2013 Heineken Cup Draw

[sarah_lennon]

The draw to decide the Pools for the 2012/2013 Heineken Cup will take place in the Aviva Stadium, Dublin on Tuesday, 12 June at 11.00am.

The draw will be conducted by ERC Chairman, Jean-Pierre Lux, and ERC Chief Executive, Derek McGrath and will be streamed live on http://www.ercrugby.com/
For the purposes of the draw, the 24 qualified clubs will be divided into four tiers of six clubs, based on their European performances over the past four seasons. The clubs from each tier will be kept apart in the draw for the pools.

Tier 1: Leinster, Toulouse, Biarritz Olympique, Munster, Cardiff Blues, Northampton Saints.

Tier 2: ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ulster, Leicester Tigers, Harlequins, RC Toulon, Edinburgh Rugby.

Tier 3: Ospreys, Scarlets, Glasgow Warriors, Saracens, Connacht, Sale Sharks.

Tier 4: Castres Olympique, Bennetton Treviso, Racing Metro 92, Montpelier, Exeter Chiefs, Italian team (to be nominated by FIR).

Except for the French clubs, no two clubs from the same country will be drawn in the same Pool. Montpelier, as the lowest ranked of the seven French clubs, will be drawn last into a Pool containing another French club.

[Ray Mc]

Leinster, Edinburgh, Scarlets, Treviso

[dod]

Leinster, Edinburgh, Scarlets, Treviso

Probably get Tigers Ospreys and Racing

[Ray Mc]

Or, Clermont, Ospreys and Racing

[Grumpy Old Man]

Or, Clermont, Ospreys and Racing

It would have to be Montpellier as the lowest seeds.

Wouldn't mind a couple of weekends in Toulon and Exter.

[mfjoc]

Biarritz to get Edinburgh, Connacht & the Italian team

[totalrandomer]

Or, Clermont, Ospreys and Racing

It would have to be Montpellier as the lowest seeds.

Would also have to have an English team. If we get Clermont and Ospreys we could only get Exeter from the last tier.

Here's one for the crack. They get easier the further down you go.

Leinster Clermont Ospreys Exeter

Toulouse Leicester Glasgow Montpellier

Munster Harlequins Scarlets Castres

Cardiff Blues Ulster Rugby Saracens Racing Métro

Northampton Toulon Connacht Treviso

Biarritz Edinburgh Sale Sharks Parma

[totalrandomer]

Biarritz to get Edinburgh, Connacht & the Italian team

Also need an English team.

[mfjoc]

Biarritz to get Edinburgh, Connacht & the Italian team

Also need an English team.

My mistake !
How about Biarritz, Edinburgh, Connacht and Exeter?

[totalrandomer]

Biarritz to get Edinburgh, Connacht & the Italian team

Also need an English team.

My mistake !
How about Biarritz, Edinburgh, Connacht and Exeter?

Blanco has it written into EU law (I think it was the Lisbon treaty) that Biarritz have to get an Italian team every year.

I think Embra, Sale and Parma is just as good if not better.

[cormac]

Toulon, Ospreys, Exeter. We've never played any of them in the HEC before.

[totalrandomer]

Toulon, Ospreys, Exeter. We've never played any of them in the HEC before.

Like it.

Half of me wants to avoid the Os because they are becoming a bogey team. The other half wants to do the double double over them in the Rabo and HC.

[simonno6]

I HOPE we end up getting the Hairsprays. Show them whose the real boss 'round these parts (europe).

[Donny B.]

Toulon, Ospreys, Exeter. We've never played any of them in the HEC before.

Played Swansea though.

[cormac]

Toulon, Ospreys, Exeter. We've never played any of them in the HEC before.

Played Swansea though.

Very true, but never Neath. We've only drawn Cardiff Blues (2003/04) and Scarlets (2009/10) in this competition since the Welsh sides re-organised.

[wixfjord]

Would prefer to avoid Clermont, Sarries and Montpellier, but other than that, doesn't matter really.

Perfect group would be Leinster, Toulon, Scarlets, Chiefs probably.

Sticky seeds (teams that could be higher) would be Clermont (probably the stickiest!), Ospreys, Sarries and Montpellier/Castres.

Don't particularly fear Quins, Toulon, Sale etc.

[wixfjord]

Would prefer to avoid Clermont, Sarries and Montpellier, but other than that, doesn't matter really.

Perfect group would be Leinster, Toulon, Scarlets, Chiefs probably.

Sticky seeds (teams that could be higher) would be Clermont (probably the stickiest!), Ospreys, Sarries and Montpellier/Castres.

Don't particularly fear Quins, Toulon, Sale etc.

[sid]

I HOPE we end up getting the Hairsprays. Show them whose the real boss 'round these parts (europe).

My thoughts exactly.

[artaneboy]

I HOPE we end up getting the Hairsprays. Show them whose the real boss 'round these parts (europe).

My thoughts exactly.

Yes, we want them now.

[desperado]

Prefer to avoid Clermont, or Toulon from the second tier. Certainly Clermont - and purely from the point of view that I think they are the second best side in Europe at the moment. Their fans are great (those I've met) but prefer to see both teams beating 20 shades of s out of each other later in the tournament. Would like one/two 'nice' away game locations for the pools though.