Getting ready for the 2004/5 Heineken Cup Campaign and our defence of the title, here's how the top twenty teams in Europe stack up as at 18 October, 2004 -- according to the experts at Eurorugby.com -- visit them often to get their latest rankings.

Table copyright © 2000 Trellick Consultants Ltd./Eurorugby.com

Following Dom's lead, I have researched the other "London" clubs. Impressive - not.

Sarries are the best of the rest, being at 24th (up 1 from last week's 25th): then come the Irish, being at 27th (down 3 from last week's 24th): and finally the Hardlywins, being at 30th (down 4 from last week's 26th). At this rate, Quins will need their own table!

Our European qualifying group MUST be the hardest in the competition. Ourselves, Leicester and Biarritz are all in the top 7 in Europe, and there is only one certain qualifier out of the group. As the second placed team will almost certainly not be one of the two "best seconds" due to the relatively easy pools elsewhere, coming top of the group has to be a must. Otherwise the defence of the trophy will fall at the first hurdle.

Return later for an update to the Pools and some more pointers.

How does they work it all out? See Eurorugby.com's explanation.

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