2005–06 Heineken Cup
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	21 October 2005 – 20 May 2006
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	79
Attendance	964,863 (12,213 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (129 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Sireli Bobo (Biarritz) Vincent Clerc (Toulouse) Felipe Contepomi (Leinster) (6 tries)
Final
Venue	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance	74,534
Champions	Munster (1st title)
Runners-up	Biarritz

The 2005–06 Heineken Cup was the eleventh edition of the European Heineken Cup rugby union club tournament. 24 teams from 7 countries took part, with the opening game played on Friday October 21, 2005. Munster won the tournament, beating Biarritz in the final held at Millennium Stadium, Cardiff, on 20 May 2006.

The teams were divided into six pools of four, in which teams played home and away matches against each other. The winners of the pools, together with the two best runners-up, qualified for the knock-out stage.

Format

In the pool matches, teams receive:

• four points for a win
• two points for a draw
• a bonus point for scoring four or more tries
• a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points

Ties between two teams are broken in the following order:

1. Match points earned in head-to-head matches. For example, if tied teams are in the same pool, and split their head-to-head matches, but one team earned a bonus point and the other failed to do so, the team that earned the bonus point will win. Munster won a tiebreaker over Sale Sharks in Pool 1 in this very manner.
2. Tries scored in head-to-head matches.
3. Point difference in head-to-head matches.
4. Tries scored in all pool matches. This is the first tiebreaker between teams in different pools, which can come into play for determining seeding among first-place teams, or breaking ties among second-place teams.
5. Point difference in all pool matches.
6. Best disciplinary record in pool play. The team with the fewest players sent off or sin-binned during pool play wins.
7. Coin toss.

The quarterfinals are seeded from 1 to 8. The six pool winners receive the top six seeds, based on their point totals. The top two-second-place finishers are seeded 7 and 8. The seeds of the qualifying teams are in parentheses next to their names in the tables.

Teams

Pool stage

Full results can be found at 2005–06 Heineken Cup pool stage.
All times are local to the match location.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Munster (4)	6	5	0	1	22	6	16	186	87	99	3	0	23
Sale Sharks (7)	6	5	0	1	17	9	8	159	84	75	3	0	23
Newport Gwent Dragons	6	1	0	5	14	20	−6	99	168	−69	1	1	6
Castres	6	1	0	5	8	26	−18	90	195	−105	1	1	6

Note: Munster took first place over Sale Sharks on competition points in head-to-head matches, 5–4.

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Perpignan (5)	6	5	0	1	20	5	15	160	52	108	2	1	23
Leeds Tykes	6	4	0	2	19	9	10	143	91	52	3	1	20
Cardiff Blues	6	3	0	3	16	18	−2	128	145	−17	3	0	15
Calvisano	6	0	0	6	4	27	−23	48	191	−143	0	0	0

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Leicester Tigers (3)	6	5	0	1	19	10	9	179	111	68	3	1	24
Stade Français	6	4	0	2	16	7	9	148	98	50	2	2	20
Ospreys	6	2	0	4	9	20	−11	90	144	−54	0	1	9
Clermont Auvergne	6	1	0	5	14	21	−7	136	200	−64	1	1	6

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Biarritz (2)	6	5	0	1	24	10	14	182	93	89	4	0	24
Saracens	6	4	0	2	12	13	−1	128	129	−1	1	0	17
Ulster	6	3	0	3	15	13	2	126	111	15	2	0	14
Benetton Treviso	6	0	0	6	13	28	−15	104	207	−103	2	1	3

Pool 5

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Bath (6)	6	5	0	1	18	9	9	166	111	55	3	0	23
Leinster (8)	6	4	0	2	28	13	15	214	124	90	4	2	22
Bourgoin	6	2	0	4	9	24	−15	109	195	−86	1	0	9
Glasgow	6	1	0	5	16	25	−9	131	190	−59	1	1	6

Pool 6

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Toulouse (1)	6	5	1	0	22	11	11	188	124	64	3	0	25
Wasps	6	2	1	3	18	13	5	173	118	55	2	2	14
Llanelli Scarlets	6	2	0	4	18	26	−8	152	206	−54	2	2	12
Edinburgh	6	2	0	4	14	22	−8	121	186	−65	1	2	11

Seeding and runners-up

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Toulouse	25	22	+64
2	Biarritz	24	24	+89
3	Leicester Tigers	24	19	+68
4	Munster	23	22	+99
5	Perpignan	23	20	+108
6	Bath	23	18	+55
Seed	Pool runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
7	Sale Sharks	23	17	+75
8	Leinster	22	28	+90
–	Leeds Tykes	20	19	+108
–	Stade Français	20	16	+50
–	Saracens	17	12	−1
–	London Wasps	14	18	+55

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

1 April 2006 12:30

Leicester Tigers	12–15	Bath
Pen: Goode (4) 2', 18', 33', 45'	Report	Pen: Malone (5) 7', 28', 31', 51', 62'

Walkers Stadium, Leicester Attendance: 32,500 Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

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1 April 2006 16:00

Toulouse	35–41	Leinster
Try: Nyanga 73' c Jauzion 80' c Con: Élissalde (2) Pen: Élissalde (6) 6', 12', 32', 42', 48', 57' Drop: Michalak 50'	Report	Try: O'Driscoll 24' c Jowitt 53' c Hickie 59' m Horgan 63' c Con: Contepomi (3) Pen: Contepomi (5) 9', 16', 18', 34', 67'

Stade de Toulouse, Toulouse Attendance: 37,815 Referee: Dave Pearson (England)

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1 April 2006 17:30

Munster	19–10	Perpignan
Try: O'Connell 20' c Con: O'Gara Pen: O'Gara (4) 41', 46', 65', 68'	Report	Try: Bourret 28' c Con: Bourret Pen: Bourret 36'

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 48,500 Referee: Nigel Whitehouse (Wales)

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2 April 2006 18:00

Biarritz	11–6	Sale Sharks
Try: Bobo 32' m Pen: Yachvili (2) 20', 26'	Report	Pen: Hodgson (2) 25', 75'

Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastián Attendance: 32,000 Referee: Alan Lewis (Ireland)

Semi-finals

22 April 2006 15:00

Biarritz	18–9	Bath
Pen: Yachvili (5) 4', 16', 21', 43', 78' Drop: Traille 45'	Report	Pen: Malone (3) 17', 23', 64'

Estadio Anoeta, San Sebastián Attendance: 31,700 Referee: Alain Rolland (Ireland)

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23 April 2006 15:00

Leinster	6–30	Munster
Pen: Contepomi (2) 22', 71'	Report	Try: Leamy 10' c O'Gara 74' c Halstead 80' c Con: O'Gara (3) Pen: O'Gara (3) 2', 24', 32'

Lansdowne Road, Dublin Attendance: 47,800 Referee: Joël Jutge (France)

Final

Main article: 2006 Heineken Cup Final

20 May 2006 15:00

Biarritz	19–23	Munster
Try: Bobo 2' c Con: Yachvili Pen: Yachvili (4) 22', 48', 51', 70'	Report	Try: Halstead 17' c Stringer 31' c Con: O'Gara (2) Pen: O'Gara (3) 7', 42', 73'

Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Attendance: 74,534 Referee: Chris White (England)

Statistics

External links

• ERC Rugby