Rugby/European Cup Pool Five:Tomorrow's epic-in-waiting at Thomond Park will, fittingly, be adorned by the kind of ensemble cast such a plot demands.

Aside from the likes of Anthony Foley, in possibly his last Heineken European Cup match on the hallowed turf, and Lawrence Dallaglio, in his last appearance on Irish soil, there'll also be a home Euro debut for the latest Kiwi legend on Munster's books, Doug Howlett, a first run-out in Wasps colours for Eoin Reddan in his battle with Peter Stringer and the compelling contest at outhalf.

As one of the new breed of truly exceptional, home-grown stars among Wasps' ranks, none has cut as irreverent a swathe through the first half of the season as the disarmingly composed and gifted Danny Cipriani. A silken runner, he has assumed the outhalf role long held by Alex King on a permanent basis, and even his goal-kicking has been nerveless.

One off the conveyor belt of young outhalves being churned out by the English game, it looks only a matter of time before Cipriani acquires the white number 10 jersey.

Opposing him is Ronan O'Gara, enjoying a remarkably swift rejuvenation in all aspects of his game, which is a tribute both to his mental strength and Declan Kidney's management.

"I think he's an exceptional talent," admits O'Gara of Cipriani. "He's far more advanced than I was at his age. I think he's had expert coaching and he's a great athlete. And I think players like that excite people and entertain people, and he seems very confident, which is a key attribute as an outhalf. A very, very fine player."

Their duel will go some way toward determining the verdict in this pool of sharks, but O'Gara maintains: "I won't be thinking about any Wasps player between now and the game. My focus will be on myself and the Munster team. I feel if we get ourselves right that's the most important thing. The quality is within the red shirts and we've got to make sure we bring it out.

"I think that's the most important thing, that we back ourselves. We didn't play well last week but we backed ourselves and gave ourselves a chance of qualifying from the group through playing for ourselves. And playing for each other can really carry you in life, never mind in rugby, and that's what we have at the minute and I hope we show that again at the weekend."

The postponement of the Ulster game a week previously seemed like a plausible reason for Munster's error-prone first half-hour and struggle to reach the tempo of that game, but due to the conditions O'Gara questions the worth of that game anyway.

"Probably the game against Ulster was important, but the intensity of the Munster-Clermont game - you wouldn't get that on a pitch covered in snow. Conditions last weekend challenged us aerobically and anaerobically. I think you saw we finished the game strongly and I think that was a positive.

"We've got to make sure we start the game the way we finished last weekend. This is a new game, so - I think we've had that blow-out and, I hope, if we can get rid of a few of the errors from our game last weekend we'll be alright."

Even so, it was striking how O'Gara spoke immediately after the Clermont game of how enjoyable it was to play in. The older he's become, the more he has wanted to play that kind of ball-in-hand, high-tempo game. In the same way he embraced Christian Cullen's arrival, O'Gara is clearly revelling in the three-strong Kiwi axis outside him.

Like the first set-to with Wasps in Coventry last November, the dry day and dry track provided a welcome reprieve from this rain-sodden Irish mid-winter.

"It's brilliant, it's exciting, it's what it's all about. People talk about Munster wanting it wet and windy. Last weekend we played ball and that's exactly what we want to do every time. We're going to be playing on a field this weekend, as opposed to a pitch, in terms of a soccer stadium, so it's a different game. The Ricoh Arena was very fast, whereas this weekend is a heavier pitch and I think will make it a huge physical test for both teams, because I think Munster know one way, and that's forward, and so do Wasps. So, I suppose, may the best team win."

O'Gara's captaincy tomorrow is given added complications by the qualification permutations. While nothing on the scale of a miracle, four-try, 27-point win is required on this occasion, simply winning the match would not, of itself, guarantee Munster top the pool and qualification. Only a bonus point win would achieve that, or a win by more than seven points to deny Wasps one.

However, in the event of Munster winning and Wasps securing a bonus point in defeat, the sides would finish level on 19 points and the final standings would be decided on the head-to-head meetings according to the following criteria: one - match points; two - tries; three - points aggregate. As the match points would then be five apiece from the two games, and the try tally was two apiece when Wasps beat Munster 24-23, Munster would need to win scoring more tries, or scoring the same number of tries and by two points or more.

Thus, were Munster to be winning by as much as 14 points entering the final stages of tomorrow's game, but the try count on the day was level, Wasps could still go through by dint of scoring a late converted try.

"Yeah, I suppose it's odd with that thrown into the game," said O'Gara of the permutations and another of those nail-chewing endgames that Munster seem to specialise in on a late Saturday evening of January in Limerick.

"I think that's going to be an ongoing situation as it presents itself, as opposed to worrying about it now. The key, as Axel (Anthony Foley) says, is to win the game. You have to obviously keep half an eye on the try count, but if you're 14-0 down you don't have to worry too much about that, do you?"