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1996–97 Heineken Cup
International rugby union competition
International rugby union competition
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | 1996–97 Heineken Cup |
| imagesize | 100px |
| caption | Official logo |
| countries | England |
| France | |
| Ireland | |
| Italy | |
| Scotland | |
| Wales | |
| tournament format | Round-robin and Knockout |
| date | 12 October 1996 to 25 January 1997 |
| teams | 20 |
| matches | 47 |
| attendance | 317987 |
| top point scorer | Richard Dourthe (Dax) |
| (82 points) | |
| top try scorer | Sebastien Carrat (Brive) |
| (10 tries) | |
| venue | Cardiff Arms Park, Cardiff |
| attendance2 | 41,664 |
| champions | FRA Brive |
| count | 1 |
| runner-up | ENG Leicester Tigers |
| website | https://web.archive.org/web/20080506141030/http://www.ercrugby.com/eng/ |
| previous year | 1995–96 |
| previous tournament | 1995–96 Heineken Cup |
| next year | 1997–98 |
| next tournament | 1997–98 Heineken Cup |
France Ireland Italy Scotland Wales (82 points) (10 tries) | runner-up = ENG Leicester Tigers
The 1996–97 Heineken Cup was the second edition of the Heineken Cup, an international competition for the top European rugby union clubs. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales and, for the first time, England and Scotland, were divided into four pools of five, with each team playing the other teams once, meaning two home and two away games per team. The pool winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages. The competition was won by a French team for the second time, when Brive beat their English opponents Leicester Tigers 28–9 at the Cardiff Arms Park. The defending champions Toulouse were knocked out in the semi-final by Leicester Tigers and Brive beat Cardiff in the other semi-final.
Teams
The qualifying teams were drawn from six countries. Generally, these were the strongest teams from the top division of domestic rugby; weaker teams participated in the Challenge Cup:
- England: 4 teams from the English Premiership
- France: 4 teams from the French Championship
- Ireland: 3 teams representing one of the four Provinces of Ireland
- Italy: 2 teams from the National Championship of Excellence
- Scotland: 3 teams representing one of the four geographical districts
- Wales: 4 teams from the Welsh Premier Division
| ENG England | FRA France | Ireland Ireland | ITA Italy | SCO Scotland | WAL Wales |
|---|
Pool stage
In the pool matches teams received
- 2 points for a win
- 1 point for a draw
Pool 1
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA Dax | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 2 | 14 | 141 | 69 | 72 | 6 |
| ENG Bath | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 136 | 88 | 48 | 6 |
| WAL Pontypridd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 97 | 60 | 37 | 6 |
| ITA Benetton Treviso | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 13 | 15 | −2 | 106 | 135 | −29 | 2 |
| SCO Edinburgh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 29 | −23 | 71 | 199 | −128 | 0 |
Pool 2
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ENG Leicester | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 3 | 11 | 114 | 43 | 71 | 8 |
| WAL Llanelli | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 9 | 0 | 97 | 81 | 16 | 4 |
| IRE Leinster | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 9 | 12 | −3 | 86 | 109 | −23 | 4 |
| FRA Pau | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 19 | 10 | 9 | 137 | 103 | 34 | 2 |
| SCO Scottish Borders | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 24 | −17 | 80 | 178 | −98 | 2 |
Pool 3
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA Brive | 4 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 8 | 5 | 106 | 65 | 41 | 8 |
| ENG Harlequins | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 8 | 12 | 131 | 95 | 36 | 6 |
| WAL Neath | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 10 | 16 | −6 | 83 | 109 | −26 | 4 |
| Ireland Ulster | 4 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 10 | −4 | 75 | 87 | −12 | 2 |
| SCO Caledonia | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 13 | 20 | −7 | 117 | 156 | −39 | 0 |
Pool 4
| Team | P | W | D | L | Tries for | Tries against | Try diff | Points for | Points against | Points diff | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FRA Toulouse | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 13 | 8 | 157 | 142 | 15 | 6 |
| WAL Cardiff | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 16 | 7 | 9 | 135 | 97 | 38 | 6 |
| ENG London Wasps | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 17 | 14 | 3 | 156 | 115 | 41 | 4 |
| IRE Munster | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 11 | 22 | −11 | 109 | 135 | −26 | 4 |
| ITA Milan | 4 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 6 | 15 | −9 | 73 | 141 | −68 | 0 |
Seeding
| Seed | Pool Winners | Pts | TF | +/− | Seed | Pool Runners-up | Pts | TF | +/− |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | ENG Leicester | 8 | 14 | +71 | |||||
| 2 | FRA Brive | 8 | 13 | +41 | |||||
| 3 | FRA Toulouse | 6 | 21 | +15 | |||||
| 4 | FRA Dax | 6 | 16 | +72 | |||||
| 5 | ENG Harlequins | 6 | 20 | +36 | |||||
| 6 | WAL Cardiff RFC | 6 | 16 | +38 | |||||
| 7 | ENG Bath | 6 | 15 | +48 | |||||
| 8 | WAL Llanelli RFC | 4 | 9 | +16 |
Knockout stage
| RD1-seed1 = 2 | RD1-team1 = FRA Brive | RD1-score1 = 35 | RD1-seed2 = 8 | RD1-team2 = WAL Llanelli | RD1-score2 = 14
| RD1-seed3 = 6 | RD1-team3 = WAL Cardiff | RD1-score3 = 22 | RD1-seed4 = 7 | RD1-team4 = ENG Bath | RD1-score4 = 19
| RD1-seed5 = 1 | RD1-team5 = ENG Leicester Tigers | RD1-score5 = 23 | RD1-seed6 = 5 | RD1-team6 = ENG Harlequins | RD1-score6 = 13
| RD1-seed7 = 4 | RD1-team7 = FRA Dax | RD1-score7 = 18 | RD1-seed8 = 3 | RD1-team8 = FRA Toulouse | RD1-score8 = 26
| RD2-seed1 = 2 | RD2-team1 = FRA Brive | RD2-score1 = 26 | RD2-seed2 = 6 | RD2-team2 = WAL Cardiff | RD2-score2 = 13
| RD2-seed3 = 1 | RD2-team3 = ENG Leicester Tigers | RD2-score3 = 37 | RD2-seed4 = 3 | RD2-team4 = FRA Toulouse | RD2-score4 = 11
| RD3-seed1 = 2 | RD3-team1 = FRA Brive | RD3-score1 = 28 | RD3-seed2 = 1 | RD3-team2 = ENG Leicester Tigers | RD3-score2 = 9
Quarter finals
Semi finals
Final
Main article: 1997 Heineken Cup Final
The final was played on 25 January 1997 at the Arms Park in Cardiff. The match was contested by Brive of France and Leicester of England. Brive won the match 28–9; they took the lead early on through a fourth-minute penalty from Christophe Lamaison, and Sébastien Viars extended that lead with an unconverted try two minutes later. Leicester responded with three penalties from John Liley, but Brive finally made their pressure show with three second-half tries, one of which was converted, before Lamaison added a drop goal to seal a 19-point victory.
Fabre Carrat (2)
References
References
- (1997). "Rothmans Rugby Union Yearbook 1997–98". Headline Book Publishing.
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