2008–09 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	10 October 2008 – 23 May 2009
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	79
Attendance	1,177,064 (14,900 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Ben Blair (Cardiff) (99 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Brian O'Driscoll (Leinster) (5 tries)
Final
Venue	Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh
Attendance	66,523
Champions	Leinster (1st title)
Runners-up	Leicester Tigers

The 2008–09 Heineken Cup was the fourteenth edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby. It started in October 2008 and ended on 23 May 2009 at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh. Irish side Leinster became the champions, defeating Leicester Tigers 19–16 in the final.^[1]

Teams

Seven French teams competed, as a French team, Toulouse, progressed further in the previous year's tournament than any English or Italian team.

Four Welsh teams competed, as Italy forfeited its place in the Italo-Celtic playoff^[2] and a Welsh team were the highest-placed team in the previous year's Celtic league not to qualify otherwise.^[3] Other nations had their usual number of participants: England six, Ireland three, Italy two and Scotland two.^[4]

Seeding

The seeding system for participating teams changed from previous editions of the Heineken Cup. Previously, each participating nation would seed one of their teams and these six teams would be drawn in different groups at the group stage.^[5] Starting with the 2008–09 edition, the 24 competing teams were ranked based on past Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup performance, with each group receiving one team from each quartile, or Tier.^[6] The requirement to have only one team per country in each group however, still applied (with the exception of the inclusion of the seventh French team).^[7]

The brackets show each team's European Rugby Club Ranking before the start of the 2008–09 season.

Tier 1	Munster (1)	Toulouse (2)	Biarritz (3)	Leicester Tigers (4)	Stade Français (5)	London Wasps (6)
Tier 2	Leinster (7)	Bath (8)	Gloucester (9)	Perpignan (10)	Sale Sharks (12)	Scarlets (13)
Tier 3	Ospreys (15)	Cardiff Blues (17)	Clermont (18)	Newport Gwent Dragons (20)	Ulster (21)	Castres (22)
Tier 4	Glasgow Warriors (24)	Benetton Treviso (25)	Edinburgh (28)	Calvisano (32)	Harlequins (35)	Montauban

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stages took place on 17 June 2008 in Dublin.

Key to colours

Winner of each pool, and two best runners-up, advance to quarterfinals. Seed # in parentheses

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Munster (2)	6	5	0	1	18	6	12	161	98	63	2	1	23
Sale	6	3	0	3	14	11	3	136	115	21	2	1	15
Clermont	6	3	0	3	14	13	1	137	129	8	1	0	13
Montauban	6	1	0	5	5	21	−16	81	173	−92	0	2	6

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leinster (6)	6	4	0	2	15	3	12	140	70	70	2	2	20
Wasps	6	4	0	2	9	12	−3	114	112	2	0	1	17
Edinburgh	6	2	0	4	8	8	0	91	103	−12	1	0	9
Castres	6	2	0	4	6	15	−9	73	133	−60	0	1	9

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers (4)	6	4	0	2	23	6	17	191	90	101	3	2	21
Ospreys (7)	6	4	0	2	17	3	14	155	71	84	2	2	20
Perpignan	6	4	0	2	17	10	7	154	120	34	1	1	18
Benetton Treviso	6	0	0	6	5	43	−38	72	291	−219	0	0	0

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Harlequins (3)	6	5	0	1	16	12	4	144	115	29	2	0	22
Stade Français	6	3	0	3	13	11	2	131	109	22	1	2	15
Ulster	6	2	1	3	13	13	0	113	134	−21	0	1	11
Scarlets	6	1	1	4	12	18	−6	124	154	−30	0	2	8

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Bath (5)	6	4	1	1	13	8	5	107	92	15	2	1	21
Toulouse (8)	6	4	1	1	12	8	4	121	88	33	1	1	20
Glasgow	6	2	0	4	14	17	−3	134	150	−16	1	3	12
Newport Gwent Dragons	6	1	0	5	8	14	−6	83	115	−32	0	3	7

Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Cardiff Blues (1)	6	6	0	0	23	9	14	202	99	103	3	0	27
Biarritz	6	3	0	3	14	4	10	121	88	33	1	2	15
Gloucester	6	3	0	3	17	12	5	156	109	47	2	1	15
Calvisano	6	0	0	6	8	37	−29	87	270	−183	0	0	0

Seeding and runners-up

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Cardiff Blues	27	23	+103
2	Munster	23	18	+63
3	Harlequins	22	16	+29
4	Leicester Tigers	21	23	+101
5	Bath	21	13	+15
6	Leinster	20	15	+70
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
7	Ospreys	20	17	+84
8	Toulouse	20	12	+33
–	Sale	19	14	+21
–	Wasps	17	7	+8
–	Biarritz	15	14	+33
–	Stade Français	15	13	+22

Knockout stage

The draw for the quarter-finals took place on 27 January at Murrayfield Stadium.^[8]

Quarter-finals

11 April 2009 15:30

Cardiff Blues	9–6	Toulouse
Pen: Blair (3/3) 1', 30', 57'	Report	Pen: Michalak (1/1) 5' Skrela (1/1) 64'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 36,728 Referee: Chris White (England)

11 April 2009 18:00

Leicester Tigers	20–15	Bath
Try: Dupuy 80' m Pen: Vesty (5/5) 20', 22', 51', 55', 67'	Report	Try: Berne 35' c Maddock 64' m Con: James (1/2) Pen: James (1/2) 45'

Walkers Stadium, Leicester Attendance: 26,100 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

12 April 2009 13:00

Munster	43–9	Ospreys
Try: Warwick 34' c O'Connell 55' c Earls (2) 63' c, 65' c Con: O'Gara (4/4) Pen: O'Gara (3/3) 14', 20', 50' Drop: Warwick (2) 39', 58'	Report	Pen: Hook (3/6) 16', 30', 45'

Thomond Park, Limerick Attendance: 26,000 Referee: Wayne Barnes (England)

12 April 2009 15:30

Harlequins	5–6	Leinster
Try: Brown 65' m	Report	Pen: Contepomi (2/2) 15', 39'

Twickenham Stoop, London Attendance: 12,638 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

• This match became notorious for the "Bloodgate" scandal. Quins coach Dean Richards was banned from rugby for three years for his role in faking an injury to wing Tom Williams so that Quins could send in a blood replacement. Williams himself was initially banned for a year, but after he revealed the full extent of the scheme, the ban was reduced to four months.^[9]

Semi-finals

2 May 2009 17:30

Munster	6–25	Leinster
Pen: O'Gara (2/2) 18', 36'	Report Report	Try: D'Arcy 30' m Fitzgerald 42' c B. O'Driscoll 61' c Con: Sexton (2/3) Pen: Sexton (1/1) 26' Drop: Contepomi (1/1) 15'

Croke Park, Dublin Attendance: 82,208 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Main article: Cardiff Blues vs Leicester Tigers (2008–09 Heineken Cup)

3 May 2009 15:00

Cardiff Blues	26–26 (a.e.t.)	Leicester Tigers
Try: Roberts 73' c James 74' c Con: Blair (2/2) Pen: Blair (2/2) 14', 33' Halfpenny 27', 35'	Report	Try: Hamilton 21' c G. Murphy 45' c Con: Dupuy (2/2) Pen: Dupuy (4/7) 24', 38', 54', 56'
	Penalties
Blair Y N. Robinson Y Halfpenny Y Sweeney Y James N Shanklin Y Rees Y M. Williams N	6–7	Y Dupuy Y Vesty Y G. Murphy N J. Murphy Y Hamilton Y Mauger Y Newby Y Crane

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 44,212 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

Final

Main article: 2009 Heineken Cup Final

23 May 2009 17:00

Leicester Tigers	16–19	Leinster
Try: Woods 38' c Con: Dupuy (1/1) Pen: Dupuy (3/3) 8', 33', 42'	(Report)	Try: Heaslip 49' c Con: Sexton (1/1) Pen: Sexton (2/3) 24', 70' Drop: O'Driscoll (1/1) 5' Sexton (1/1) 17'

Murrayfield Stadium, Edinburgh Attendance: 66,523 Referee: Nigel Owens (Wales)

Notes and references