Ian McGeechan has revealed he will watch the Heineken European Cup as closely as the Six Nations when it comes to picking his squad for the Lions tour of South Africa. The Wasps director of rugby believes Europe's premier club competition is now virtually on a par with the Test arena in terms of skill level and intensity.

Speaking at today's official launch of the tournament at Murrayfield — the venue for this season's final — Lions head coach McGeechan explained he would be would be monitoring the performances of British and Irish players during the opening round of pool matches.

"For players, it's a new challenge and I'll be watching with interest," he said when asked if he would be wearing his Lions hat this weekend.

McGeechan's other hat as far as the Heineken Cup is concerned is helping two-time winners Wasps navigate Pool Two, which includes Magners League champions Leinster and French club Castres.

The Scot refused to make predictions about how far his side or any other would go in the competition and believes the pools are so close, qualification could come down to one crucial match in each case.

He said: "I think it's a very tough tournament to call and I think there are always games at pool stages where every coach and every player will say, 'This is one we have to perform in'.

"Everybody will ask that question in the pool stages, never mind the knockout stages."

For Edinburgh head coach Andy Robinson, that game is Saturday's opener against Leinster.

"I think it all centres around that first game when we play Leinster at home," he said. "If we want to get a foothold in the tournament, we've got to win that. We lost it last year to Toulouse, 19-15, so it's a key game for us."