Heineken Cup Champions Leinster will face London Irish, Scarlets and Brive in the Pool stages when they defend their prestigious title in the 15th season of Europe's premier club rugby tournament kicking-off on the weekend of 9 / 10 / 11 October.
In Tuesday's draw made at Stade de France - venue of the 2010 final to be played on Saturday, 22 May - the cup holders were drawn in Pool 6 while Perpignan, the newly crowned French champions and Tier 2 team, will be up against Munster, Northampton Saints and Benetton Treviso in Pool 1.
The draw for the six Pools of four teams each, made by ERC Chairman Jean-Pierre Lux and Chief Executive Derek McGrath, also saw 2009 Heineken Cup finalists and former double champions Leicester Tigers drawn to face Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne and Viadana in Pool 3.
The draw was conducted using the merit-based ERC European Ranking system based on the qualified teams' performances over the past four seasons in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup.
The 24 teams who have qualified for the 2009/10 competition were graded into four Tiers of six teams each with each of the six Pools having one team from each of the four Tier levels, English clubs Sale Sharks and Harlequins drawn together in Pool 5 as England have seven teams in next season's competition.
HEINEKEN CUP 2009/10 POOLS
POOL 1: Munster, Perpignan, Northampton Saints, Benetton Treviso
POOL 2: Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque, Gloucester Rugby, Newport Gwent Dragons, Glasgow Warriors
POOL 3: Leicester Tigers, Ospreys, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Viadana
POOL 4: Bath Rugby, Stade Français Paris, Ulster Rugby, Edinburgh
POOL 5: Toulouse, Cardiff Blues, Sale Sharks, Harlequins
POOL 6: Leinster, London Irish, Scarlets, Brive
THE TIERS (with ranking points):
TIER 1: 33 - Munster, 26 - Leicester Tigers, 24 - Leinster, 21 - Toulouse, 20 - Bath Rugby, 20 - Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque
TIER 2: 16 - Cardiff Blues, 14 - Stade Français Paris, 14 - Gloucester Rugby, 14 - Perpignan, 13 - Ospreys, 12 - London Irish
TIER 3: 12 - Northampton Saints, 11 - Sale Sharks, 11 - ASM Clermont Auvergne, 11 - Scarlets, 7 - Ulster Rugby, 7 - Newport Gwent Dragons
TIER 4: 6 - Harlequins, 6 - Glasgow Warriors, 5 - Edinburgh, 4 - Benetton Treviso, 4 - Brive, 1 - Viadana
HEINEKEN CUP 2009/10 FIXTURES
ROUND 1 - 9/10/11 October, 2009
ROUND 2 - 16/17/18 October, 2009
ROUND 3 -11/12/13 December, 2009
ROUND 4 -18/19/20 December, 2009
ROUND 5 - 15/16/17 January, 2010
ROUND 6 - 22/23/24 January, 2010
QUARTERFINALS - 9 / 10 / 11 April, 2010
SEMIFINALS - 1 / 2 May, 2010
15th HEINEKEN CUP FINAL - Stade de France - Saturday, 22 May
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