It starts and finishes here. The Heineken® Cup 2012/13
The 18th season of the Heineken® Cup was launched at Aviva Stadium today, with captains and coaches from Connacht, Ulster, Leinster and Munster out in force to state their intent for the season ahead. Today’s gathering confirmed that the Heineken® Cup remains at the pinnacle of rugby achievement; the ultimate test for players and most exciting experience for European rugby fans.
Since its inception the Heineken® Cup has continued to be the highlight of the European club rugby calendar. The 2009 Heineken® Cup semi-final between Leinster and Munster broke the world record for a club rugby union game with a crowd of over 82,000. The allure of the competition does not stop there; already the competition has expanded to venues in Spain and Belgium not to mention its traditional bases in France, Italy, Scotland, Wales, England and Ireland.
Once again, the best teams in Europe will battle for a place in the Heineken® Cup Final. There will be 79 matches played over the course of this season’s competition culminating with a pulsating Heineken® Cup Final in front of 50,000 fans in Dublin, May 2013.
The recent success of Irish teams, winning four of the last five finals, brings added expectation of an Irish side featuring at the Aviva Stadium in May 2013.
The first round of the Heineken® Cup kicks off with a bruising encounter between last year’s finalists Ulster and French side Castres Olympique at Ravenhill on October 12th. The following day Connacht, Munster and Leinster do battle against Italian, French and English teams respectively.
Heineken® continues to be committed to heightening the experience for rugby fans with innovation and entertainment built around the Heineken® Cup.
On Heineken.ie Irish rugby fans will not only be kept entertained with Star Predictor, the match prediction game, but will be kept close to the action with a dedicated rugby hub offering practical information to enrich their Heineken® Cup experience. The site will also feature commentary and analysis from a number of expert analysts including Ireland and Munster legend Donal Lenihan.
Pat Maher, Heineken® Ireland National Events & Sponsorship Manager said;
“With a final in Dublin to look forward to, this season will again highlight the huge appetite for rugby in Ireland. This will be the third final in Dublin since the inception of the Heineken Cup in 1995 and Heineken® is very proud to have played an integral part in this. We look forward to another season of outstanding Heineken® Cup rugby.”
Follow the Heineken® Cup on www.heineken.ie/heinekencup
