Leinster top Heineken Cup seedings

The Irish side, who defeated Northampton 33-22 in a rollercoaster final at the Millennium Stadium in May, are joined in tier one by Toulouse, Munster, Cardiff Blues, Biarritz and Leiceseter.

The Saints, meanwhile, are among the second tier teams, alongside Clermont Auvergne, the Ospreys and fellow Premiership sides London Irish, Bath and Harlequins, the winners of this year's Amlin Challenge Cup.

Reigning Premiership champions Saracens are poised to create a tough group after being confirmed in tier three, while tournament newcomers Connacht have been confirmed in the bottom tier, where they are joined by megabucks French outfit Racing Metro and Top 14 finalists Montpellier.

Seedings for the 2011-12 Heineken Cup:

Tier 1 - Leinster, Toulouse, Munster, Cardiff Blues, Biarritz Olympique, Leicester Tigers

Tier 2 - Northampton Saints, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ospreys, Bath, Harlequins, London Irish

Tier 3 - Ulster, Saracens, Gloucester, Glasgow Warriors, Scarlets, Edinburgh

Tier 4 - Connacht, Benetton Treviso, Castres Olympique, Montpellier, Racing Metro 92, Aironi

Live Scores

Results

Fixtures

News | Features

The Crooked Feed looks at the recent Twitter spat between Toulon's Delon Armitage and outspoken former England and Lions hooker Brian Moore

The best CVs in the rugby world?

Toulon's Heineken Cup final victory over Clermont Auvergne may have ended a long title drought for the Top 14 club but two of their players are no strangers to success

The Week in Pictures

We bring you our pick of the best pictures from around the world in the last seven days with the battle for Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup glory taking centre stage

Worcester turn to Carl Hogg?