Weekend clashes could help decide make-up of ’10 draw

HEINEKEN Cup quarter-final places are not the only things at stake over the final two rounds of pool phase — ranking points for the 2009-10 Heineken Cup draw and the composition of the six pools are also up for grabs.

Even teams who are out of the running for last eight qualification have plenty to play for in an effort to improve their four season roll-over points tally.

The ERC European ranking system, which was introduced for the draw for the current tournament, aims to reward teams who consistently perform at the highest level in European competition over four seasons by separating the leading teams in the Pool stages.

The 24 competing teams who qualify through their domestic tournaments are, for the purposes of the Pool draw, awarded different points for their finishing positions in the two ERC organised competitions, the Heineken Cup and the European Challenge Cup, over the previous four seasons.

Teams can earn between one to 11 points each season in the Heineken Cup and up to five points in the European Challenge Cup to go towards their four season roll-over ERC European ranking.

The rankings establish four tiers of six teams each with the reigning Heineken Cup champions automatically going into top spot of Tier 1 along with Europe’s most successful teams.

The draw for the 09-10 tournament will again distribute one team from each of the four Tier levels into each of the six Pools. As before, no teams from the same country will be drawn in the same Pool with the exception of when there are seven teams qualified from either England or France.