1996–97 Heineken Cup pool stage

The 1996–97 Heineken Cup pool stage was played during October and November 1996. The top two teams in each group qualified for the quarter-finals.

1996–97 Heineken Cup pool stage
Season	1996–97 Heineken Cup
Date	12 October 1996 – 2 November 1996
Qualifiers
Seed 1	Leicester
Seed 2	Brive
Seed 3	Toulouse
Seed 4	Dax
Seed 5	Harlequins
Seed 6	Cardiff RFC
Seed 7	Bath
Seed 8	Llanelli RFC
← 1995–96 (Previous) 1997–98 → (Next)

Main article: 1996–97 Heineken Cup

All times are local to the game site.

Key to colours

Top two teams in each group advance to quarter-finals

Pool 1

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Dax	4	3	0	1	16	2	14	141	69	72	6
Bath	4	3	0	1	15	8	7	136	88	48	6
Pontypridd	4	3	0	1	7	3	4	97	60	37	6
Benetton Treviso	4	1	0	3	13	15	−2	106	135	−29	2
Edinburgh	4	0	0	4	6	29	−23	71	199	−128	0

12 October 1996 14:30

Pontypridd	28–22	Benetton Treviso

Sardis Road Attendance: 3,500

12 October 1996 15:00

Bath	55–26	Edinburgh

Recreation Ground Attendance: 6,500

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16 October 1996 19:00

Edinburgh	10–32	Pontypridd

Myreside Attendance: 3,000

16 October 1996 20:00

Benetton Treviso	14–34	Dax

Stadio Comunale di Monigo Attendance: 1,000

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19 October 1996 14:30

Pontypridd	19–6	Bath

Sardis Road Attendance: 7,000

20 October 1996 14:30

Dax	69–12	Edinburgh

Parc Municipal des Sports Attendance: 8,000

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26 October 1996 15:00

Bath	25–16	Dax

Recreation Ground Attendance: 8,000

27 October 1996 14:30

Edinburgh	23–43	Benetton Treviso

Myreside Attendance: 1,500

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2 November 1996 14:30

Benetton Treviso	27–50	Bath

Stadio Comunale di Monigo Attendance: 2,500

2 November 1996 19:30

Dax	22–18	Pontypridd

Parc Municipal des Sports Attendance: 9,000

Pool 2

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Leicester	4	4	0	0	14	3	11	114	43	71	8
Llanelli	4	2	0	2	9	9	0	97	81	16	4
Leinster	4	2	0	2	9	12	−3	86	109	−23	4
Pau	4	1	0	3	19	10	9	137	103	34	2
Scottish Borders	4	1	0	3	7	24	−17	80	178	−98	2

12 October 1996 14:30

Llanelli	34–17	Leinster

Stradey Park Attendance: 2,800

12 October 1996 17:00

Pau	85–28	Borders

Stade Municipal du Hameau Attendance: 3,000

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16 October 1996 18:45

Leinster	10–27	Leicester Tigers

Lansdowne Road Attendance: 3,500

16 October 1996 19:00

Borders	24–16	Llanelli

Mansfield Park Attendance: 2,000

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19 October 1996 14:30

Llanelli	31–15	Pau

Stradey Park Attendance: 3,000

19 October 1996 14:30

Leicester Tigers	43–3	Borders

Welford Road Attendance: 4,609

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26 October 1996 14:30

Borders	25–34	Leinster

The Greenyards Attendance: 3,500

26 October 1996 16:45

Pau	14–19	Leicester

Stade Municipal du Hameau Attendance: 9,000

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2 November 1996 14:30

Leinster	25–23	Pau

Donnybrook Attendance: 4,000

2 November 1996 15:00

Leicester Tigers	25–16	Llanelli

Welford Road Attendance: 11,000

Pool 3

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Brive	4	4	0	0	13	8	5	106	65	41	8
Harlequins	4	3	0	1	20	8	12	131	95	36	6
Neath	4	2	0	2	10	16	−6	83	109	−26	4
Ulster	4	1	0	3	6	10	−4	75	87	−12	2
Caledonia	4	0	0	4	13	20	−7	117	156	−39	0

12 October 1996 17:15

Brive	34–19	Neath

Parc Municipal des Sports Attendance: 5,000

13 October 1996 14:30

Caledonia	34–41	Ulster
Try: Rowen Shepherd Paul Rouse Stuart Grimes Con: Rowen Shepherd (2) Pen: Rowen Shepherd (4) Drop: Jonathan Newton	Report[1][2]	Try: David Humphreys (2) Jan Cunningham (2) Stephen McKinty Con: David Humphreys (2) Pen: David Humphreys (2) Stuart Laing Drop: David Humphreys

McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,400 Referee: J. C. Gastou

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16 October 1996 19:00

Ulster	15–21	Harlequins
Pen: David Humphreys (4) Drop: David Humphreys	Report[3]	Try: Mick Watson Daren O'Leary Con: Will Carling Pen: Will Carling (2)

Ravenhill Attendance: 8,000 Referee: I. Ramage

16 October 1996 19:15

Neath	27–18	Caledonia

The Gnoll Attendance: 2,000

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19 October 1996 15:00

Harlequins	44–22	Neath

Twickenham Stoop Attendance: 3,500

20 October 1996 15:00

Caledonia	30–32	Brive

McDiarmid Park Attendance: 2,000

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26 October 1996 14:30

Neath	15–13	Ulster
Try: Steve Williams Leighton Gerrard Con: Geraint Davies Pen: Geraint Davies	Report[4]	Try: Andrew Matchett Con: David Humphreys Pen: David Humphreys (2)

The Gnoll Attendance: 2,000

27 October 1996 16:15

Brive	23–10	Harlequins

Parc Municipal des Sports Attendance: 13,000

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2 November 1996 14:30

Ulster	6–17	Brive
Pen: David Humphreys Drop: David Humphreys	Report[5]	Try: Francois Duboisset Sebastian Carrat Sébastien Viars Con: David Venditti

Ravenhill Attendance: 3,500 Referee: H. Lewis

2 November 1996 14:30

Harlequins	56–35	Caledonia

Twickenham Stoop Attendance: 3,751

Pool 4

Team	P	W	D	L	Tries for	Tries against	Try diff	Points for	Points against	Points diff	Pts
Toulouse	4	3	0	1	21	13	8	157	142	15	6
Cardiff	4	3	0	1	16	7	9	135	97	38	6
London Wasps	4	2	0	2	17	14	3	156	115	41	4
Munster	4	2	0	2	11	22	−11	109	135	−26	4
Milan	4	0	0	4	6	15	−9	73	141	−68	0

12 October 1996 15:00

Munster	23–5	Milan
	Report

Musgrave Park Attendance: 1,500

13 October 1996 15:00

London Wasps	24–26	Cardiff

Loftus Road Attendance: 6,000

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16 October 1996 19:15

Cardiff	48–18	Munster
	Report

Cardiff Arms Park Attendance: 4,000

16 October 1996 20:30

Milan	26–44	Toulouse

Stadio Comunale Giuriati Attendance: 500

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19 October 1996 15:30

Munster	49–22	London Wasps
	Report

Thomond Park Attendance: 6,000

19 October 1996 15:30

Toulouse	36–20	Cardiff

Les Sept Deniers Attendance: 10,000

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26 October 1996 15:00

London Wasps	77–17	Toulouse

Loftus Road Attendance: 8,000

27 October 1996 15:00

Cardiff	41–19	Milan

Arms Park Attendance: 3,000

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2 November 1996 14:30

Milan	23–33	London Wasps

Stadio Comunale Giuriati Attendance: 1,200

2 November 1996 16:00

Toulouse	60–19	Munster
	Report

Les Sept Deniers Attendance: 14,000

Seeding

Seed	Pool Winners	Pts	TF	+/−
1	Leicester	8	14	+71
2	Brive	8	13	+41
3	Toulouse	6	21	+15
4	Dax	6	16	+72
Seed	Pool Runners-up	Pts	TF	+/−
5	Harlequins	6	20	+36
6	Cardiff RFC	6	16	+38
7	Bath	6	15	+48
8	Llanelli RFC	4	9	+16

See also

• 1996–97 Heineken Cup