ON RUGBY: The quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup this weekend will be the last round before the start of the Six Nations Championship next weekend.

Then we must wait until the weekend of April 27th and 28th before the European Cup resumes with the two semi-finals. It is a very lengthy gap between quarter- and semi-finals, but such is the structure of the season and we must live with it.

As of now we do not know the venues for the semi-finals, but European Rugby Cup (ERC) will be more prudent this time than last season when they choose Lille as the venue for the semi-final between Munster and Stade Francais. Like us all, they live and learn and are well aware that it turned out to be totally unsuitable in just about every respect. One other change that is most welcome, is that unlike last season, it is hoped to have the video referee in place for the semi-finals.

The draw for the semi-finals will be made on February 5th.

Provisional venues have already been pencilled in by ERC for those, depending obviously on the line-up which will be decreed over the next two days.

It is an open draw and the teams drawn first out of the hat for both matches will be playing in their own countries in the semi-finals. So should Munster and Leinster both qualify for the semi-finals, which we all hope they will, and come first out of the hat for the two ties, then they will play at Lansdowne Road.

Likewise if they are drawn to meet each other, then the venue will be Lansdowne Road - and what a prospect that would be.

Irrespective of who is in the final, it has been fixed for the National Stadium Cardiff on May 25th.

Should Munster qualify for the semi-final, the side deserves a little more luck in the draw than they had over the last two years. Last season they were drawn away to Stade Francais in Lille and lost by a point. The previous year they were drawn away to Toulouse in Bordeaux in the semi-final - and scored a famous 31-15 victory.

Leinster played in the semi-final in the inaugural season when only 12 teams contested the cup and there were four pools of three teams each with each team playing just two matches before the semi-finals. Leinster lost that semi-final to Cardiff at Lansdowne Road 14-23. There are only four survivors on the current Leinster panel from the team that played in that match. All are forwards.

They are Shane Byrne, Paul Wallace, then with Blackrock College, Victor Costello (St Mary's College) and Eric Miller, who was a replacement. He had just gone from Old Wesley to Leicester. The English club, in common with all the other sides from that country, did not participate in the inaugural competition.

That Leinster team was captained by Chris Pim. They had beaten Milan, who had Diego Dominguez at outhalf, 24-21 in Milan and Dominguez, uncharacteristically, missed several kicks at goal that afternoon. Leinster then beat Pontypridd 23-22 at Lansdowne Road, to qualify for the semi-final.

The Leinster team that contested that semi-final makes interesting reading. The backs were Ciarán Clarke, Paddy Gavin, Vincent Cunnigham, Kurt McQuilkin, and Conor O'Shea, who by then had gone to London Irish. The Blackrock College pair of Alan McGowan and Alain Rolland formed the half-back combination. The pack was Henry Hurley, Shane Byrne, Paul Wallace, Steve Jameson, Neil Francis, Chris Pim, the captain, Victor Costello and Stephen Rooney.

Ray Hennessy came on as a replacement for Clarke after 65 minutes. Alain Rolland is now, of course, an international referee.

Cardiff, that evening, had 14 internationals. The subsequently lost in the final to Toulouse after extra-time.

ON Sunday, when they face Leicester, it will be Leinster's first appearance at the knock-out stage since that December evening in 1995. Leinster lost to Leicester at Lansdowne Road the following season, 27-10, and that Leicester team included Eric Miller, who has played for three different teams in the competition, Leinster, Leicester and Ulster.

That season the cup was four groups of five. In the 1997-98 season it was five groups of four and for the first time teams met home and away in the group stages and we had quarter-finals. Leinster beat Leicester 16-9 at Donnybrook and Leicester won the return 47-22.

Then, for the third time, Leinster and Leicester were again drawn in the same pool in the 1999-2000 series, when the tournament was divided into six groups of four. Leinster won 27- 20 in Donnybrook and then won the return 32-10 - the last time Leicester lost at home in the cup. Unfortunately, it was not enough to give Leinster a quarter-final pace.

For Munster this will be the fourth successive season they have reached the knock-out stages. They lost 23-9 away to Colomiers in the quarter-final in 1998-99, lost the final to Northampton the following season, having beaten Stade Francais 27-10 at Thomond Park in the quarter-final. Then last season came the defeat to Stade in Lille in the semi-final.

Winning away from home in the knock-out stages is a very difficult assignment, as the records show. But just as Leinster have beaten Leicester away in the cup - granted at the pool stage - Munster know what is required to win in France. They beat Colomiers 31-15 in France in the group stages two years ago, and went on to beat Toulouse in Bordeaux in the semi-final and beat Castres away last season in the group stages 32-29.

So Munster achieved three away wins in France.

The only former winners of the cup left in this season are Leicester and Bath, while of the rest Munster is the only one to have got to the final. Central to the matches this weekend is also, of course, the fact that the opening series in the Six Nations will be next weekend. This will be a further incentive for players in addition to the chance of a place in the semi-finals.

But we must express a fervent hope that players will avoid injury.