Preparations begin for Paris 2010

LEINSTER may be basking in the glory of being crowned Heineken Cup champions for 2009, but they won’t have to wait long before finding out who they will face when they begin their defence next season.

Tournament organisers ERC will today officially launch their ticket sales campaign for the 2010 Heineken Cup final in Paris’ magnificent Stade de France on Saturday, May 22.

Last weekend’s Edinburgh final was the fastest selling final in the tournament’s history and the 66,523 gate was the sixth highest in 14 years.

The draw for next year’s tournament will take place in Paris in two weeks and after their 19-16 triumph over Leicester Tigers, Leinster will be among the six seeds that comprise Tier 1.

Tier 1 is made up of the six top ranked teams in the ERC European Rankings. These teams cannot meet each other until the knock-out phase. The six teams in Tier 1 are Leinster, Munster, Leicester, Toulouse, Bath and Biarritz.

The organisers now know 22 of the 24 teams for next season following the two finals at the weekend. Northampton Saints’ victory over Bourgoin in the European Challenge Cup final meant they qualified for the Heineken Cup. Bourgoin miss out and Brive claimed the sixth spot among the French teams.

England’s seven representatives are Leicester, London Irish, Harlequins, Bath, Sale, Gloucester and Northampton Saints while France’s six qualifiers are Perpignan, Toulouse, Clermont Auvergne, Stade Français, Biarritz and Brive.

Ireland will again have its three standard bearers in Leinster, Munster and Ulster, while there’s three from Wales (Ospreys, Cardiff Blues, Scarlets) and two from Scotland (Edinburgh and Glasgow).

Viadana will represent Italy along with Benetton Treviso who defeated Calvisano 15-6 in the second semi-final of the Italian Top 10 play-off last night.

The 24th and final qualifier will be decided next Friday when Newport Gwent Dragons face Calvisano as a result of their defeat in Italy.

Tickets for the 15th Heineken Cup Final in Saint Denis, Paris on Saturday 22, May, 2010 are available to buy from €18. See ercrugby.com for full details.