Champions Cup draw to rekindle powerhouse days of Munster and Wasps

Munster's Denis Leamy scores a try against Wasps in 2008 as Ronan O'Gara and Doug Howlett celebrate. Picture: INPHO/Billy Stickland

It may be difficult on the warmest day of the year to visualise a rugby showdown on a dark December night but when Munster and Wasps go into battle just before next Christmas, they will have plenty of shared history to digest.

By then almost 14 years will have passed since these two former European powerhouses had their last battle. That was on a foul January evening in 2008 when a Denis Leamy try was decisive in securing a 19-3 win which took them into the quarter-finals and on their way to their second Heineken Cup in three years. It turned out to be a milestone defeat for Wasps. The previous season they defeated Leicester 25-9 at Twickenham to win their second Heineken Cup, having beaten Toulouse there in the 2004 final. It was a glorious era for Wasps, winning three Premiership titles in a row as well, with Warren Gatland at the helm and when the current Lions coach departed, he was replaced by a former triumphant Lions coach Ian McGeechan.