Far from being devalued by the recent exodus of players across channel, Irish sides have competed pretty well in the European competitions thus far this season. But in the hard currency of qualification for the knock-out stages, the bottom line is that the Irish have to improve on their rate of two wins out of nine in the European Cup, starting this weekend.

All four provinces are in action on Saturday, each entertaining distinctly varying degrees of optimism. Though Munster and Leinster each have one win, Munster are arguably best placed due to the way results, and the remaining fixtures, have panned out. Thanks to Cardiff's defeat at home to Harlequins, Munster are in a three-way tie for second place.

Victory against Cardiff at Musgrave Park on Saturday would leave them well placed. Were Harlequins to win at Bourgoin on Saturday evening, and again at home to Cardiff the following Saturday, Munster could even reach the play-offs by just maintaining their 100 per cent home record. Munster will finalise their side tomorrow. Anthony Horgan is again liable to be ruled out by his hamstring strain and the management might now be keen to establish a more settled side.

Maintaining a settled side is something Leinster have also been eager to do, but a surfeit of problems, particularly, with the prop positions, have undermined them. Having been obliged to use six props in six competitive games, Mike Ruddock has selected Angus McKeen for the visit to Leicester in the hope that he can recover from the rib injury that has sidelined him for the last two games.

Otherwise, Leinster are unchanged, keeping faith with the same back line for the fifth game running and the same back five in the pack for the third successive match. Leinster conceded as many tries against Milan as they had in their previous five competitive outings, and so are inclined to take last Saturday as an aberration.

"By their own admission, the forwards just totally misfired. We were tempted to make changes, but very good players don't become bad players overnight. They deserve the benefit of the doubt," said manager Jim Glennon.

Of some continuing encouragement is the prolific form of Alan McGowan in this competition, with his unequalled haul of 128 points. "For an Irish player, in any sport, it is some achievement and on a side which only has a 50-50 success rate," said Glennon.

Ulster coach Davey Haslett would merely settle for getting "a full team out on the pitch and keeping a full team out on the pitch" after a disruptive defeat at Wasps which saw only one back finish the game in the position he started. Stanley McDowell (ankle), Maurice Field (ankle), James Topping (thumb) and Stuart Laing (facial injury) are his biggest concerns prior to tomorrow's team selection for the visit of Swansea, themselves stung by a surprising defeat by Glasgow.

Connacht are in pretty good fettle for the Conference visit of Nice which brings with it the chance to top their group. Having used only 19 players in six competitive outings, Warren Gatland has no injury concerns and is liable to field an unchanged side.

Irish referee Gordon Black faces a demanding assignment on Saturday. He will be in charge of the crunch Pontypridd-Brive return match in Wales. Reports have been dismissed that some of the French players would be travelling with their own bodyguards.

Scotland yesterday installed Lions coach Ian McGeechan as their new technical and coaching consultant after he ruled himself out of the same position with England. McGeechan has already enjoyed success with the Scots as first assistant coach, then coach, leading them to a Grand Slam triumph over England at Murrayfield in 1990.