Heineken Cup home comforts just so vital

Earning a home tie in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals is a massive advantage — just one in four of all the last-eight matches have been won by the away team.

The inaugural season of the tournament went straight to the semi-finals stage but since then, the 64 Heineken Cup quarter-finals have ended with the home team winning 48 times and the away team going through to the semi-finals on 16 occasions. It means 75% of the quarter-finals have gone with home advantage with four-time champions Toulouse accounting for seven of those home wins, Munster six and Leicester Tigers five.

Munster are the only team to have won three away quarter-finals, at Stade Jean-Bouin against Stade Francais (2002), at Welford Road against Leicester (2003) and at Gloucester in 2008.