Quins Back In Europe As Heineken Cup Campaign Kicks Off

The 15th edition of the Heineken Cup kicks off in earnest this weekend with seven English sides battling for the best of Europe in the first round of Pool games.

Bath get the 2009/10 Heineken Cup action under way with a Friday night game away at Ravenhill against Ulster in Pool Four. Gloucester are hosting the Dragons who defeated Calvisano in a play-off back in May in Pool Two, while the holders Leinster host last season’s Guinness Premiership runners-up London Irish in Pool Six—easily the pick of the Friday’s matches at The RDS.

Hoping to draw a line under last year’s notorious ‘Bloodgate’ scandal that took place during their Heineken Cup quarterfinal against Leinster, Harlequins begin their campaign in Pool Five on Saturday with a trip to the new Cardiff City Stadium to take on a struggling Cardiff Blues side who have won just once in the Magners League this season.

On Sunday Northampton take on Magners League champions Munster in Pool One. Last season’s losing finalists Leicester welcome the Ospreys to Welford Road in Pool three, while Sale travel to France to take on the 2007/08 losing finalists Toulouse in Pool Five’s other game.

Of this weekend’s games involving English sides, all but the Bath-Ulster game will be shown live on Sky Sports in the UK.

There will be 79 games, including the final at the Stade de France in Saint-Denis, Paris, on May 22, 2010—going up against soccer’s Champions League final in Madrid, which will be held on a Saturday for the first time in its history—with the winner of the competition guaranteeing their place in the competition for next season as well as gaining their country an additional place above their guaranteed allocation.

England and France, who are guaranteed six places anyway, will be restricted to a maximum of seven places, even if the clubs from their respective country win both the Heineken Cup and European Challenge Cup.

Irish are the only club from the current top three from the Guinness Premiership taking part in the Heineken Cup this year, with London rivals Saracens and Wasps both featuring in the European Challenge Cup.