Final Heineken Cup fixtures confirmed

By Mark Stevens

Exeter Chiefs can today confirm the dates and kick-off times for their final two fixtures in Pool Two of this season's Heineken Cup.

Rob Baxter's side will tackle Glasgow Warriors at Sandy Park in a non-televised clash on Saturday, January 11 at 3pm, before then travelling to the Welsh capital a week later to face Cardiff Blues on Saturday, January 18 at 3.40pm for their final group game, which will be shown by Sky Sports.

The Chiefs currently sit third in the standings of Pool Two on seven points, some eight points adrift of reigning champions RC Toulon and six adrift of next best Cardiff Blues. Glasgow are bottom of the table with just six points.

Ticket details for both this fixtures will be forthcoming soon.

Qualification for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals will be sorted using the following format:

The pool winner will be the club with the highest number of match points in each pool. The best-placed runners-up will be the two clubs with the highest number of match points out of the six clubs that finish second in their respective pools. For the quarter-finals, the pool winners will be ranked 1 to 6 and the best-placed runners-up 7 and 8 by reference to the number of match points earned.

If two or more clubs in the same pool are equal on match points, their ranking will be determined by the matches played between the relevant clubs as follows:

• the club with the greater number of match points from those matches; or
• if equal, the club that scored the most tries in those matches; or
• if equal, the club with the best aggregate points difference from those matches.

If ranking remains unresolved and/or if clubs have not played each other previously in the pool stage, ranking will be determined as follows:

• the number of tries scored in the pool stage; or
• if equal, the best aggregate points difference from the pool stage; or
• if equal, the club with the fewest number of players suspended for incidents in the pool stage; or
• if equal, by drawing lots.

The third, fourth and fifth ranked pool runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals of the Amlin Challenge Cup.