THE lead photograph on page one of Brive’s La Montagne on Saturday suggested it was “David défie Goliath”, and given the paths these two clubs have taken since the start of European rugby competition in 1995, the Amlin Challenge quarter-final was aptly billed.

Brive 37 Munster 42

Jamie Noon has disappeared from Martin Johnson’s radar since moving to France, but he sees today’s Amlin Challenge Cup clash with Munster as his chance to lay down a marker. Alan Good talked to Brive’s Mr Dependable

Shaun Perry was a welder before he came late to professional rugby, but Brive decided he had the tools necessary to make an impact in the Top 14. Alan Good met him in central France to hear his unusual story.

THERE are plenty of lazy comparisons to draw between Brive and Munster — both former European champions keen to restore former glories, and both call small, rugby-mad provincial centres home — but what’s less obvious is that the French side found inspiration in Limerick not so long ago.

TONY McGAHAN promised the Munster supporters that his players won’t shirk from the challenge of taking on Brive up front on Saturday in the Amlin Challenge Cup.

RONAN O’GARA may be battered and bruised, but he’s ready to face-up to the fierce physicality Brive will bring to Saturday’s Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final at Stade Amedee-Domenech.

AS ALWAYS with the Heineken Cup, the cream tends to rise to the top when the knockout stages come calling in April.

MUNSTER will be without international scrum-half Tomás O’Leary for the province’s Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final with Brive on April 9.

IT’S mid-October and Leinster’s opening Heineken Cup defeat by London Irish at the RDS has been compounded five days later by a lengthy suspension for Shane Jennings for alleged contact with the eye area.

THE inactivity caused by the big freeze of recent weeks showed in Leinster’s lacklustre performance for much of this Heineken Cup clash against Brive on Saturday night before the champions upped gears to secure a bonus point victory.

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika has warned against complacency ahead of Saturday’s Heineken Cup clash with London Irish at Twickenham.

Leinster 27 Brive 10

DUBLIN looks set to host a Connacht old boys reunion after Leinster and Brive’s Heineken Cup battle on Saturday.

London Irish 34 Brive 13

Brive 3 London Irish 36

WORLD CUP winning prop forward CJ van der Linde appears to have put his injury woes behind him and is named in Leinster’s squad for Saturday’s Magners League derby clash with Ulster at Ravenhill (6pm).

MICHAEL CHEIKA’S smile said it all after his side had hammered admittedly poor opposition and recorded their biggest win on French soil.

Brive 13 Leinster 36

THERE must be hundreds of Irish rugby players, past and present, with bitter memories of France. Paris provides the backdrop for most of them but Jonathan Sexton’s stem from a freezing December night in Castres.

Scarlets 24 Brive 12

LEINSTER will be treading unfamiliar paths in their attempt to reclaim the Heineken Cup title next season but Shane Horgan is looking forward to reacquainting himself with some familiar faces.

Michael Bradley has made three changes to his side for Connacht’s European Challenge Cup clash with Brive at the Sportsground on Friday (kick off: 6.30pm).

Newcastle 25 Brive 19

Brive 15 Connacht 6

Brive 31 Saracens 16 (after extra time)

London Irish face a testing Parker Pen Challenge Cup trip to Narbonne tomorrow, with coach Gary Gold admitting: “We have made life a bit difficult for ourselves.”