Heineken Cup 09/10
Blues Confirmed as Second Tier Seeds
Heineken Cup 09/10
By Andrew Collins
May 26 2009
Cardiff Blues’ first appearance in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final has ensured their status as second seeds for next year’s Pool draw. The Blues are officially 8th in the European ranking, based on their performance in ERC competitions over the last 4 seasons.
Heineken Cup 09/10
May 26 2009
Cardiff Blues’ first appearance in the Heineken Cup Semi-Final has ensured their status as second seeds for next year’s Pool draw. The Blues are officially 8th in the European ranking, based on their performance in ERC competitions over the last 4 seasons.
The Blues racked up 7 Heineken Points for their endeavours this season, broken up into 4 points for winning their group, 1 point for being Quarter-Finalists, and 2 points for getting to the Semi-Finals. That takes their overall score to 16, placing them as 8th in the table - Link Here
Their seeding was confirmed on Friday night as Northampton won the European Challenge Cup, the second tier competition, meaning they gain entry to the HEC at the expense of 7th seeded Wasps who failed to qualify through their domestic league placing.
Wasps' exclusion from next year's HEC means the Blues are effectively the 7th seeded team, missing out on the top seed by 1 place. No Welsh side has been included as a top tier since the new seeding system was brought in two years ago.
That guarantees the ‘Cardiff City Stadium' based region will definitely be facing one of either newly-crowned Champions Leinster, Munster, Leicester, Toulouse, Bath or Biarritz at their new home in 09/10.
The Pool's will be drawn in the second week of June.
In other news, flanker Mark Lewis has been forced to retire following a season long knee injury. The 26 year old will be fondly remembered for his commitment to the region following his transfer from the Celtic warriors. Lewis' try away at Saracens in the EDF Cup two years ago epitomised his enthusiasm, knocking himself out as he crossed for all-important try only to ask ‘Did I score ref?' upon coming around.
He joins Nicky and Jamie Robinson, Rhys Williams, Jason Spice, Rhys Gill, Scott Roberts and Ross Johnson on the Cardiff Blues exit list.
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Blues Confirmed as Second Tier Seeds
Posted by: theArmsPark.co.uk (IP Logged)
Date: 26/05/2009 15:57
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