HEC poll win for "The Miracle Match"

That day in 2003: Munster's win

With the Heineken Cup returning this week, Planet Rugby brings you some interesting poll results and also the chance of winning some tickets.

Have you ever asked for divine intervention on a Heineken Cup result? Would you rather go to a Heineken Cup match alone or with your mother? With the crunch December back-to-back games now less than a week away Heineken canvassed fans to reveal what makes them tick on Heineken Cup weekends and asked people to vote for their most memorable tournament moments.

A survey of 500 fans, conducted with Teamer.net, the digital platform for sports teams, revealed that match days with mates remain sacrosanct. In fact a quarter of those surveyed said they would rather go to the match alone than with their wife/girlfriend...surprisingly almost 10% said they would rather go with their mother!

Build-up to games is all important to fans, with almost half of the respondents (42%) saying they start to get excited a full week before European matches.

Heineken Cup weekends occupy an important slot in the fan's social diaries, with a massive 74% seeing the match day as a "special occasion". The game is clearly more important to others however, with 60% admitting that they have prayed to God for a result!

Choosing the most memorable Heineken Cup moment after 17 years, 1,200 games and nearly 6,000 tries in the competition is no easy task. To help narrow down the choice, Heineken locked George Hook, Brent Pope and Donal Lenihan in a room and refused to let them out until they picked their favourites. Heineken then invited over 2000 people to vote.

Former Lions manager Donal Lenihan chose Rob Howley's match-winning try against Toulouse in the 2004 Heineken Cup final, in which Wasps won 27-20, as his favourite moment. 246 rugby fans voted in favour of his choice but 384 agreed with New Zealander Brent Pope who recalled the amazing atmosphere when Peter Stringer dived over the line to score in Munster's 2006 Heineken Cup final triumph over Biarritz.

The overwhelming majority of Heineken Cup fans surveyed - 1,671 - agreed with George Hook who chose Munster's 2003 victory over Gloucester at Thomond Park as his most memorable moment. Munster needed to score four tries and win by 27 points to qualify for the quarter-finals. They scored their fourth try with minutes to spare and won 33-6. The game will forever be remembered as 'The Miracle Match.'

To celebrate the back-to-back December fixtures Heineken is guaranteeing Heineken Cup match tickets for those who correctly predict the winners and losers of each match. All you have to do is play Heineken Star Predictor, the online match prediction game; log on to www.heineken.ie/heinekencup and register by 5.00pm Friday, December 7.