Rugby Heineken Cup Live

The Rugby Heineken Cup is one of the competitions in Rugby Union that is overseen by the European Rugby Cup, and includes the nations of England, France, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, Romania and Wales. There are two tiers, one the Heineken Cup and the other the Heineken Challenge Cup. The tournament begin in 1995 and countries qualify for the Cup in their own ways, with twenty four teams playing the pool stages in groups of four, for a total of six pools. Last year, Toulouse took the event, beating Biarritz 21-19 at the Stade de France.

The teams compete in the Pool and Knockout Stages, playing home and away games, and they are given a ranking based upon their past performances. This puts them into four tiers with six teams on each tier. The teams receive four points for winning a match and get two points for a draw. Also, there are some bonus points that are awarded. A loss of seven or less earns a point as does scoring four or more. The winners from each Pool and the two runners-up with the highest points compete in the quarterfinals.

The first winners were Toulouse, beating Cardiff 21-18, and in 96-97 it was Brive who took the trophy. Bath got it the next year and were followed by Ulster, who beat the Columiers 21-6. More recently, the 2008-2009 season saw Leinster take the win beating the Leicester Tigers 19-16 and Munster winning the year before that, with the London Wasps winning in 2007-2008. Get your membership now to watch Heineken Cup Rugby right from your computer in streaming, high quality video. Click on the links on this page to get started.