Dallaglio questions Heineken Cup qualification mechanism

Lawrence Dallaglio and Warren Gatland have questioned the qualification mechanism for the Heineken Cup, suggesting that the Irish teams in particular have an unfair advantage.

“There is a discrepancy with qualification in that there will be a lot of teams who will start this season’s Heineken Cup in the knowledge they are already in next year’s,” Dallaglio was quoted as saying on Planet Rugby’s website.

“English sides have to finish fourth or fifth in the Premiership which throws up a dilemma for us because our league is consequently just as important as the Heineken Cup.

“There are certain teams who may not be as passionate about the Celtic League as we are about the Premiership because they’ve already qualified for the Heineken Cup. The whole qualification process really needs looking at.

“It’s a European competition and that has to be reflected in its make-up but it takes a little bit of pressure off you when you go into the tournament knowing you’re definitely going to be in the next one.”

Dallaglio was backed up in this view by Wasps coach Warren Gatland, who was quoted as saying,

“If you look at the Irish teams in particular they don’t take the Celtic League very seriously. They rest a lot of players and try and build themselves up so they are ready for the Heineken Cup.”

Wasps are in probably the toughest group in this year’s draw, facing Leicester, Biarritz and Calvisano. Leicester seem to have overcome last year’s wobble and sit atop the Zurich Premiership going into the Heineken, while Biarritz have added to their fairly formidable side of last year (semi-finalists) with Imanol Harinorduquy and Damien Traille.

Whatever about the validity of the claims over the qualification procedure, it is interesting to note that in the pool stages of the Heineken Cup last year, the Celtic League sides split the 20 matches with the much-vaunted Zurich Premiership sides evenly, both groups winning 10 matches apiece. The ZP just shaded the statistic when Wasps beat Munster in the semi-final.