Perpignan play mind games
The Catalan side, who defeated Gloucester and Munster on route to topping Pool 2, before defeating Llanelli in a thrilling 26-29 quarter-final, are not overly pleased with Lansdowne Road as a venue for the last four clash. Nor are they slow to voice their displeasure.
"I would prefer it if the grounds were truly neutral Leinster get to play all their knock-out matches at Lansdowne Road and it's a little bit as if the dice are already thrown," scrum-half Ludovic Loustau said yesterday.
"However, we will try to do well to honour our region, just as we did at Llanelli, although I'm sure it's going to be even more difficult. It was important to get an away win in the Heineken Cup that was something we hadn't achieved, at least not in the knock-out stages of the competition.
"It's good for everyone it gets the club known and the fact that we are still in the chase for two competitions means that as a team we can still aim to win something.
That issue of recognition seems to be a massive motivating factor for the club which reached the semi-finals of the European Cup in 1999 when defeated by Colomiers (6-10). Now they are aiming for victory and the right to be ranked amongst the big boys of French rugby.
"It is fantastic for the club to be one of the top four clubs in Europe in 2003," said hooker Michel Konieckiewicz.
"We tend to be the forgotten team of France so winning our group and beating the likes of Gloucester, who were top of the English league at the time, then getting through to the semi-finals after beating Llanelli in their own backyard has made everyone sit up and notice our club and our Catalan region. Hopefully we will go further our objective now is to get to the final, but it's going to be very tough at Lansdowne Road."
Lock Jerome Thion is adamant their success at Stradey Park in the quarter-finals proves they are genuine cup contenders.
"Everyone said how difficult our Pool was and to have come away from Llanelli with a win something no other club has done gives us a huge amount of satisfaction," he said.
"Usually if you play at Lansdowne Road, it would be with the French team so it's huge to be able to play there for your club. We are going there to get a result but we will really have to dig deep to come away from there with a victory.
Coach Olivier Saisset added: "Last year we didn't have the means to compete on two fronts but this team is more balanced, which has enabled us to get this far.
"Leinster are practically the Irish team they put Biarritz in all sorts of difficulties and should have scored a lot more points had they not missed a couple of opportunities. It certainly won't be simple over there.
"We made a huge step in qualifying for the quarter-finals and we did something big in winning at Llanelli. At Lansdowne Road we will have a 30% chance but we will take that chance, just as we did last week.
"If we have the opportunity to win, we won't let it slip away."
Ironically, Biarritz coach Laurent Rodriguez believes Manny Edmonds and his Perpignan colleagues can succeed where his side failed.
"We knew how good they were but I thought it would be more difficult for us. Brian O'Driscoll was very dangerous but I think Perpignan will be a totally different challenge for them, and I think Leinster could suffer. The Perpignan pack is big and aggressive."
The latter is a point which is not lost on Leinster coach Matt Williams. "Perpignan are a good hard side and they will present a different challenge to Biarritz. Manny Edmonds was very good for them against Llanelli and he's obviously a key player for them."
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