2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage
| 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Season | 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup | ||
| Date | 12 October 2018 – 20 January 2019 | ||
| Qualifiers | |||
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The 2018–19 European Rugby Champions Cup pool stage is the first stage of the 24th season of European club rugby union, and the fifth under the European Rugby Champions Cup format.
The competition involves twenty teams, across five pools of four teams, for eight quarter-final places – awarded to the five pool winners and the three top-ranked pool runners-up.
The pool stage began on the weekend of 12-14 October 2018, and ended following 6 rounds of games, on the weekend of 18-20 January 2019.
Seeding
The twenty competing teams are seeded and split into four tiers, each containing five teams.
For the purpose of creating the tiers, clubs are ranked based on their domestic league performances and on their qualification for the knockout phases of their championships. For example, a losing quarter-finalist would be seeded below a losing semi-finalist, even if they finished above them in the regular season.[1]
| Rank | Top 14 | Premiership | Pro14 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  |  |  |
| 2 | | | .svg.png){kind=small} |
| 3 | | |  |
| 4 | | | |
| 5 | | | |
| 6 | | | |
| 7 | | |
Based on these seedings, teams are placed into one of the four tiers, with the top seed clubs being put in Tier 1. The nature of the tier system means that a draw is needed to allocate two of the three second seed clubs to Tier 1 and to allocate one of the three fourth seed clubs to Tier 2. The tiers are shown below. Brackets show each team's seeding and their league (for example, "1 Top 14" indicates the team was seeded 1st from the Top 14).
| Tier 1 | |
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| Tier 2 | |
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| Tier 3 | |
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| Tier 4 | |
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Pool stage
The following restrictions will apply to the draw:
- Each pool will consist of four clubs, one from each Tier in the draw.
- Each pool must have one from each league drawn from Tier 1, 2, or 3. No pool will have a second team from the same league until the allocation of Tier 4 takes place.
- Where two Pro14 clubs compete in the same pool, they must be from different countries.
The draw took place on 20 June 2018, in Lausanne, Switzerland.[2]
Teams in the same pool play each other twice, at home and away, in the group stage that begins on the weekend of 12/13/14 October 2018, and continues through to 18/19/20 January 2019. The five pool winners and three best runners-up progress to the quarter finals.
Teams are awarded group points based on match performances. Four points are awarded for a win, two points for a draw, one attacking bonus point for scoring four or more tries in a match and one defensive bonus point for losing a match by seven points or fewer.[3]
In the event of a tie between two or more teams, the following tie-breakers will be used, as directed by EPCR:
- Where teams have played each other
- The club with the greater number of competition points from only matches involving tied teams.
- If equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.
- If equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches.
- Where teams remain tied and/or have not played each other in the competition (i.e. are from different pools)
- The club with the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage.
- If equal, the club that scored the most tries in the pool stage.
- If equal, the club with the fewest players suspended in the pool stage.
- If equal, the drawing of lots will determine a club's ranking.
| Winner of each pool, advance to quarter-finals. | |
| Three highest-scoring second-place teams advance to quarter-finals. | |
| Cannot advance to the quarter-finals. |
(Q) denotes the team has qualified for the quarter-finals as the pool winners
(q) denotes team has at least qualified for the quarter-finals as one of the three highest-scoring second-place teams
Pool 1
Team |
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 3 | +49 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 |
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 20 | +2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 22 | –2 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 52 | –49 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 1
12 October 2018 19:45 |
| (1 BP) Leinster |
52–3 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Cronin 5' c L. McGrath (2) 40' c, 51' c Lowe (2) 41' c, 60' c Larmour 72' c Henshaw 74' m J. McGrath 79' m Con: Sexton (5/5) 6', 40'+4, 42', 53', 62' R. Byrne (1/3) '73 |
Report[5] | Pen: Sopoaga (1/1) 10' |
13 October 2018 13:00 |
| (1 BP) Bath |
20–22 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Burns 28' c Roberts 24' c Con: Burns (2/2) 25', 30' Pen: Burns (2/5) 2', 47' |
Report[6] | Try: Médard 7' c Guitoune (2) 34' m, 61' c Con: Ramos (2/3) 8', 62' Pen: Ramos (1/1) 53' |
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Pool 2
Team |
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 14 | +5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 10 | +0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 10 | +0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 14 | 19 | -5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Round 1
13 October 2018 15:00 |
| Exeter Chiefs |
10–10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Cowan-Dickie 38' c Con: Steenson (1/1) 39' Pen: Steenson (1/1) 18' |
Report[8] | Try: CJ Stander 63' c Con: Carbery (1/1) 64' Pen: Carbery (1/1) 31' |
14 October 2018 13:00 |
| Gloucester |
19–14 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Braley 34' c Con: Cipriani (1/1) 35' Pen: Cipriani (4/4) 10', 31', 51', 54' |
Report[9] | Try: Laveau 57' m Pen: Dumora (2/2) 16', 71; Drop: Dumora (1/1) 32' |
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Pool 3
Team |
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 13 | 3 | +10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 21 | +9 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 21 | 30 | -9 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 13 | -10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Pool 4
Team |
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 24 | 10 | +14 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 13 | +1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 14 | –1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 24 | -14 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Round 1
13 October 2018 17:30 |
| (1 BP) Scarlets |
13–14 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: G. Davies 52' m McNicholl 57' m Pen: Halfpenny (1/1) 9' |
Report[12] | Try: Chouzenoux 39' c Penalty try 76' Con: Russell (1/1) 40' |
13 October 2018 17:30 |
| Ulster |
24–10 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: O'Connor 43' c Addison 58' c Stockdale 72' c Con: Cooney (3/3) 44', 59', 73' Pen: Cooney (1/1) 68' |
Report[13] | Try: Tuilagi 75' c Con: Ford (1/1) 76' Pen: Ford (1/1) 14' |
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
Pool 5
Team |
P | W | D | L | PF | PA | Diff | TF | TA | TB | LB | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 21 | 15 | +6 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 25 | +1 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 25 | 26 | -1 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
|
1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 15 | 21 | –6 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Round 1
13 October 2018 15:15 |
| Montpellier |
21–15 | |
|---|---|---|
| Try: Immelman 5' c Fall 31' c N'Gandebe 36' c Con: Pienaar (3/3) 6', 32', 37' |
Report[15] | Try: McInally 19' c Fife 57' m Con: Hickey (1/1) 20' Pen: Hickey (1/1) 40' |
Round 2
Round 3
Round 4
Round 5
Round 6
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ http://archive.ercrugby.com/news/28791.php Archived 2014-08-13 at the Wayback Machine. ERCRugby.com. Accessed 8 June 2014
- ↑ "2018/19 Pool Draws produce top-quality fixtures". epcrugby.com. 20 June 2018. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- ↑ "Champions Cup Rules". epcrugby.com. Archived from the original on 2015-05-04. Retrieved 2017-06-23.
- ↑ "Heineken Champions Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Leinster kick off title defence with bonus point victory over Wasps". EPCR. 12 October 2018.
- ↑ "Toulouse make victorious Heineken Champions Cup return". EPCR. 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Heineken Champions Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Spoils shared between Exeter and Munster". EPCR. 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Gloucester return to Europe's elite with victory". EPCR. 14 October 2018.
- ↑ "Heineken Champions Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Heineken Champions Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Racing 92 earn victory with late penalty try". EPCR. 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Ulster make fine start to European campaign". EPCR. 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Heineken Champions Cup". European Professional Club Rugby. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
- ↑ "Montpellier narrowly defeat Edinburgh in Heineken Champions Cup thriller". EPCR. 13 October 2018.