Home comfort for Irish provinces

WHILE both Leinster and Ulster could afford to sit back and savour early quarter-final qualification in the Heineken Cup, their last eight opponents were not confirmed until the final whistle blew yesterday at Adams Park, where Wasps were entertaining champions Toulouse. What a sting in the tail that proved to be.

When Samoan international winger David Lemi touched down with just seconds left to secure a shock victory for Wasps, the ramifications shuddered across European rugby. Instead of Leinster hosting Felipe Contepomi and Toulon, they now face the much more difficult prospect of beating Leicester Tigers in a repeat of the 2009 final.

That may impact on Leinster’s decision to move the quarter-final from the RDS to the Aviva Stadium. Leicester would attract a far bigger travelling support than Toulon, and Tigers supporters would make their presence felt at rugby headquarters.

There was, however, better news down the track when the semi-final draw was made and Leinster were handed the prospect of a home semi-final against the winners of Biarritz-Toulouse. After what happened last season at the same stage, Leinster would thrive on the prospect of hosting the reigning champions at the Aviva Stadium.

Ulster also profited from Lemi’s try: they now travel to Franklins Gardens to face Northampton, and don’t have to take on Toulouse in their backyard. Should they beat the Saints, then the Aviva will host a second semi-final over the weekend of April 30/May 1, with Ulster meeting the winners of the Perpignan-Toulon quarter-final. However, Ulster will have their work cut out to beat Northampton.

Munster, too, were affected by the Wasps result, and the Samoan’s five pointer at the death means Tony McGahan will now be heading to France to play Brive in the quarter final of the Amlin Challenge Cup. Moments before, they were gearing up for London and a date with Conor O’Shea’s Harlequins. Brive, currently 12th in the French Top 14 with just four wins from their 16 league outings to date, are no great shakes, and Munster will fancy their chances.

If they advance to the semis, they’ll host the winners of the Wasps/Harlequins Challenge quarter-final. That game would take place at Thomond Park and, incredibly, could result in three European semi-finals taking place in Ireland over the same weekend.

The other side of the Amlin draw looks more difficult and should Munster progress to the final, they’ll face French opposition, most likely Clermont Auvergne or Michael Cheika’s Stade Francais.

Despite the mass hysteria of the last week, a single point was all that separated Munster from a 13th consecutive Heineken Cup quarter-final. A losing bonus point in Toulon last weekend would have done the trick. Despite their defeat to the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium on Saturday, it is Philippe Saint-Andre’s men who march onwards towards a date with Perpignan.

Should Leinster decide to switch the quarter-final against the Tigers from the RDS, their coffers will be set for a third substantial cash injection this season, given the booty they accumulated from bumper Aviva Stadium gates against Munster in the Magners League and Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup. That financial windfall will enable Leinster to strengthen their organisation even further, on and off the field. Leinster, or indeed Ulster, would not benefit from the proceeds of the semi-finals as they go in their entirety to the ERC.

Toulon emerge as a pool winner with the lowest points accumulation of all six pool winners, on 17 points. To put that into perspective, the two best runners up, Leicester Tigers and Ulster, both finished on 22 points while Clermont Auvergne and Wasps divert to the Amlin Challenge cup on 19 points respectively.

MUNSTER’S win on Saturday will be greeted with as much enthusiasm in Connacht as it was down south, given that if Munster go on to win the Challenge Cup, Connacht will be awarded a place in the Heineken Cup next season. Indeed they also have a second route to qualification should Leinster win the main tournament.

For long periods on Saturday the prospect of Munster protecting their proud record in Thomond Park seemed under threat after what must rank as one of the worst opening halves of European rugby witnessed at the Limerick fortress, with both teams reaching the break scoreless. Perhaps the torrent of negativity that has surrounded the squad since the defeat to Toulon took its toll, because Munster looked devoid of confidence and composure for much of that opening period.

FOR those who question the future — and there has been no shortage in the past week — it was very encouraging to see the impact off the bench of young front row forwards Mike Sherry and Darragh Hurley. That is not in any way to diminish the efforts of Damien Varley, who also had another impressive outing at hooker.

There are plenty of good young players out there but the key is that they are integrated over time with the calm assurance of the more experienced brigade around them. The key figure in this respect is Paul O’Connell. When it looked as if Munster might somehow lose on Saturday, the Lions captain managed to draw on his vast reserves of strength and stamina which, given his lack of recent game time, was phenomenal. He was the one who led the charge in the closing stages when he really should have been out on his feet.

Munster’s problems all year have stemmed from the uncharacteristic frailty of their set piece. Once again, the scrum and lineout encountered difficulties and it was only in the closing period when a solid platform was discovered that we saw any semblance of a meaningful Munster attack. Ronan O’Gara finally succeeded in exposing the brittle nature of the visitors back three and all of a sudden a game that looked like slipping away was rescued.

With a few Magners League fixtures to be negotiated before European action resumes, the opportunity must be presented to the fringe talent to fight for a starting place when the Amlin rolls around in April.