Champions Cup draw to rekindle powerhouse days of Munster and Wasps

When Munster and Wasps go into battle just before next Christmas, they will have plenty of shared history to digest

Wed, 21 Jul, 2021 - 22:08

John Fallon

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.

Munster pushed on from their January ‘group of death’ win over Wasps to lift their second Heineken Cup but since then a couple of league titles, the last in 2011, is all they have to show, even if they have never been far from the business end domestically and in Europe.

For Wasps, they are lucky to still be in business. They had moved initially in the professional era to QPR’s Loftus Road and with Gatland at the helm they moved out to Wycombe Wanderers’ Adams Park, where they built a decent support base.

But constant financial difficult, a serious tax problem, a flirtation with relegation and a change of ownership almost saw them go to the wall before Irish businessman Derek Richardson took over, and in 2014 they moved the club to the Ricoh Arena in Coventry where they have continued to build on and off the field since.

Munster will be able to get an insight into Wasps from former assistant Ian Costello, who has taken over as their academy manager after the Kerry native spent three seasons as defence coach with the Premiership side.

They have a few recent jousts with Leicester but next December’s meeting, after Munster were paired with Castres and Wasps in yesterday’s Heineken Champions Cup draw, will rekindle a time when these two were the powerhouses of Europe, even if they had only four games between each other, with two wins apiece.

Castres are more familiar opponents having played Munster in nine seasons, the most recent which the French side won in 2018/19 at Stade Pierre Fabre.

Munster’s qualification for the PRO14 ensured they benefited from Tier 1 seeding, with PRO14 champions Leinster also benefitting from the top ranking when they drew Montpellier for the third time in five seasons and Bath for the second time in three years.

Connacht, having met Leicester for the first time ever last season, will renew acquaintances with the Tigers in the pool, while they will face Stade Francais for the first time in Europe.

JJ Hanrahan could face Irish opposition in his first season in France after his Clermont Auvergne side were drawn against Ulster, while Dan McFarland’s side’s other pool game will be against Northampton Saints.

Ronan O’Gara’s La Rochelle, having reached their first Champions Cup and Top 14 finals last season and lost both to Toulouse, have a relatively favourable draw against Bath and Glasgow.

Champions Toulouse will play Wasps and Cardiff, while Jerry Flannery’s Harlequins, the English champions, will take on Castres and Cardiff.

The EPCR have decided to stick with the format they introduced during Covid last season.

The 24 teams have been divided into two pools. Each team will play four pool games, two at home and two away against the same two clubs, with the top eight in each pool going into a knockout system.

The opening two pool games will be on the weekends beginning December 10 and 17, the remaining pool games on the weekends start January 14 and 21.

The last 16 knockout games will be home and away on weekends starting April 8 and 15, and one-leg then quarter-finals and semi-finals leading to the final in Stade Vélodrome in Marseille on May 28.

POOL A (with opponents in brackets)

Stade Rochelais (Bath Rugby, Glasgow Warriors)

Exeter Chiefs (Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Glasgow Warriors)

Leinster (Montpellier Hérault Rugby, Bath Rugby)

Racing 92 (Northampton Saints, Ospreys)

Sale Sharks (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Ospreys)

Ulster Rugby (ASM Clermont Auvergne, Northampton Saints)

ASM Clermont Auvergne (Sale Sharks, Ulster Rugby)

Northampton Saints (Racing 92, Ulster Rugby)

Ospreys (Racing 92, Sale Sharks)

Montpellier Hérault Rugby (Exeter Chiefs, Leinster Rugby)

Bath Rugby (Stade Rochelais, Leinster Rugby)