 | HEINEKEN CUP LAST EIGHT Leinster, Toulouse, Stade Francais, Biarritz, Munster, Newcastle, Northampton, Leicester |
The Heineken Cup group stages reached a thrilling climax as a host of teams chased quarter-final qualifying spots on the final weekend. All six pool winners advanced to the last eight, with the two best second-placed teams also progressing.
Leinster were the first team to book a berth in the knockout stages and had already been joined there by Biarritz, Toulouse and Munster among others.
Here's how it panned out as the final eight teams were decided.
POOL ONE
When the names came out of the hat this pool was the obligatory "Group of Death". It lived up to the billing.
| FINAL TABLE Biarritz - 22 pts Leicester - 19 pts Wasps - 16 pts Calvisano - 0 pts Saturday, 15 January |
Biarritz guaranteed their spot in the quarter-finals by topping the group in the wake of their 18-15 win over Wasps. Leicester, though, kept their cup hopes alive after beating Calvisano and getting the bonus point required.
And, with Sunday's results in pool five going their way, went through to the last eight as one of the two lucky losers.
Defending champions Wasps, however, missed out.
POOL TWO
Leinster became the first side to reach the quarter-finals with their last-gasp win at Bath.
| FINAL TABLE Leinster - 26 pts Bath - 15 pts Treviso - 14 pts Bourgoin - 2 pts Saturday, 15 January |
And the Irish side ensured a 100% record from their six pool matches with their win over Treviso. That result also confirmed their status as top seeds in the quarter-finals.
The Italians had gone into the game with a slight chance of qualifying, but they were totally outclassed.
Bath and Bourgoin had both been out of contention for the knockout stages when their meaningless tie kicked off.
POOL THREE
As expected, Toulouse and Northampton reached the last eight with home wins in the final round of matches.
| FINAL TABLE Toulouse - 24 pts Northampton - 21 pts Llanelli Scarlets - 13 pts Glasgow - 2 pts Friday, 14 January |
The French side's superb eight-try destruction of the Scarlets earned them home advantage in the quarter-finals. Saints were pushed all the way by a battling Glasgow side but a bonus-point win secured their passage.
And they will face Toulouse again in April.
POOL FOUR
Munster, who had already guaranteed top spot in the pool, rounded off the pool stages with a tense win over Harlequins.
| FINAL TABLE Munster - 22 pts Castres - 16 pts Neath-Swansea Ospreys - 14 pts Harlequins - 3 pts Saturday, 15 January |
An away win for Castres over Ospreys would have ensured the French side's passage through to the knockout stages as one of the best second-placed teams.
But they failed to produced the goods on their road trip to the Ospreys, who held them off 20-11 at the Gnoll.
POOL FIVE
The final weekend started with three teams in with a chance of qualifying from this pool.
| FINAL TABLE Newcastle - 21 pts Perpignan - 15 pts Newport-Gwent Dragons -15 pts Edinburgh - 6 pts Sunday, 16 January |
Newcastle were still in charge of their own destiny and their win at home against the Dragons saw them qualify. Perpignan also went down against basement-club Edinburgh which meant they missed out on qualification.
It means there is no Welsh representative in the last eight.
POOL SIX
For Gloucester, the equation was simple. They had to beat Stade Francais at Kingsholm and win well.
| FINAL TABLE Stade Francais - 23 pts Gloucester - 14 pts Ulster - 12 pts Cardiff Blues - 3 pts Sunday, 16 January |
But the French side stunned the Cherry and Whites with a dazzling first-half performance. Cardiff Blues and Ulster were also rans and were playing for pride.
MMIX
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