The 2011–12 Heineken Cup was the 17th season of the

Heineken Cup The European Rugby Champions Cup (known as the Investec Champions Cup for sponsorship reasons) is an annual rugby union tournament organised by European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR). It is the top-tier competition for clubs who compete in a pre ...

, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. The final was held at

Twickenham Twickenham ( ) is a suburban district of London, England, on the River Thames southwest of Charing Cross. Historic counties of England, Historically in Middlesex, since 1965 it has formed part of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, who ...

on Saturday, 19 May 2012, kicking off at 5 pm (16:00 UTC).

Leinster Leinster ( ; or ) is one of the four provinces of Ireland, in the southeast of Ireland. The modern province comprises the ancient Kingdoms of Meath, Leinster and Osraige, which existed during Gaelic Ireland. Following the 12th-century ...

lifted the Heineken Cup by defeating fellow Pro12 and Irish side

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

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 Premiership Rugby, officially known as Gallagher Premiership Rugby, or the Gallagher Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is an English professional rugby union competition, consisting of 10 clubs, and is the top division of the English rugby u ...

and

Anglo-Welsh Cup The Anglo-Welsh Cup (), was a cross-border rugby union knock-out cup competition that featured the 12 Premiership Rugby clubs and the four Welsh regions. It was a created as a replacement for the RFU Knockout Cup, which featured only English clubs ...

* France: 6 teams, based on regular-season finish in the

Top 14 The Top 14 () is a professional rugby union club competition that is played in France. Created in 1892, the Top 14 is at the top of the national league system operated by the National Rugby League (France), France National Rugby League, also ...

* 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 are filled by the winners of the previous year's

and Amlin Challenge Cup. If the cup winners are already qualified through their domestic league, an additional team from their country will claim a Heineken Cup place (assuming another team is available). Accordingly, Harlequins claimed the Challenge Cup winner's berth, and since Heineken Cup winners

were already domestically qualified, the extra Irish berth went to

Connacht Connacht or Connaught ( ; or ), is the smallest of the four provinces of Ireland, situated in the west of Ireland. Until the ninth century it consisted of several independent major Gaelic kingdoms (Uí Fiachrach, Uí Briúin, Uí Maine, C ...

Seeding

The seeding system was the same as in the 2010–11 tournament. The 24 competing teams are ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each pool receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier. The requirement to have only one team per country in each pool, however, still applies (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh English team). The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stage took place on 7 June 2011. Under rules of the competition organiser, European Rugby Cup, tiebreakers within each pool are as follows. * Competition points earned in head-to-head matches * Total tries scored in head-to-head matches * Point differential in head-to-head matches ERC has four additional tiebreakers, used if tied teams are in different pools, or if the above steps cannot break a tie between teams in the same pool: * Tries scored in all pool matches * Point differential in all pool matches * Best disciplinary record (fewest players receiving red or yellow cards in all pool matches) * Coin toss

Pool 1

Pool 2

Pool 3

Pool 4

Pool 5

Pool 6

Seeding and runners-up

* Bare numbers indicate Heineken Cup quarterfinal seeding. * Numbers with "C" indicate Challenge Cup quarterfinal seeding.

Knock-out stages

Quarter-finals

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Semi-finals

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Final

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2011-12 Heineken Cup Heineken Cup seasons

Heineken Heineken Lager Beer (), or simply Heineken (), is a Dutch pale lager beer with 5% alcohol by volume produced by the Dutch brewing company Heineken N.V. Heineken beer is sold in a green bottle with a red star. History On 15 February 1864, ...