Pool 6

Leicester Tigers v Toulouse – Saturday 8^th December 3.30pm

Current Form

·        Saturday’s meeting brings together the two most succesful teams in the history of the Heineken Cup.Both have played in a record 4 finals.

·        Leicester progressed to the semi-final stage of the EDF Anglo Welsh Cup after their win against Sale last Friday.

·        They have had a good start to this season’s Guinness Premiership winning 5 of their first 7 matches and occupying 4^th place in the league.

·        Their 2 losses have come at home to Gloucester and away at Saracens.

·        They occupy second position in Heineken Cup Pool 6 having lost 22-9 to Leinster in Dublin before routing Edinburgh 39-0 at Welford Road.

·        Toulouse sit at the top of the French top 14 after four rounds.

·        They are the only unbeaten team in the league, having beaten Stade Francais and Albi at home and won away at Dax and Biarritz.

·        They are also unbeaten at the top of Heneken Cup Pool 6 with an away win in Edinburgh followed by a home win against Leinster.

Current Information

·        Andy Goode has scored 28 of Leicester’s 48 points in the first two rounds.

·        In the last match against Edinburgh, Martin Corry played in his 60th Heineken Cup game for Leicester beating the record of Graham Rowntree.

·        In the same match, Andy Goode scored 19 points to overtake Tim Stimpson to become Leicester’s leading points scorer in the Heineken Cup with 369.

·        Goode has now scored more points in the Heineken Cup than any other Englishman.

·        Also in the Edinburgh match, Geordan Murphy scored his 19^th Heineken Cup try to equal Leon Lloyd’s club record.

·        Jean-Baptiste Elissalde and Valentin Courrent have scored 32 of Toulouse’s 52 points between them after 2 games.

·        Jean-Baptiste Elissalde has now increased his Toulouse Heineken Cup record points haul to 333.

·        Vincent Clerc scored a try against Leinster and he is now only 1 try behind the Toulouse Heineken Cup record of 24 tries by Michel Marfaing.

European History

·        Leicester are the only team to have won the Heineken Cup in consecutive years, 2001 and 2002.

·        They were beaten finalists in 1997 and 2007.

·        Neil Back is one of only 3 forwards, David Wallace of Munster and Raphael Ibanez of London Wasps being the other two, to have scored a try in a Heineken Cup final.

·        Leicester are the only English team to have played in the Heineken Cup in all 11 seasons since English teams entered in 1996/97.

·        Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio are the only Englishmen to captain a side to win the Heineken Cup and with Fabien Pelous of Toulouse, the only men to hold the cup aloft twice.

·        An unusual fact about Leicester’s South African centre Glen Gelderbloom. He is the holder of 2 Heineken Cup winners medals. He was a replacement in both the 2000 and 2001 finals and came on the field in the 76^th minute in both. He played a total of 8 minutes plus time added on.

·        Brothers Martin and Will Johnson both played in Leicester’s Heineken Cup victories of 2000 and 2001.

·        Leicester’s 34 points against Stade Francais is the highest ever scored in a Heineken Cup Final.

·        Leon Lloyd with 2 tries in the above match is one of only 2 players to score 2 tries in a Heineken Cup final, the other is Sebastien Carat of Brive in 1998.

·        10 Leicester players have played in a record 3 Heineken Cup finals.

·        Andy Goode was the leading points scorer in last year’s competition with 89.

·        Leicester have played 38 games at home in the Heineken Cup and only lost 7. 4 of these losses were to French teams.

·        Only twice in 10 seasons have Leicester failed to progress from the pool stage of the tournament.

·        Leicester and Toulouse have met 4 times in the Heineken Cup and they have won 2 each.

·        Toulouse were the first team to beat Leicester in the Heineken Cup at Welford Road, on 4^th October 1997.

·        No Leicester player has ever been sent off in the Heineken Cup.

·        Toulouse are the only team in the history of the Heineken Cup to win it 3 times.

·        They were also beaten finalists to London Wasps in 2004.

·        Toulouse were the first ever winners of the Heineken Cup in 1996.

·        Philippe Carbonneau played for Toulouse in the first Heineken Cup final in 1996 and then played for Brive in 1997 and 1998. The only man to play in the first 3 finals.

·        12 other Toulouse players have played in a record 3 Heineken Cup finals.

·        Emile Ntamack is the only man to play in Heineken Cup finals 8 years apart.

·        Cedric Heymans has 3 Heineken Cup winners medals and played a total of 36minutes rugby. He was an unused replacement for Brive in 1997 and Toulouse in 2003, and came on in the 64^th minute against Stade Francais in 2005 in which 20 minutes extra time was played.

·        Only 3 players have collected Heineken Cup winners medals with different clubs, Carbonneau and Heymans (see above) and Federico Mendez with Bath in 1998 and Northampton in 2000.

·        Brothers Phillipe and Olivier Carbonneau both played for Toulouse in their 1996 Heineken Cup winning side.

·        Brothers Finau and Isitolo Maka both played for Toulouse in their 2005 Heineken Cup winning side.

·        Toulouse have played in the Heineken Cup in all 13 seasons since its inception.

·        They have played more matches, 87 than any other team.

·        They have won more matches,62 than any other team.

·        With 629,390, Toulouse have had more people watch them at home in the competition than any other team.

·        With 294, Toulouse have scored more tries in the Heineken Cup than anyone else.

·        Toulouse are the only team to have scored a century of points in a Heineken Cup match, when they beat Ebbw Vale 108-16 in 1998/99 and in the process scored a competition record 16 tries in a match.

·        Clement Poitrenaud was joint leading tryscorer in last season’s Heineken Cup with 7 tries.

·        Toulose have played 45 matches away from their home in the Heineken Cup, winning 25, losing19 and 1 ending in a draw.

·        Toulouse have visted English clubs 12 times in the Heineken Cup winning 5, losing 6, with 1 game drawn.

·        If he plays on Saturday, Fabien Pelous will equal Yannoick Bru’s Heineken Cup appearance record of 64.

·        Pelous also played 5 times for Dax and is only behind the Munster trio of Anthony Foley, John Hayes and Peter Stringer in the all time Heineken Cup appearance list.

·        Guy Noves has coached Toulouse every season since the inception of the Heineken Cup and is the only coach to win the cup 3 times.

·        Patrick Soula is the only Toulouse player to be sent off the field in the Heineken Cup, against Cardiff in October 1996.