RUGBY/European Cup: On the wall behind the top table Ronan O'Gara was kicking a ball through the twin spires of London Bridge. Outside workers were busying themselves ripping the seats out of the old stadium and applying Twickenham's make-over for next year's Six Nations championship and Heineken European Cup final.

Sold as the most coveted trophy in Northern Hemisphere club rugby, and launched in the "Invisibles Suite", opposite the RFU's headquarters, there was little chance that yesterday's launch of the 2006-2007 European Cup was being under-stated. And why should it?

Derek McGrath, the ERC chief executive, laid the ground for another record-breaking year of attendances and interest, some new regulations and the possibility that come next spring Twickenham will be fuller for the final than the Millennium Stadium was in 2002 when Munster lost to Leicester Tigers in front of 74,600 fans.

"What a great day that would be if we could sell the stadium to capacity. What a day that would be," said McGrath as much in expectation as in hope.

That naturally depends on who reaches the final, with the all-French affair in Lansdowne Road a few years ago something the ERC would probably not like to see repeated with Twickenham's 82,000 ticket places begging.

"The fact that 16,000 tickets have already been bought for the final in May reflects the growing profile and we will be aiming to ensure that another great European campaign is rounded off with a full house at the new-look Twickenham Stadium," added McGrath.

The CEO also spoke of teams already preparing for the visit of big name clubs and few will arrive with a heavier vibe than champions Munster. Already French side Bourgoin are seeking a higher capacity ground for their meeting with Declan Kidney's side for their Pool Four game on Saturday October 28th.

Few coaches, and there were a number present, looked no further than their first game and Kidney, as is his nature, point-blankly refused to look beyond Munster's opening skirmish with Pat Howard's Leinster Tigers in Welford Road on Sunday, October 22nd.

"We've been very busy getting ready for another season. There are more jerseys around the place, more kids looking to play the game. There has been a lot of kids with hurls and footballs around, maybe now they'll come back to us," said Kidney. "The season? I'm looking no further than Friday," he added.

But the kick-off of the competition was not without some moments of light touch and when the compere, Sky Sports Simon Lazenby, asked for Miss London, Claire Cooper, and her glamourous assistant to come forward with the Heineken Cup, Brian O'Driscoll, who was sitting on the raised stage area with a number of other players and captains, was sliding down his seat in a fit of giggles, when an acutely conscious "glamourous assistant" aka Munster hooker, Jerry Flannery arrived through the swell of bodies with Ms Cooper and the Heineken Cup in tow.

"We've got a nice tough pool," said Leicester's coach Pat Howard, adding with just a hint of despair, "We seem to get that a bit." With Munster, Cardiff Blues and Bourgoin included in that group few could argue.

But with the final in England as well as English clubs filling six of the places and second only to the French with seven teams, (Ireland, Italy, and Wales have three teams with two from Scotland), local hopes are for an English team in the final.

A few outspoken observers even expect that to happen and no more than the besieged English national coach Andy Robinson.

"The fact that the final is in Twickenham Stadium once again is bound to be a huge motivation factor for the six English clubs and there are enough quality players among them for me to predict there could be at least one English finalist," he said.

A call to arms perhaps with next year's World Cup also threatening to be a potential theatre of humiliation for the England team. But most in Twickenham yesterday were playing their hands close, even the Leinster captain O'Driscoll.

"There is no logic in rugby at all. I think it's about the team that turns up on the day", he said. "There is such a fine line between winning and losing in those big games. Even though the scoreline (against Munster in last season's semi-final) might have shown that they were convincing winners in the end, had we stolen a try in the last 15 minutes it was all to play for. So you could see that, even though they had completely outplayed us. So if you look at it that way, you can be totally ahead in a game and still only be one score ahead. When you get to the last four or the final, it can be very minor things indeed that win you the game."