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2011–12 Heineken Cup
The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at Twickenham on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC). Leinster lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellow Pro12 and Irish side Ulster 42–14. The victory gave Leinster their third Heineken Cup title in four years – a run of success unprecedented in the competition's history. Teams The default allocation of teams is as follows: * England: 6 teams, based on performance in the Aviva Premiership and Anglo-Welsh Cup * France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Top 14 * Ireland: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League * Wales: 3 teams, based on regular-season finish in the Celtic League * Italy and Scotland: 2 teams each, based on participation in the Celtic League (although there are only 2 from each nation) The remaining two places ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Round-robin Tournament
A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indiv ... in which each contestant meets every other participant, usually in turn.''Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, Unabridged'' (1971, G. & C. Merriam Co), p.1980. A round-robin contrasts with an elimination tournament, in which participants/teams are eliminated after a certain number of losses. Terminology The term ''round-robin'' is derived from the French term ''ruban'', meaning "ribbon". Over a long period of time, the term was Folk etymology, corrupted and idiomized to ''robin''. In a ''single round-robin'' schedule, each participant plays every other participant once. If each participant plays all others twice, this is freque ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Connacht Rugby
Connacht Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Connachta) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. Connacht competes in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU Connacht Branch, which is one of four primary branches of the IRFU, and is responsible for rugby union throughout the geographical Irish province of Connacht. Connacht plays its home games at the Galway Sportsgrounds, which holds 8,100 spectators. Connacht play in a predominantly green jersey, shorts and socks. The Connacht Rugby crest is a modified version of the provincial flag of Connacht and consists of a dimidiated eagle and an arm wielding a sword. With the province containing just over 8% of the total Irish population, Connacht has a much smaller base of rugby union players to choose from than the other three provinces. This player base is also affected by the relative popularity of Gaelic Athletic Association sports such as hurling ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Munster Rugby
Munster Rugby ( ga, Rugbaí Mumhan) is one of the four professional provincial rugby teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the United Rugby Championship and the European Rugby Champions Cup. The team represents the IRFU's Munster Branch, which is responsible for rugby union throughout the Irish province of Munster. The team motto is "To the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible." This is derived from the motto of the MacCarthy clan – "Forti et Fideli nihil difficile". Their main home ground is Thomond Park, Limerick, though some games are played at Musgrave Park, Cork. History Foundation and early years Munster was officially founded in 1879, at the same time as Leinster and Ulster, with Connacht being founded ten years later in 1889. The first interprovincial matches between Leinster, Ulster and Munster, however, were held in 1875. The founding of the Munster branch of the IRFU was intended to organise and oversee the game within the province and prevent ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Racing Métro 92
Racing 92 () is a French rugby union club based in suburban Paris that was formed in 2001 with the collaboration of the Racing Club de France and US Métro. They were called Racing Métro 92 between 2001 and 2015, when they changed the name to Racing 92. "92" is the number of Hauts-de-Seine, a département of Île-de-France, bordering Paris to the west, where they play, and whose council gives financial backing to the club. They currently play in the Top 14, having been promoted as 2008–09 champions of Rugby Pro D2. After starting the 2017–18 season at the Stade Yves-du-Manoir stadium at Colombes, where the France national team played for several decades, Racing played their first match at the new U Arena, since renamed Paris La Défense Arena, in Nanterre on 22 December 2017. History Racing Club was established in 1882 (it became Racing Club de France in 1885) as an athletics club, one of the first in France. New sections were regularly added thereafter (17 as of 200 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Montpellier Hérault RC
Montpellier (, , ; oc, Montpelhièr ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the department of Hérault. In 2018, 290,053 people lived in the city, while its metropolitan area had a population of 787,705.Comparateur de territoire INSEE, retrieved 20 June 2022. The inhabitants are called Montpelliérains. In the Middle Ages, Montpellier was an important city of the (and was the birthplace of ), and t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Castres Olympique
Castres Olympique () is a French rugby union club located in the Occitanian city of Castres and is currently competing in the top level of the French league system. Founded in 1898, the club took its current name in 1906. They play at the Stade Pierre-Fabre, which is one of the smallest in Top 14 with a capacity of 12,500. The team wear blue and white kits. The team won five French top-division championships in 1949, 1950, 1993 (in a match decided by an irregular try accorded by the referee), 2013, and 2018 as well as one Coupe de France in 1948. History In 1898 several alumni of Castres' municipal college met in a city centre bar and decided to create a team allowing them to play their favourite sport, rugby union. For the first few years this team was part of a multisport club until 1906. Unhappy with the dominating position cycling had within the club, the members of the rugby section decided to leave and create a club of their own, solely dedicated to their sport. It w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
ASM Clermont Auvergne
Association Sportive Montferrandaise Clermont Auvergne () is a French rugby union club from Clermont-Ferrand in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes that currently competes in Top 14, the top level of the French league system. Clermont are two times French champions in 2009-10 and 2016-17. The rugby section is a part of a multi-sport club called AS Montferrand (also known as ASM Omnisports), which was founded in 1911 and adopted that name in 1919. Although the rugby section changed its name to the current ASM Clermont Auvergne in 2004, it is still frequently referred to as Montferrand both within and outside France. The team play at the 19,022-seat Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin, also known by its nickname, The Bib Park. Clermont wear yellow and blue, the colours of the French tyre manufacturer Michelin, taken from the colours of Montferrand when the firm was created there in 1889. The city is where Marcel Michelin, the son of the founder of the French tyre manufacturer, decided to imple ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Biarritz Olympique
Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque (; ), usually known simply as Biarritz, is a French professional rugby union team based in the Basque city of Biarritz, Nouvelle-Aquitaine which competes in the Pro D2, the second division of French rugby. Biarritz plays its home matches at the Parc des Sports Aguiléra, which is a multi-use stadium in Biarritz and which has a capacity of around 13,500 people, though for games that need a larger capacity, Biarritz may play at the Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastián. Biarritz play in red and white colours. Biarritz won a number of major honors, including the French championship on five occasions. Biarritz Olympique was formed in 1913 through a merger of the Biarritz Stade and Biarritz Sporting Club rugby teams. Biarritz made their way to the final of the French championship for the first time in the 1934 season where they were defeated by Bayonne. The following season they claimed their first championship, defeating Perpignan in the final. That decade Bi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stade Toulousain
Stade Toulousain () ( oc, Estadi Tolosenc), also referred to as Toulouse, is a professional rugby union club based in Toulouse, France. They compete in the Top 14, France's top division of rugby, and the European Rugby Champions Cup. Toulouse is the most successful club in Europe, having won the Heineken Cup/European Rugby Champions Cup a record five times – in 1996, 2003, 2005, 2010 and 2021. They were also runners-up in 2004 and 2008 against London Wasps and Munster, respectively. Stade Toulousain have also won a record 21 Boucliers de Brennus, the French domestic league trophy. It is traditionally one of the main providers for the French national team and its youth academy is one of the best in the world. Their home ground is the Stade Ernest-Wallon. However, big Top 14 matches along with European games are often played at the Stadium Municipal de Toulouse. The club colours are red, black and white. History Roots and foundation Before 1907, rugby union ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Saracens F
upright 1.5, Late 15th-century German woodcut depicting Saracens Saracen ( ) was a term used in the early centuries, both in Greek and Latin writings, to refer to the people who lived in and near what was designated by the Romans as Arabia Petraea and Arabia Deserta. The term's meaning evolved during its history of usage. During the Early Middle Ages, the term came to be associated with the tribes of Arabia. The oldest known source mentioning "Saracens" in relation to Islam dates back to the 7th century, in the Greek-language Christian tract ''Doctrina Jacobi''. Among other major events, the tract discusses the Muslim conquest of the Levant, which occurred after the rise of the Rashidun Caliphate following the death of the Islamic prophet Muhammad. The Roman-Catholic church and European Christian leaders used the term during the Middle Ages to refer to Muslims—usually Arabs, Turks, and Iranians. By the 12th century, "Saracen" had become synonymous with "Muslim" in Medieva ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
London Irish
London Irish RFC is a professional rugby union club which competes in the Premiership, the top division of English rugby union. The club has also competed in the Anglo-Welsh Cup, the European Champions Cup and European Challenge Cup. While playing in the Championship in 2016–17 and 2018–19, it also played in the British and Irish Cup and RFU Championship Cup. The club played home games at the Madejski Stadium in Reading, Berkshire, for twenty years, before moving for the 2020–21 season to the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford, West London. The club was founded in 1898 following the creation of London Scottish and London Welsh for the same reason, allowing Irishmen the chance to play rugby with fellow countrymen in the English Capital. London Irish won its first major trophy in 2002, the Powergen Cup (now the Premiership Rugby Cup), and reached the 2009 English Premiership final, narrowly losing 10–9 to Leicester Tigers at Twickenham Stadium. In the 2007–0 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bath Rugby
Bath Rugby is a professional rugby union club in Bath, Somerset, England. They play in Premiership Rugby, England's top division of rugby. Founded in 1865 as Bath Football Club, since 1894 the club has played at the Recreation Ground in the city centre. The club has won 18 major trophies and was particularly successful between 1984 and 1998 when it won 10 Domestic Cups, 6 League titles and were the first English side to win the European Cup in 1998. In 2008 they also won the European Challenge Cup, the continent's second tier of competition. Bath is one of only three clubs never to have been relegated from the top division of English rugby. For the 2022–23 Premiership Rugby season, Bath will also compete in the 2022–23 European Rugby Challenge Cup. The current Head of Rugby is Johann van Graan, having started in role ahead of the 2022-23 pre-season in July 2022. History Amateur era Bath Football Club is one of the oldest clubs in existence, having been founded in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
