2007–08 Heineken Cup
Official logo
Tournament details
Countries	England  France  Ireland  Italy  Scotland  Wales
Tournament format(s)	Round-robin and Knockout
Date	9 November 2007 to 24 May 2008
Tournament statistics
Teams	24
Matches played	79
Attendance	942,373 (11,929 per match)
Top point scorer(s)	Glen Jackson (Saracens) (123 points)
Top try scorer(s)	Vincent Clerc (Toulouse) Richard Haughton (Saracens) Kameli Ratuvou (Saracens) Aurélien Rougerie (Clermont) (5 tries)
Final
Venue	Millennium Stadium, Cardiff
Attendance	74,417
Champions	Munster (2nd title)
Runners-up	Toulouse
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The 2007–08 Heineken Cup was the 13th edition of the Heineken Cup, the annual rugby union European club competition for clubs from the top six nations in European rugby.

The start of the tournament was delayed because of the 2007 Rugby World Cup. After much doubt over the competition's future, caused by the threat of English and French clubs not participating, showdown talks ensured that teams from both countries would be competing in the 2007–08 tournament.^[1] The cup was won by Munster, who succeeded London Wasps as European champions after a 16–13 win over Toulouse in the final at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium.

Italo-Celtic Playoff

The Italo-Celtic Playoff was a match played between the highest-placed Celtic League team not automatically qualified for the Heineken Cup and the third-placed Italian team to decide the 24th qualifying team. This year, the match was between Newport Gwent Dragons of Wales and Calvisano.

18 May 2007

Newport Gwent Dragons	22–15	Ghial Rugby Calvisano
Try: A. Thomas 56' c Charteris 71' m Emerick 79' c Con: Sweeney (2/3) Pen: Sweeney 30'		Try: Spragg 36' m Bernabò 46' c Con: De Marigny (1/2) Pen: De Marigny 3'

Rodney Parade, Newport Attendance: 5,326 Referee: Paul Debney (England)

Teams

Seven English teams participated, as an English team, London Wasps, progressed further in the previous year's tournament than any French or Italian team.

Four Welsh teams competed, as a Welsh team won the Italo-Celtic playoff.

Other nations had their usual number of participants: France six, Ireland three, Italy two and Scotland two.

Seeding and pool draw

Each of the six participating nations nominated a top seed:

• London Wasps
• Stade Français
• Leinster
• Benetton Treviso
• Glasgow Warriors
• Ospreys

The draw then progressed as follows, with at no stage except the last a team being drawn into a pool containing a team from the same nation:

• The seeded teams were drawn separately into each of the six pools.
• Five of the six remaining English teams were drawn into five separate pools.
• The five remaining French teams were drawn into five separate pools.
• The three remaining Welsh teams were drawn into three separate pools.
• The two remaining Irish teams were drawn into two separate pools.
• The remaining Italian and Scottish teams were drawn into two separate pools.
• The seventh English team was drawn into the final remaining pool spot.

The pools are shown below.

Competition 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, regardless of the match result
• a bonus point for losing by seven or fewer points

Ties between two teams are broken in the following order:

1. Competition 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.
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 (and did in 2007–08, with the top three pool winners all finishing on 24 points), 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 quarter-finals 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.

Pool stage

The draw for the pool stages took place on 20 June 2007 at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium. The winner of each pool, plus the two best runners-up, qualify for the quarter-finals.

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
London Irish (2)	6	5	0	1	25	10	15	182	100	82	4	0	24
Perpignan (7)	6	5	0	1	20	7	13	171	79	92	2	0	22
Dragons	6	1	0	5	16	22	−6	117	191	−74	2	2	8
Benetton Treviso	6	1	0	5	8	30	−22	107	207	−100	0	1	5

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Gloucester (3)	6	5	0	1	24	13	11	184	119	65	4	0	24
Ospreys (8)	6	5	0	1	16	9	7	164	102	62	1	0	21
Bourgoin	6	1	0	5	12	19	−7	118	174	−56	1	3	8
Ulster	6	1	0	5	13	24	−11	102	173	−71	0	1	5

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Cardiff Blues (5)	6	4	1	1	12	7	5	124	76	48	1	1	20
Stade Français	6	4	0	2	12	8	4	120	92	28	2	0	18
Bristol	6	3	0	3	10	9	1	83	80	3	0	0	12
Harlequins	6	0	1	5	7	17	−10	62	141	−79	0	0	2

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	TB	LB	Pts
Saracens (1)	6	5	0	1	27	11	16	225	119	106	3	1	24
Biarritz	6	4	0	2	9	11	−2	109	116	−7	1	1	18
Glasgow Warriors	6	3	0	3	12	14	−2	130	127	3	1	3	16
Viadana	6	0	0	6	13	25	−12	106	208	−102	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
Munster (6)	6	4	0	2	13	7	6	148	95	53	1	2	19
Clermont	6	4	0	2	22	15	7	189	128	61	2	1	19
London Wasps	6	4	0	2	19	12	7	152	127	25	2	0	18
Llanelli Scarlets	6	0	0	6	8	28	−20	74	213	−139	0	0	0

Pool 6