EUROPEAN CUP DRAW: No sooner has Leicester's Neil Back slapped the ball out of the distraught Peter Stringer's hands than it all begins again. Munster, Ulster and Leinster now know their initial opponents in next season's Heineken European Cup after yesterday's pool draw.
Leinster drew Bristol, Montferrand and Swansea in Pool Four of the competition with two-times finalists Munster scheduled to face Perpignan, English champions Gloucester and Italy's Viadana in Pool Two. Ulster have been drawn in Pool Six and face French champions Biarritz, 2000 Heineken Cup winners Northampton and Cardiff in what is possibly the toughest of the pools involving Irish teams.
"We've always held the same attitude in this competition," said Leinster manager Ken Ging. "All of the European Cup teams are good teams. We played Swansea last season but the other two are new to us. We won that match in Swansea, not comfortably but by that stage in the competition we'd already won the pool and brought in younger players.
"Clearly Bristol will be tough as Zurich finalists and we've had a bad record away against the French. We've a good home record against them but the away-match hoodoo is something we'll have to break this season.
"Sure, the matches will be tough but I'd say teams will be thinking 'oh dear, we have Leinster in our pool'. Don't forget we've 16 international players in the squad. We've huge respect for all the sides, but 16 international players is awesome."
Munster, agonisingly beaten by Leicester in this season's final, will probably see Gloucester as their toughest opponents while the northern Italian side, Viadana, are an unknown quantity. Munster played Perpignan in the 1998-99 competition and the results went with home advantage, Munster losing 24-41 away and winning 13-5 at home. But, like the rest of the clubs in the competition, teams have changed dramatically since then and over the summer sides will strengthen their squads.
"The game against Gloucester just jumps out at you - it will be a massive occasion," said Munster centre Killian Keane. "Gloucester are a very strong side with some fantastic players and they have the boost of winning the English championship.
"Munster and Gloucester have very similar sets of supporters and those games should be wonderful matches. We've never played them in a competitive fixture, just a pre-season friendly. Over all it's a far from easy pool. Viadana are unknown and they may well strengthen their squad this summer."
Australian wing Joe Roff anticipates a better run in this year's competition with Biarritz but views the two former winners, Ulster and Northampton, as major stumbling blocks in the pool. The French completed their season only last weekend with Biarritz winning the championship. "We'll have a good dig at trying to win our pool but it's a tough one," said Roff.
Ulster met Cardiff in the 2000-01 competition, winning 32-23 at Ravenhill Road and losing 16-42 in Wales but have never played Northampton or Biarittz in European competition. They may well remember though, on their way to winning the 1999 trophy the province beat French teams Toulouse in the quarter-final, Stade Francais in the semi-final and Colomiers in the final.
Meanwhile, the Irish team to face Australia at Wits University Stadium, Johannesburg, today in their first pool game in the IRB Under-21 World Championship was named yesterday. Ireland subsequently play Fiji and hosts South Africa before the competition moves into the second phase.
IRELAND UNDER-21 (v Australia Under 21): G Duffy (Galwegians); M McPhail (UL Bohemians), G Mitchell (Ballymena), C O'Sullivan (UCC), S Young (Ballymena); E Hickey (UCD), B O'Riordan (UCD); J Lyne (Lansdowne), K Corrigan (UCD), B Young (Ballymena), S Keogh (UCC), M McCullough (Ballymena, capt), S Jennings (St Mary's), N McMillan (Ballymena), R Wilson (DU). Replacements: R Best (Newcastle), S Phillips (Saracens), C Murphy (Clontarf), T Baker (Dungannon), C Hartigan (Shannon), F Murphy (UCC), C McPhilips (St Mary's).
THE POOLS
Pool 1: Leicester Tigers, Amatori and Calvisano, Neath, Beziers
Pool 2: Viadana, Munster, Gloucester, Perpignan
Pool 3: Llanelli, Glasgow Rugby, Sale Sharks, Bourgoin
Pool 4: Leinster, Montferrand, Bristol Shoguns, Swansea
Pool 5: Edinburgh Rugby, Toulouse, Newport, London Irish
Pool 6: Biarritz, Ulster, Cardiff, Northampton
Dates: Round 1: October 11th,12th,13th; Round 2: October 18th, 19th, 20th; Round 3: December 6th, 7th, 8th; Round 4: December 13th, 14th, 15th; Round 5: January 10th, 11th, 12th; Round 6: January 17th, 18th, 19th; Quarter-finals: April 11th, 12th, 13th; Semi-finals: April 26th, 27th; Final: May 24th.
