2006-07 European Cup draw: Munster face a huge assignment in trying to retain the Heineken European Cup they won so memorably at Cardiff's Millennium Stadium last month when defeating Biarritz Olympique in the final. Yesterday's draw in London saw them pitted against their old foes Leicester Tigers as well as Cardiff Blues and the French side Bourgoin.
Despite their triumph, Munster were not the top Irish seed. That honour fel to Ulster as, for the first time, the IRFU last season agreed final standings in the Celtic League would dictate the seeding of the Irish provinces.
Leicester's presence in the group recalls a couple of high-profile clashes, notably the 2002 final, which Leicester won, and a quarter-final the following year when Munster exacted some revenge in winning at Welford Road.
Munster enjoyed a couple of wins over Bourgoin in the pool stages of the 2003-2004 campaign, while those with longer memories will recall Cardiff beat Munster home and away in the 1997-1998 season.
The Munster and Ireland hooker Frankie Sheahan, who attended the draw, admitted, "It will be tough. Leicester have been the most consistent team in Europe for the last four or five years and Cardiff finished last season very well, but hopefully we can get through it."
Ulster's top seeding did them few favours. The European champions of 1999 face a colossal task in getting out of Pool Five as they must get the better of Toulouse, London Irish and Llanelli Scarlets.
Toulouse, beaten finalists in the recent French Championship but three times champions of Europe, are designated at the start of every tournament the side to beat.
Coach Brian Smith has done a marvellous job of turning London Irish into a well rounded side; they were only narrowly beaten by Gloucester in last season's European Challenge Cup final.
Llanelli, captained by Simon Easterby, will have a new coaching regime but boast impressive depth of quality at Stradey Park.
Ulster coach Mark McCall said, "It's a very tough, challenging group but the other teams won't fancy playing us. It seems that being top Irish seeds has not made much difference. London Irish will be tough opponents too as they had a fantastic season. Toulouse have a great record in Europe and Llanelli have made some good signings and will be hard to beat."
Leinster have potentially the easiest passage of the three Irish provinces. They find themselves in Pool Two alongside Edinburgh, Agen and Gloucester. Their immediate priority is to persuade the IRFU to review the closing date, at present December 31st, for Lansdowne Road, where they hope to play their home pool games, one of which is next January.
Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson said, "We know the Edinburgh Gunners well from our Celtic League encounters in recent years and I know that if recent games are anything to go by we can look forward to another exciting encounter.
"Agen are a typically strong French side who finished ahead of Bourgoin in the French league table this year and we know from recent experience how hard a place France is to play.
"Leinster return to Kingsholm to face Gloucester in what will be the first time in the Heineken Cup. We faced them in a pre-season friendly there in 2003 and they are a strong West Country outfit with a proud following. We're under no illusion as to how competitive Pool Two will be . . . but we're all looking forward to what is sure to be an exciting campaign."
The exact dates for matches will be decided later in the summer.
EUROPEAN CUP WEEKENDS
Round One: October 20th/21st/22nd
Round Two: October 27th, 28th, 29th
Round Three: December 8th/9th/10th
Round Four: December 15th/16th/17th
Round Five: January 12th/13th/14th 2007
Round Six: January 19th/20th/21st
Quarter-finals: March 30th/31st/April 1st
Semi-finals: April 20th/21st/22nd
Final (Twickenham): May 19th/20th
