then carried home the trophy after a 21–6 win over Colomiers in front of a capacity 49,000 crowd.^[18]

1999 to 2004 [link]

English clubs returned in 1999–2000. The pool stages were spread over three months to allow the competition to develop alongside the nations’ own domestic competitions, and the knockout stages were scheduled to take the tournament into the early spring. For the first time clubs from four different nations – England, Ireland, France and Wales – made it through to the semi-finals. Munster's defeat of Toulouse in Bordeaux ended France's record of having contested every final and Northampton Saints' victory over Llanelli made them the third English club to make it to the final. The competition was decided with a final between Munster and Northampton, with Northampton coming out on top by a single point to claim their first major honour.^[16]

England supplied two of the 2000–01 semi-finalists – Leicester Tigers and Gloucester – with Munster and French champions Stade Français also reaching the last four. Both semi-finals were close, Munster going down by a point 16–15 to Stade Français in Lille and the Tigers beating Gloucester 19–15 at Vicarage Road, Watford. The final, at Parc des Princes, Paris, attracted a crowd of 44,000 and the result was in the balance right up until the final whistle, but Leicester walked off 34–30 winners.

Munster reached the 2001–02 final with quarter-final and semi-final victories on French soil against Stade Français and Castres. Leicester pipped Llanelli in the last four, after the Scarlets had halted Leicester's 11-match Heineken Cup winning streak in the pool stages. A record crowd saw Leicester become the first side to successfully defend their title.^[13]

From 2002, the European Challenge Cup winner now automatically qualified for the Heineken Cup. Toulouse's victory over French rivals Perpignan in 2003 meant that they joined Leicester as the only teams to win the title twice.^[13] Toulouse saw a 19-point half-time lead whittled away as the Catalans staged a dramatic comeback in a match in which the strong wind and showers played a major role, but Toulouse survived to win.

In 2003–04 the Welsh Rugby Union (WRU) voted to create regions to play in the Celtic League and represent Wales in European competition. Henceforth, Wales entered regional sides rather than the club sides that had previously competed. English side London Wasps had earned their first final appearance by beating Munster 37–32 in a Dublin semi-final while Toulouse triumphed 19–11 in an all-French contest with Biarritz in a packed Chaban Delmas, Bordeaux. The 2004 final at Twickenham saw Wasps defeat defending champions Toulouse 27–20 at Twickenham to win the Heineken Cup for the first time. The match was widely hailed as one of the best finals. With extra time looming at 20–20, a late opportunist try by scrum half Rob Howley settled the contest.

2005 to 2012 [link]

Munster fans watch their team on a jumbo screen on the streets of Limerick. Munster won the 2005–06 Cup and were runners-up twice before.

The tenth Heineken Cup final saw the inaugural champions Toulouse battle with rising stars Stade Français when Murrayfield was the first Scottish venue to host the final.^[19] Fabien Galthié's Paris side led until two minutes from the end of normal time before Frédéric Michalak levelled the contest for Toulouse with his first penalty strike. He repeated this in the initial stages of extra time and then sealed his side's success with a superb opportunist drop-goal. Toulouse became the first team to win three Heineken Cup titles.^[19]

In 2006, Munster defeated Biarritz in the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, 23–19.^[20] It was third time lucky for the Irish provincial side, who had previously been denied the ultimate prize twice by Northampton and Leicester.

The 2006–07 Heineken Cup would be distributed to over 100 countries following Pitch International's securing of the rights.^[21] That season was the first time in the history of the competition that two teams went unbeaten in pool play, with both Llanelli Scarlets and Biarritz doing so. Biarritz went into their final match at Northampton Saints with a chance to become the first team ever to score bonus-point wins in all their pool matches, but were only able to score two of the four tries needed. Leicester defeated Llanelli Scarlets to move into the final at Twickenham, with the possibility of winning a Treble of championships on the cards, having already won the EDF Energy Cup and the Guinness Premiership. However, Wasps won the final 25 points to 9 in front of a tournament record 81,076 fans.^[22]

During competition there was uncertainty over the future of the tournament after the 2006–07 season as French clubs had announced that they would not take part because of fixture congestion following the Rugby World Cup and an ongoing dispute between English clubs and the RFU.^[23]^[24] It was speculated that league two teams might compete the next season, the RFU saying "If this situation is not resolved, the RFU owes it to the sport to keep this competition going...We have spoken to our FDR clubs, and if they want to compete we will support them.".^[25] A subsequent meeting led to the announcement that the tournament would be played in 2007–08, with clubs from all the six nations. On May 20 it was announced that both French and English top-tier teams would be competing^[26]

In the 2008 final, Munster won the cup for their second time ever by beating Toulouse at the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.

Leinster won the title in 2009 in their first ever final after beating Munster in the semi-final in front of a then world record Rugby Union club match attendance in Croke Park. They beat the Leicester Tigers in the final at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. They also beat Harlequins 6-5 in the quarter finals at Twickenham Stoop, in the famous Bloodgate scandal.

In the 2010 final, Toulouse defeated Biarritz Olympique in the Stade de France to claim their fourth title, a Heineken Cup record.

The sixteenth Heineken Cup tournament in 2011 resulted in an Irish province lifting the title for the fourth time in six years as Leinster recorded their second triumph in the competition. They defeated former multiple Heineken Cup winners Leicester and Toulouse in the quarter and semi finals. At the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, in front of 72,000 spectators,^[27] Leinster fought back from a 22-6 half-time deficit in the final against Northampton Saints, scoring 27 unanswered points in 26 second-half minutes, winning 33-22 in one of the tournament's greatest comebacks. Jonathan Sexton won the man-of-the-match award, having scored 28 of Leinster's points total, which included two tries, three conversions, and four penalties.

Leinster successfully defended their crown in 2012 at Twickenham, eclipsing fellow Irish province and former champions Ulster 42–14 to establish the highest Heineken Cup final winning margin. The performance broke a number of Heineken Cup Final records^[28]. Leinster became only the second team to win back-to-back titles, and the only team ever to win three championships in four years. In addition, the game had the highest attendance at a final (81,774), the highest number of tries (5) and points (42) scored by one team and the highest points difference (28).

Shortly after the 2012 final, The Daily Telegraph reported that Premiership Rugby, organiser of the English top flight, would officially notify European Rugby Cup on 1 June of its intention to leave the accord that governs both European cups. The departure, which was expected to be mirrored by Top 14 operators Ligue nationale de rugby, would take effect following the 2013–14 season. The Premiership's desired new format, strongly opposed by the Celtic nations and Italy, is:^[29]

The Heineken Cup would be reduced from 24 to 20 teams.
Six sides each would qualify from the Premiership, Top 14, and Pro12, based on league position. The remaining two Heineken Cup places would go to the nations that win the previous season's Heineken and Challenge Cups.
All remaining sides from the three leagues—a total of 18—would play in the Challenge Cup, which would remain at 20 teams.
A completely new third-tier competition would be launched, covering emerging European rugby nations such as Georgia, Russia, Spain and Portugal. The top two teams from this competition would take up the remaining two Challenge Cup places.

Negotiations for a new competition agreement are expected to take place in summer 2012.

Records and statistics [link]

By club [link]

Team	Winners	Runners-up	Years won	Years losing finalist
Toulouse	4	2	1995–96, 2002–03, 2004–05, 2009–10	2003–04, 2007–08
Leinster	3	0	2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12
Leicester Tigers	2	3	2000–01, 2001–02	1996–97, 2006–07, 2008–09
Munster	2	2	2005–06, 2007–08	1999–2000, 2001–02
London Wasps	2	0	2003–04, 2006–07
Ulster	1	1	1998–99	2011–12
Northampton Saints	1	1	1999–2000	2010–11
Brive	1	1	1996–97	1997–98
Bath	1	0	1997–98
Biarritz	0	2		2005–06, 2009–10
Stade Français	0	2		2000–01, 2004–05
Perpignan	0	1		2002–03
Colomiers	0	1		1998–99
Cardiff	0	1		1995–96

By country [link]

Country	Winners	Runners-up	Winning clubs	Runners-up
England	6	4	Leicester Tigers (2), London Wasps (2), Bath, Northampton Saints	Leicester Tigers (3), Northampton Saints
Ireland	6	3	Leinster (3), Munster (2), Ulster	Munster (2), Ulster
France	5	9	Toulouse (4), Brive	Biarritz (2), Stade Français (2), Toulouse (2), Brive, Colomiers, Perpignan
Wales	0	1		Cardiff RFC

By league [link]

League	Winners	Runners-up	Winning clubs	Runners-up
English Premiership	6	4	Leicester Tigers (2), London Wasps (2), Bath, Northampton Saints	Leicester Tigers (3), Northampton Saints
Pro12	6	4	Leinster (3), Munster (2), Ulster	Munster (2), Ulster, Cardiff RFC
Top 14	5	9	Toulouse (4), Brive	Biarritz (2), Stade Français (2), Toulouse (2), Brive, Colomiers, Perpignan

By player [link]

Statistics are as of the ERC website as of 19 May 2012, following the 2012 final. Players and clubs are highlighted as follows:

Bold type – Players involved in the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, as well as their current clubs, as long as they have competed with that club in the Heineken Cup.
Italics – Players not involved in this season's competition, but still active at club level.
Bold italics – Players involved in the 2011–12 Heineken Cup, but who did not end the season with a club for which they competed in the Heineken Cup. Peter Stringer falls in this category, as he played with Saracens in the 2011–12 Cup whilst on loan from Munster, but was loaned out again to Newcastle Falcons for the end of the 2011–12 season.

Note also that in the case of career statistics, only those clubs for which each player appeared in the Heineken Cup are listed.

All-time top try scorers
Player	Club(s)	Tries
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	32
Brian O'Driscoll	Leinster	31
Dafydd James	Pontypridd, Llanelli, Bridgend, Celtic Warriors, Harlequins, Scarlets, Cardiff Blues	29
Shane Horgan	Leinster	27
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	25
Geordan Murphy	Leicester Tigers	25
Ben Cohen	Northampton Saints, Brive, Sale Sharks	24
Michel Marfaing	Toulouse	24
Anthony Foley	Munster	23
Tom Voyce	Bath, London Wasps, Gloucester	23

Tries Scored in one season
Player	Club	Season	Tries
Sébastien Carrat	Brive	1996-97	10
Matthew Robinson	Swansea	2000-01	9
Timoci Matanavou	Toulouse	2011-12	8
Shane Horgan	Leinster	2004-05	8
Kenny Logan	London Wasps	1997-98	7
Thomas Lombard	Stade Français	1998-99	7
Ugo Mola	Castres	2001-02	7
Vincent Clerc	Toulouse	2002-03	7
Clément Poitrenaud	Toulouse	2006-07	7
Tommy Bowe	Ospreys	2009-10	7
Michel Marfaing	Toulouse	1998-99	7

All-time top point scorers
Player	Club(s)	Points
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	1,298
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne	869
Diego Domínguez	Milan, Stade Français	645
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	624
David Humphreys	Ulster	564
Neil Jenkins	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Celtic Warriors	502
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne	483
Felipe Contepomi	Bristol, Leinster, Toulon	444
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde	Toulouse	441
Andy Goode	Leicester Tigers, Saracens, Brive	423

Points Scored in one season
Player	Club	Points	Season
Diego Domínguez	Stade Français	188	2000-01
Tim Stimpson	Leicester Tigers	152	2000-01
Simon Mason	Ulster	144	1998-99
Jonathan Sexton	Leinster	138	2010-11
Lee Jarvis	Cardiff	134	1997-98
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	131	1999–2000
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	129	2001-02
Felipe Contepomi	Leinster	129	2005-06
Jonathan Callard	Bath	129	1997-98
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	127	2000-01
Neil Jenkins	Cardiff	124	2000-01

Most goals (penalties and conversions) of all time
Player	Club(s)	Goals
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	464
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne	313
Diego Domínguez	Stade Français	231
Dimitri Yachvili	Biarritz	221
Neil Jenkins	Celtic Warriors, Pontypridd, Cardiff	176
Jean-Baptiste Élissalde	Toulouse	165
David Humphreys	Ulster	161
David Skrela	Colomiers, Stade Français, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne	158
Andy Goode	Leicester Tigers, Brive	142
Lee Jarvis	Dragons, Neath, Pontypridd, Cardiff	138

Appearances
Player	Club(s)	Games
Ronan O'Gara	Munster	104
John Hayes	Munster	101
Peter Stringer	Munster, Saracens	94
Shane Horgan	Leinster	87
Anthony Foley	Munster	86
David Wallace	Munster	86
Gordon D'Arcy	Leinster	85
Stephen Jones	Llanelli, Scarlets, Clermont Auvergne	84
Donncha O'Callaghan	Munster	83
Leo Cullen	Leinster, Leicester Tigers	81
Marcus Horan	Munster	81
Fabien Pelous	Dax, Toulouse	81
Martyn Williams	Pontypridd, Cardiff, Cardiff Blues	81

Attendance [link]

This lists average attendances for each season's Heineken Cup competition and, where available, total attendance and the largest for each season. Typically, the final is the most-attended single match, as it is generally held in a larger stadium than any club's home venue.

However, the 2009 final was only the third most-attended match that season. The most-attended match was a semi-final between Irish rivals Leinster and Munster that was taken to the country's largest stadium, Croke Park. The attendance of 82,208 set a world record for a club match in the sport's history.^[30] Second on that season's list was a pool match between Stade Français and Harlequins that drew 76,569 to Stade de France, a venue that the Parisian club has used for occasional home matches since 2005.

Year	Total	Average	Highest
1995–96		6,502
1996–97		6,765
1997–98		6,613
1998–99		5,860
1999–00		7,924
2000–01		8,187
2001–02		8,308
2002–03		8,921
2003–04		10,352
2004–05		11,620
2005–06		12,370
2006–07	914,048	11,570	81,076
2007–08	942,373	11,928	74,417
2008–09	1,177,064	14,900	82,208
2009–10	1,080,598	13,678	78,962

Media coverage [link]

Australia: Setanta Sports from 2010–11
Brazil: ESPN and ESPN Brasil
Canada: Sportsnet World
France: France Télévisions (first choice of two matches) and Canal+
Hungary: Sport 1
Ireland: Sky Sports live, highlights on TG4 (Irish)
Italy: Sky Sport
New Zealand: ESPN and The Rugby Channel
Romania: Sport 1
South Africa: SuperSport (TV channel)
Spain: TVE
United Kingdom: Sky Sports through 2013–14 (English), S4/C (Welsh)
United States: Fox Soccer Plus from 2010–11

References [link]

^ ^a ^b ^c "Heineken Cup – Key Tournament Rules". European Rugby Cup. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/31_264.php. Retrieved 12 January 2008.
^ ^a ^b "Format and qualification changes for Europe" (Press release). European Rugby Cup. 2009-06-15. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/174_12813.php. Retrieved 2009-06-16.
^ "Heineken Cup lifeline for Wasps?". ESPN Scrum. 2012-04-27. http://www.espnscrum.com/premiership-2011-12/rugby/story/163235.html. Retrieved 2012-05-05. Note also that France produced all four semi-finalists in that year's Challenge Cup, meaning that a Clermont Heineken Cup win would have triggered the rule.
^ Reid, Alasdair. "Scots approach Welsh proposal with caution". London: Telegraph.co.uk. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/2707620/Scots-approach-Welsh-proposal-with-caution---Rugby-Union.html. Retrieved 11 August 2008.
^ "Biarritz Olympique Secure French Top Seed with Championship Win". ERC Rugby. 12 June 2006. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/5018_5461.php. Retrieved 6 May 2008. ^{[dead link]}
^ "New European ranking to be introduced next season". ERC Rugby. 27 March 2008. Archived from the original on 29 March 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20080329230731/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_9903.php. Retrieved 2 April 2008.
^ "Heineken Cup Semi Final Referees.". BBC. 16 April 2004. http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_3562.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Leicester 19-27 Toulouse". BBC. 24 April 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/european/4469813.stm. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ "Heineken Cup Semi Final Venues". Irish Rugby Football Union. 7 February 2002. http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_1258.php?PHPSESSID=ee22249a3978865a367d95d0cb40. Retrieved 21 March 2007. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Munster To Reign In Spain?". Irish Rugby Football Union. 18 February 2005. http://www.irishrugby.ie/6855_4272.php?PHPSESSID=ee22249a3978865a367d95d0cb40. Retrieved 21 March 2007. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Biarritz Turn On Power To Floor Munster". Irish Rugby Football Union. 2 May 2010. http://www.irishrugby.ie/22_20755.php. Retrieved 5 May 2010. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Munster to take on Bourgoin in Geneva". RTÉ Sport. 20 November 2006. http://www.rte.ie/sport/2006/1120/munster.html. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b ^c "European Rugby Cup : History". ERC. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070208134810/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/37_74.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b "European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1995/96". ERC. Archived from the original on 15 March 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070315181143/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/79_119.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b Paul Rees (30 March 2006). "Big boys plan for more lucrative Heineken Cup". London: Guardian Unlimited. http://sport.guardian.co.uk/rugbyunion/story/0,,1742370,00.html. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b "A history of the Heineken Cup". Nobok. http://www.nobok.co.uk/page/RTD/0,,10301~786296,00.html. Retrieved 1 April 2007.
^ ^a ^b "European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1996/97". ERC. Archived from the original on 18 January 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070118002356/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/80_118.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b "European Rugby Cup : Heineken Cup History 1997/98". ERC. Archived from the original on 8 February 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070208190603/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/81_117.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ ^a ^b "Stade Francais 12-18 Toulouse". BBC. 22 May 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/european/4559935.stm. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ "Munster 23-19 Biarritz". BBC. 20 May 2006. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/european/4998452.stm. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ "2006-07 Heineken Cup delivered to over 100 countries". Sport Business. 31 October 2006. Archived from the original on 9 February 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070209000811/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/82_116.php. Retrieved 21 March 2007.
^ "Waspss crowned club champions in front of world record crowd". ERC. 20 May 2007. Archived from the original on 8 July 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070708034901/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_6932.php. Retrieved 15 June 2007.
^ "French clubs to quit Heineken Cup". BBC. 17 January 2007. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/rugby_union/6269979.stm. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
^ "French blame RFU for Heineken Cup boycott". RTÉ Sport. 17 January 2007. http://www.rte.ie/sport/2007/0117/heinekencup.html. Retrieved 17 January 2007.
^ Stephen Jones (9 April 2007). "Low division likely to fill Europe spots". Australian. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21523602-2722,00.html. Retrieved 9 April 2007.
^ "ERC Press Statement". ERC. Archived from the original on 30 September 2007. http://web.archive.org/web/20070930184959/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/12_7033.php. Retrieved 20 May 2007.
^ Watterson, Johnny. "Leinster turn the tide". Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/sports/rugby/2011/0521/1224297501776.html. Retrieved 22 May 2011.
^ "Leinster enter record books". ERC. http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/matchcentre/18304.php. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
^ Mairs, Gavin (29 May 2012). "English Premiership clubs open rift with Celtic nations over Heineken Cup". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/rugbyunion/club/9298558/English-Premiership-clubs-open-rift-with-Celtic-nations-over-Heineken-Cup-qualification.html. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
^ Thornley, Gerry. "Leinster bring all the emotion, the intelligence and the rugby". Irish Times. http://www.irishtimes.com/leinster-rugby/leinster-bring-all-the-emotion-the-intelligence-and-the-rugby/.

External links [link]

Wikinews has related news: Heineken Cup

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Heineken Cup

ERC Rugby Official website of the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup
Heineken Cup 2010 2010 Heineken Cup Website
International Rugby Board Official Site of Rugby Union's Governing Body

v t e Heineken Cup

2011–12 teams	Aironi Bath Benetton Treviso Biarritz Cardiff Blues Castres Clermont Auvergne Connacht Edinburgh Glasgow Warriors Gloucester Harlequins Leicester Tigers Leinster London Irish Montpellier Munster Northampton Saints Ospreys Racing Métro Saracens Scarlets Toulouse Ulster

Seasons	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12

Finals	1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Pool stages	1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12

Rankings	European Rugby Club Rankings

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v t e Top-level rugby union club competitions

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This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heineken_Cup

This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.

For more people with this surname, see Pienaar.

Ruan Pienaar
Rugby union career
File:Ruan Pienaar.jpg
Date of birth	(1984-03-10) 10 March 1984 (age 28)
Place of birth	Bloemfontein, South Africa
Height	1.87 m (6 ft 2 in)
Weight	90 kg (198 lb; 14 st 2 lb)
School	Grey College
Playing career
Position	Scrum-Half, Fly-half
Provincial/State sides
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2004–2010 2010–	Natal Sharks Ulster	32 30	(261) (166)
Super Rugby
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2005–2010	Sharks	57	(140)

National team(s)
Years	Club / team	Caps	(points)
2006–	South Africa	51	(119)
correct as of 12 January 2012.

Ruan Pienaar (born 10 March 1984 in Bloemfontein) is a South African rugby union footballer who plays either as a scrum-half or as a fly-half. He joined Ulster for the 2010/2011 Magners League campaign.^[1]

He is the son of former Springbok fullback Gysie Pienaar. Ruan is regarded as a very skillful rugby player. Besides being able to pass well, he can kick with both feet, and his vision and running style moved former Springbok coach Jake White to compare him with Australian fly-half Stephen Larkham, which is high praise indeed.^[2]

1 International career
2 Club career
3 Ulster Rugby
4 References
5 External links

International career [link]

He made his debut for the Springboks in the 2006 Tri-Nations against New Zealand and was a member of the successful 2007 World Cup squad. As he has not played club rugby in South Africa since June 2010 it seemed unlikely that he would be called up again to play for the national team. SARU has a policy of selecting foreign based players in exceptional circumstances only. However, on the 20th of June 2011 it was reported that Pienaar had been named in South Africa's 49-Man World Cup preliminary training squad.^[3]

Ruan Pienaar in the Springbok change kit.

Club career [link]

Pienaar played his high school rugby in Bloemfontein, where he attended the prestigious Grey College. He was selected for the Free State Craven Week side in 2002.

Pienaar played for Natal Sharks in the Currie Cup, the Sharks in Super Rugby prior to joining Ulster.

On 27 May 2010 Ulster announced that they had signed the player on a two year contract.^[4] Pienaar will play in the Magners League and Heineken Cup along with fellow Springbok Johann Muller, Robbie Diack, Pedrie Wannenburg and BJ Botha at the Belfast based side. He made his Magners League debut on 1 October, scoring all of Ulster's 19 points in their victory over Glasgow Warriors.^[5] Pienaar has since signed a two year extension to his contract with Ulster which will keep him with the Belfast side until the end of the 2013-2014 season.

Ulster Rugby [link]

Ruan joined Ulster on a two year contract at the beginning of the 2010/11 season from the Natal Sharks.

Ruan was named at scrum half in the Magners League Team of the Year for the 2010/11 season and also scooped the Magners League player of the Year award which was voted for by his peers.

Pienaar was selected at scrum half for the RaboDirect Pro12 Dream Team for the 2011/12 season and was also named captain of the side.

References [link]

^ http://www.planetrugby.com/story/0,25883,16013_6175239,00.html
^ "Is Ruan Pienaar the next Larkham?". Planet-Rugby.com. http://www.planet-rugby.com/Story/0,18259,3551_2664595,00.html. Retrieved 13 February 2008.
^ "South Africa name 49 World Cup hopefuls". bbc.co.uk. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/welsh/13845841.stm. Retrieved 20 June 2011.
^ "Ulster announce Ruan Pienaar signing". RTÉ Sport (Raidió Teilifís Éireann). 2010-05-27. http://www.rte.ie/sport/rugby/2010/0527/pienaarr.html. Retrieved 2010-05-27.
^ "Ulster 19–17 Glasgow". BBC Sport (BBC). 2010-10-01. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_union/my_club/ulster/9044885.stm. Retrieved 2010-10-01.

External links [link]

v t e South Africa squad – 2011 Rugby World Cup

Forwards	Alberts Botha Brüssow Burger B. du Plessis J. du Plessis Louw Matfield (vc) Mtawarira Muller Ralepelle Rossouw Smit (c) Spies Steenkamp van der Linde

Backs	Aplon de Jongh J. de Villiers du Preez Fourie Habana Hougaard James Kirchner Lambie Ndungane Pienaar Pietersen F. Steyn M. Steyn

Coach	P. de Villiers

v t e South Africa squad – 2007 Rugby World Cup Winners (2nd Title)

Forwards	B. Botha BJ Botha (injured) G. Botha Burger B. du Plessis J. du Plessis (sub) du Randt Matfield (vc) Muller Rossouw Skinstad Smit (c) Smith Steenkamp van den Berg van der Linde van Heerden

Backs	de Villiers (injured) du Preez Fourie Habana James Januarie Julies (sub) Montgomery Ndungane Olivier Pienaar Pietersen Pretorius Steyn Willemse

Coach	White

v t e Sharks Super Rugby squad

Forwards	Alberts Botes Bresler Burden Chadwick Coetzee Cooper Daniel Deysel B. du Plessis J. du Plessis du Toit Hadebe Hargreaves Herbst Kankowski Kleinhans J. Marais P. Marais Mtawarira Mtembu Redelinghuys Schonert Sykes Skeate

Backs	Bosman Hoffmann Jordaan Joubert Lambie Ludik McLeod Michalak Mjekevu Mvovo Ndungane Pietersen Prinsloo Reinach Sithole Viljoen Whitehead Williams

Coach	Plumtree

v t e Ulster Rugby squad

Forwards	Anderson Best Botha Brady Caldwell Carey Court Dawson Del Fava Diack Ferris D. Fitzpatrick J. Fitzpatrick Hanna Henry McCullough O'Donoghue Philpott Pollock Roach Young Wannenburg

Backs	Boss Cave Cunningham Danielli Dewey Humphreys Marshall McCrea McKenzie Nagusa O'Connor Schifcofske Steinmetz Trimble Wallace Willis

Coach	Brian McLaughlin

Persondata
Name	Pienaar, Ruan
Alternative names
Short description	South African rugby union player
Date of birth	10 March 1984
Place of birth	Bloemfontein, South Africa
Date of death
Place of death

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