CHAMPIONS CUP SEMI-FINAL weekend is bound to be tense enough without any confusion about the rules.
There was plenty of that when Leinster held off a resurgent Bath in the quarter-finals earlier this month.
With just three points separating the sides in the final minutes, the question was asked: what happens if Bath kick a penalty or drop goal and this finishes in a draw?
The confusion stemmed from a mistake by the BT Sport commentators who believed that if the sides were level at full-time, extra-time would not be played and instead the team who had scored the most tries in 80 minutes would progress.
That was incorrect.
There still seems to be some misunderstanding about the rules, and as recently as this afternoon, the official Champions Cup Twitter account was still fielding questions on it.
Here are the official rules:
2.5 In the event of a tie at full-time in the quarter-finals, semi-finals or final, extra time of 10 minutes each way will be played. If the scores remain tied, the winner will be determined as follows:
(a) the club that scored the most tries in the match (including extra time) or
(b) if equal, by a place-kick competition.
To reiterate:
IF it is a draw after 80 minutes, there will be 2 x 10-minute periods of extra time.
IF it still a draw after extra time, the team who has scored the most tries wins.
IF both teams have scored the same amount of tries, there will penalties — just as there was between Leicester and Cardiff back in 2009. Remember?
Glad to clear it all up.
