Melville focuses on game

Nigel Melville claims that quarter-final permutations will not be on the agenda when his Gloucester team tackle Heineken Cup opponents Treviso tomorrow.

Gloucester could progress from Pool Five with a guaranteed home quarter-final draw, or as one of two best runners-up, meaning a possible trip to holders Toulouse or arch-rivals Munster.

But rugby director Melville is not concerned about what might or might not happen elsewhere during this weekend’s intriguing final round of group games.

“At the beginning of the week, we sat down and emphasised that this weekend we face a straight knockout situation. If we win, we go through, if we lose, then we go out,” he said.

“This is as big a game as we have had this season. At this stage, we are not talking about the quarter-finals – I am not interested.

“All we are concentrating on is getting the job done this weekend. If we want knockout rugby, we know what we have to do to achieve it.”

Gloucester will head their group if they beat Kingsholm visitors Treviso and Munster lose at home to Bourgoin tomorrow. Should both teams win and finish level on points, Gloucester cannot finish top because Munster boast a better record in the two matches between them.

Munster are overwhelming favourites against an already-eliminated Bourgoin outfit, but coach Alan Gaffney knows it could still go wrong.

“We can qualify as one of the top two seeds, we can qualify as the seventh or eighth seeds, or we can fail to qualify at all,” he said.

“We have to win. It is going to be a tough task, but it is down to us. We must do what we have to do, and not worry about what goes on elsewhere.

“The Heineken Cup is a damn hard competition, especially if you have someone like Gloucester in your group.”

Toulouse and Edinburgh clash in a winner-takes-all Pool Two showdown tomorrow, with the French club knowing that victory would take them above their Scottish visitors and into first place.

A best runners-up spot would then loom for Edinburgh, the tournament’s solitary remaining unbeaten team.

“Everyone at Toulouse, and at other French clubs, has come to realise that the Heineken Cup is the biggest competition there is,” said Irish international and Toulouse back-row forward Trevor Brennan.

“We have made a successful defence of our European title the top priority at the club this season, putting the Heineken Cup ahead of the French Championship.

“We caught a cold in Edinburgh in the first round when we lost at Meadowbank Stadium, and ever since that defeat, we have been targeting the return game.”

Edinburgh beat Toulouse 23-16 early last month, but coach Frank Hadden warned: “Toulouse is one of the hardest places to go and win – they are significantly better than a number of international sides.

“But, while we used to go there worried about the outcome, now we are confident that we can compete against them on their home ground.

“We now know each other pretty well after also playing them twice last season, and I think they have made progress since we played them in December.

“But essentially, they are the same side with the same players, who play an attractive game that does carry a certain risk element. We are looking forward to what is certainly a massive challenge.”

Leicester will go into tonight’s Pool One showdown against French champions Stade Francais at Welford Road, with Dean Richards declaring: “It is like a cup final.”

Tigers’ Heineken Cup quarter-final hopes rest on the outcome.

The twice-European champions will progress from Pool One if they avoid defeat, but a Stade victory would mean Leicester making their first group stage exit since 2000.

“People are making us favourites because of our last two wins (against Ulster and Gwent Dragons), but they must remember that Stade Francais have a star-studded side, and in Nick Mallett, one of the best coaches in world rugby,” said Tigers rugby director Richards.

“They contributed a large number of players to the World Cup, and that is a measure of how good they are. It should be a great game, and they are virtually at full-strength.

“It’s the biggest game of the season, and is very much like a cup final for us. We have to win it.”

England squad members Ben Kay and Ollie Smith have both recovered from injury and will take their places in Tigers’ starting line-up.

And Tigers look set to beat the current big freeze. The Welford Road pitch has been covered all week, and club shirt sponsors Bradstone have 100 people standing by to shovel snow off the covers, if required.

Irish challengers Leinster visit Biarritz tomorrow, three points clear of their second-placed hosts and favourites to qualify from Pool Three.

“We always knew it was going to come down to winning in Biarritz to get through to the quarter-finals,” said Leinster skipper Reggie Corrigan.

A total of 13 teams still have live quarter-final chances this weekend, but 11 other sides are already out.

Only pride is at stake when Ulster host the Gwent Dragons tonight and tomorrow when Leeds visit Neath-Swansea Ospreys and Cardiff Blues host Sale Sharks.