French are no pushover, Munster warned

MUNSTER second row Mick O’Driscoll has warned his colleagues not to take his old club Perpignan lightly in the Heineken Cup quarter final.

O’Driscoll, who spent nearly two seasons with the French outfit, admitted they may not be in the same class as Toulouse and Biarritz, but have a nasty habit of causing a shock when least expected.

“Obviously, being drawn at home against any French team gives you an advantage for as we all know, traditionally they’re not great travellers.

“But the funny thing about Perpignan is that some weeks they are okay on the road and there are others when they don’t perform very well. You just don’t know what to expect when they’re travelling. Last year they went around six months without an away win but this year they beat Castres in Castres.

“That mightn’t sound like anything great after the way we beat them last week but they’re still in the running for the French championship and in those circumstances are a really formidable force at home so it takes a strong side to beat them.”

O’Driscoll accepts that Perpignan is the kind of club that changes its playing staff quite drastically from year to year but he suspects they are probably a better side than 12 months ago.

“They have recruited a big Fijian winger who’s been doing a lot of damage and they also have good ball players and good kickers”, he says. “French full-back Julien Laharrague is a long term injury victim and may not be back in time for the quarter-finals. Manny Edmonds, who has missed much of the season because of a broken leg, remains a key figure and is playing full-back at present. They also have one of the strongest packs in the championship and we shouldn’t forget that they beat Leinster in the European semi-final a few years ago. I can’t see them travelling with too much support, perhaps around a couple of hundred or so.”

Munster coach Declan Kidney had a dual reason for celebration last night, given that he had coached Leinster last season. He described it as “a great weekend for Irish rugby.”

Kidney quickly rubbished the notion that Munster had gained a soft draw simply because they had been drawn at home to a French team.

“They beat Leinster at Lansdowne Road in the semi-final a few years ago so they know what they need to do”, he stressed. “On top of that, we now split for eight weeks and they will be playing together for all that time. It’s the same every year but you never get used to it. There’s great credit due to our players and also Leinster for getting through in spite of losing two matches. They made up for that with bonus points and that’s a fine achievement.

“Yesterday morning, we would have been happy to qualify for the quarter-finals, now we’ve got that and a home game as well so we can hardly complain.”

Former Irish coach Brian Ashton believes the Irish provinces have improved hugely since his time here. And just as he expects his Bath side to put yesterday’s disappointment behind them, he believes Leinster, drawn away to Toulouse, could shock the champions.

“With the talent they have out in the backs, their ability to score from way out, anything is possible. They just have to believe in themselves.”

Leinster coach Michael Cheika said: “At this stage we don’t much care who we meet. Every game is going to be difficult; we will just have to take this one as it comes. My concern now is that the players come through the Celtic League and Six Nations campaigns without injury.”

Biarritz will entertain Sale Sharks, while despite more than 100 years of domestic rivalry, the final quarter-final between Leicester Tigers and Bath will be their first clash in Europe.