Champion CA Brive Matches played 47 | Teams 20 | |
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Countries England
France
Ireland
Italy
Scotland
Wales Tournament format(s) Round-robin and Knockout Date 12 October 1996 to 25 January 1997 Attendance 317,987 (6,766 per match) Top point scorer(s) Richard Dourthe (Dax)
(82 points) Top try scorer(s) Sebastien Carrat (Brive)
(10 tries) Similar 2011–12 Heineken Cup, 2012–13 Heineken Cup, 2013–14 Heineken Cup, 2014–15 European Rugby C, 1996–97 European Challeng | ||
The 1996–97 Heineken Cup was the second edition of the Heineken Cup, an international competition for the top European rugby union clubs. Competing teams from France, Ireland, Italy, Wales and, for the first time, England and Scotland, were divided into four pools of five, with each team playing the other teams once, meaning two home and two away games per team. The pool winners and runners-up qualified for the knock-out stages. The competition was won by a French team for the second time, when Brive beat their English opponents Leicester Tigers 28–9 at the Cardiff Arms Park. The defending champions Toulouse were knocked out in the semi–final by Leicester Tigers and Brive beat Cardiff in the other semi–final.
Contents
Teams
The qualifying teams were drawn from six countries. Generally, these were the strongest teams from the top division of domestic rugby; weaker teams participated in the Challenge Cup:
Pool stage
In the pool matches teams received
Final
The 1997 Heineken Cup Final was the final match of the 1996–97 Heineken Cup, the second season of Europe's top club rugby union competition. The match was played on 25 January 1997 at the Arms Park in Cardiff. The match was contested by Brive of France and Leicester of England. Brive won the match 28–9; they took the lead early on through a fourth-minute penalty from Christophe Lamaison, and Sébastien Viars extended that lead with an unconverted try two minutes later. Leicester responded with three penalties from John Liley, but Brive finally made their pressure show with three second-half tries, one of which was converted, before Lamaison added a drop goal to seal a 19-point victory.