Home and away for Irish pair

RUGBY: Leinster will not have to leave Dublin for the remainder of the Heineken European Cup after yesterday's draw for the semi-finals of the competition whereas Munster, typically, will have to travel the scenic route if they are to reach their Holy Grail.

To facilitate tournament organisers in obtaining venues for the semi-finals - which come a fortnight after the quarter-finals on the last weekend in April -the draw was made yesterday. The winners of the Leinster-Biarritz quarter-final will have home country advantage against either Llanelli or Perpignan, while either Leicester or Munster will be away to the winners of the Toulouse-Northampton tie.

Leinster, who will decide this week whether to host Biarritz in Donnybrook or Lansdowne Road on Saturday, April 12th, have already been assured that they could stage a potential semi-final in the latter venue.

The only ERC stipulation regarding the choice of semi-final venue is that it cannot be in a team's nominated home ground - in Leinster's case Donnybrook - and that it must have a minimum capacity of 20,000.

Thus, were Leinster to beat Biarritz, they have the carrot of a Lansdowne Road semi-final against the winners of the Llanelli-Perpignan quarter-final on the weekend of April 25th-27th as well as the knowledge that this season's European Cup final has been fixed for Lansdowne Road on May 24th. Reluctant as they will be to tempt fate, it's hard not to conclude that this could be the chance of a lifetime.

"It is obviously a real incentive," concedes Matt Williams, who is grateful that there'll be no extra travelling for his players, though nonetheless he relayed a cautionary tale from Nathan Spooner earlier in the day.

"He reminded me that Queensland had a home semi-final in the Super 12 and would have had a home final. They had beaten Canterbury by 25 points earlier in the season but lost the semi-final to Canterbury at home. So it's no guarantee. It's what we do on the pitch that counts, not where the pitch is located."

By contrast, as usual, Munster are obliged to take a more circuitous route, and will not have another competitive game at home this season. To reach a third final in four years not alone must they beat Leicester away on Sunday, April 13th, they will then have to overcome either Toulouse or Northampton in France or England. Conceivably therefore, if they were to face Toulouse, it would be their fourth successive semi-final in France.

"We were talking about things this morning," said Gaffney yesterday, "and we agreed that we mustn't have any distractions before the Celtic League final on Saturday when somebody walks in and tells us the semi-final draw for the European Cup. Now that's a distraction."

Distraction or not, Gaffney stressed that he was "very, very sorry for the fans when you consider the amount of money they have already had to delve into it. They already have to fork out for trips to Cardiff and Leicester, and then, if we progress, potentially Toulouse or Northampton. It's very hard for them and I feel for them."

Were they to overcome Leicester and face Northampton in the last four, Munster could theoretically have an opportunity to avenge all three final defeats they've suffered in the last three seasons, bearing in mind the Celtic League final defeat to Leinster last season.

Talk of an all-Irish final is, of course, still in the realms of fantasy, but at least they've been kept in opposite halves of the draw. Here again Munster look to have been handed the tougher half. Granted Biarritz are the French champions, Llanelli will bring as much passion and zeal to the last four as anyone after two heartbreaking semi-final defeats in the last three seasons, and Perpignan are no mugs.