Leinster will be defending the title they won at Murrayfield last month when the 2009/10 competition kicks-off on the weekend of 9 / 10 / 11 October and climaxes in the 2010 final at Stade de France on Saturday, 22 May, 2010.
The draw will be made by ERC Chairman Jean-Pierre Lux and will be streamed live on ercrugby.com
Timings: Noon (French time) / 11am UK and Ireland
Heineken Cup 2009/10 Teams and Tiers
TIER 1
Leinster, Munster, Leicester Tigers, Toulouse, Bath Rugby, Biarritz Olympique Pays Basque
TIER 2
Cardiff Blues, Stade Français Paris, Gloucester Rugby, Perpignan, Ospreys, London Irish
TIER 3
Northampton Saints, Sale Sharks, ASM Clermont Auvergne, Scarlets, Ulster Rugby, Newport Gwent Dragons
TIER 4
Harlequins, Glasgow Warriors, Edinburgh, Benetton Treviso, Brive, Viadana
Heineken Cup Pool Draw Format
* For the purpose of the draw the 24 qualified teams are ranked ased on their ERC European rankings and are divided into four Tiers. Rankings are based on European performance over the past four seasons in the Heineken Cup and knock-out stages of the European Challenge Cup.
* Each Pool will have one team from each of the four Tier levels.
* No two teams from the same country will be drawn in the same Pool except for the seventh club from England (Harlequins based on European Ranking) which will be drawn into a Pool with another English team.
* The winner of the Heineken Cup (Leinster) will be seeded in the first Tier and will be drawn into a Pool first
