Ulster the sole Irish victors in 1999. In 2005–06, the participating teams were drawn from the English Premiership, the Irish/Scottish/Welsh Celtic League, the Italian Super 10 and the French Top 14 based on their domestic performance the previous season. In the 10 previous Heineken Cup finals, the only previous meeting between an Irish side and a French one was in Ulster's 21–6 win over Colomiers. This was Munster's third final in the competition and their first since 2002, when they lost 15–9 to Leicester Tigers. They had also lost 9–8 to another English side, Northampton Saints, in the 2000 final. Meanwhile, Biarritz were appearing in their first Heineken Cup final and were thus also aiming to win their first Heineken Cup. The two teams had met each other twice before in the competition; Munster had won their first encounter in the competition 38–29 in the quarter-finals of the 2000–01 Heineken Cup, while Biarritz won the other match at the same stage of the 2004–05 tournament. Approximately 15,000 Munster fans watched the match on a giant screen in O'Connell Street, Limerick. Route to the final The 2005–06 Heineken Cup featured 24 teams from England, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France and Italy, who were drawn into six groups of four teams each. Teams were awarded four points for a win and two for a draw, with bonuses awarded to teams scoring four of more tries, and/or losing by seven or fewer points. The winners of each of the six groups as well as the two highest-placed runners-up qualified for the quarter-finals. The knockout stage then progressed as a single-elimination tournament. Biarritz Biarritz were drawn into Pool 4 with Italian club Benetton Treviso, English side Saracens and Ulster from Ireland. Their campaign started with a 22–10 loss away to Saracens at Vicarage Road on 23 October 2005, but they responded with a bonus-point victory at home to Ulster at Parc des Sports Aguiléra six days later, winning 33–19 to go top of the pool. Two more bonus-point wins in back-to-back games against Benetton followed in December, winning 34–7 on matchday 3 with the bonus point secured shortly after half-time, before scoring six tries in the reverse fixture at Stadio Comunale di Monigo six days later as they won 38–24. On matchday 5, Biarritz faced Ulster at Ravenhill; Biarritz won 24–8 to end Ulster's run of 14 matches without defeat at home. In the final