Plenty of Cardiff final memories, but they’re not all good

It feels strange for the Millennium Stadium to host a Heineken Cup decider this weekend without an Irish province in sight. Of the 18 finals to date, Cardiff has staged six, including the first two in 1996 and 1997 won by Toulouse and Brive respectively.

Back then nobody envisaged anyone breaking that French monopoly. Little did we know.

With three Irish teams in this season’s quarter-finals, I was sure that at least one would make it all the way to May but, if I’m honest, not having to negotiate another retreat from Cardiff next weekend has its compensations.