Until teams have played all their Pool opponents twice (home and away) the rankings of teams level on match points in the same Pool will be determined by: Total number of tries in all Pool matches; aggregate points difference from all Pool matches.

Pool Matches:

Four points for a win, two points for a draw (match points). A bonus point will be earned by a team scoring four or more tries and by a team losing by seven or less points.

The six Pool winners and two best placed runners-up will qualify for the quarter-finals and will be decided by the following criteria:

(i) the Pool winner will be the Club with the highest number of match points earned in each Pool. The runners-up will be the two second placed Clubs from all six Pools with the next highest number of points. For the quarter-final round, the Pool winners will be ranked 1 - 6 in terms of the number of points earned. The runners-up will be ranked 7 and 8.

Clubs in the same Pool:

(ii) if two or more Clubs are equal on points and the Clubs are in the same Pool, then qualification/ranking will be based on the matches played between the Clubs concerned:

(a) the Club which has earned the most number of match points from the matches
(b) the Club which has scored the most tries in the matches
(c) the Club with the best aggregate points difference from the matches

Clubs from different Pools:

(iii) if still unresolved, or the teams have not played each other previously in the Pool stage, qualification/ranking will be based on:

(a) the number of tries scored in all Pool matches
(b) aggregate points difference from all Pool matches
(c) the Club with the fewest number of players sent off and/or suspended in all Pool matches
(d) toss of a coin

Teams ranked 1-4 will have home advantage. The quarter-finals will be:

Team 1 v Team 8; Team 2 v Team 7; Team 3 v Team 6; Team 4 v Team 5