2005/06 Heineken Cup Launched In Wales

Cardiff got a dose of Heineken Cup fever on Monday when a number of captains from British and Irish clubs came together for the season’s launch at the Welsh capital’s Hilton Hotel.

The Millennium Stadium will host the 11th Heineken Cup final on Saturday, May 20 and the long, winding qualification road to this season’s decider begins tomorrow week.

It will be Wales’ third time to host the Heineken Cup final, and its first since Leicester beat Munster in 2002.

All three of Ireland’s competing provinces will get the television treatment for their pool openers next weekend. Friday, October 21 will see Munster’s Pool One visit to Sale broadcast live by Sky Sports from 7.30pm, while Ulster’s Pool Four clash with Benetton Treviso at Ravenhill will also be covered by Sky from 7.30pm.

Both RTE and Sky Sports are covering Leinster’s Pool Five tie with Bath at the RDS on Saturday, October 22 (kick-off 5.15pm).

European Rugby Cup (ERC) have announced that two former Heineken Cup winners, Ieuan Evans (Bath, 1998) and Rob Howley (London Wasps, 2004), will be joined by the current Miss Wales, Claire Evans, as ‘ERC Ambassadors’ for the Heineken Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in May.

The 2005/06 competition, which will see defending champions Toulouse gunning for an unprecendented fourth European title, will have independent citing commissioners used at all of its televised games.

2005/06 HEINEKEN CUP POOLS:

Pool One – Castres Olympique, Sale Sharks, Munster, Newport-Gwent Dragons

Pool Two – Calvisano, Cardiff Blues, Leeds Tykes, Perpignan

Pool Three – ASM Clermont Auvergne, Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, Stade Francais

Pool Four – Benetton Treviso, Biarritz Olympique, Saracens, Ulster

Pool Five – Bath, Bourgoin, Glasgow Warriors, Leinster

Pool Six – Edinburgh Gunners, Llanelli Scarlets, London Wasps, Toulouse