Heineken Cup: Brive, Stade Toulousain and Clermont Auvergne handed tough pool draws

10 June 2009

Former winners Brive will come face-to-face with reigning champions Leinster in next season's Heineken Cup.

Brive, who were champions themselves in 1997 and runners-up in 1998, will also play Guinness Premiership runners-up London Irish and Welsh side the Scarlets after being drawn in a tough-looking Pool six.

Top 14 Table / Top 14 Fixtures / Top 14 Transfers - The story so far...

Elsewhere, three-times champions Stade Toulousain have also been handed a exacting draw in Pool five, where they will reignite hostilities with Cardiff Blues - the team which dumped them out of the 2008/9 competition in the quarter-finals. Sale Sharks, Philippe Saint-Andre's former team, and  Harlequins - double conquerors of Stade Francais last season - make up the remainder of what looks the hardest pool on paper.

New Top 14 champions Perpignan have Irish giants and twice winners Munster to contend with in Pool one, along with European Challenge Cup winners Northampton Saints and Italian side Treviso, while Biarritz are top seeds in a Pool two group which features Gloucester, Newport Gwent Dragons and Glasgow. That could give new Biarritz signing Iain Balshaw an early opportunity to front up against his former side Gloucester.

Clermont Auvergne may welcome the presence of Italian side Viadana in Pool three, but they will be less pleased by the inclusion of Guinness Premiership champions Leicester Tigers and Welsh side the Ospreys.

Heineken Cup - 2008/9 Results and Tables

Finally, Stade Francais - who have never won Europe's top prize - will fancy their chances of progressing from Pool four after being drawn alongside Bath, Ulster and Magners League runners-up Edinburgh. The Paris club has the added incentive next season of knowing the final will take place at the Stade de France.

Stade Toulousain coach Guy Noves described his team's draw as like being in a mini "champions league" after they were paired with Cardiff, Sale and Harlequins.

"We will face a quarter-finalist, a semi-finalist and Sale, which is one of the best teams in the English championship, which it won two years ago. It will be very hard," said Noves.

He also explained that his club's priorities may have to alter in 2009/10 due to the revamped Top 14 format, which will have an enlarged play-off system featuring six teams - of which the best two will be given a bye through to a home semi-final.

"When I see the state of fatigue of the players at the end of the season I think we really cannot compete on several fronts at the same time," said Noves. "Perhaps we are going to have a different approach, making more player rotations," he added.

Noves hinted that he may favour the domestic Top 14 title over European success next season, especially since there was no Italian team in Stade Toulousain's pool, although it sounded like typical kidology when he said: "I'm not sure we have a genuine interest in participating in the final stages of the European Cup next season."

He lamented that his players were now being stretched more than ever due to domestic, European and international commitments. "People must understand that Toulouse players are not machines of war. We saw their lack of freshness in the defeat against Clermont [in the Top 14 play-off semi-final]."

Heineken Cup 2009/10 Pool draw:

Heineken Cup fixtures:
Round one: 9-11 October 2009
Round two: 16-18 October 2009
Round three: 11-13 December 2009
Round four: 18-20 December 2009
Round five: 15-17 January 2010
Round six: 22-24 January 2010
Quarter-finals: 9-19 April 2010
Semi-finals: 1-2 May 2010
Final: 22 May 2010 (at the Stade de France)

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