European Cup Quarter-final draw: Full of twists and turns right up to the end, in injury time of the last day of pool ties in the Heineken Cup, Lawrence Dallaglio rumbled over from a scrum in trademark fashion to seal Wasps' impressive 34-6 victory in Perpignan. With that, the ripple effects could be felt in Thomond Park.
Instead of the anticipated Munster-Gloucester rematch in Limerick, Wasps edged above Munster in the last-eight pecking order, on 24 points and 22 tries but with a slightly better points' difference. And so, as the second-ranked side, Warren Gatland's team will entertain Gloucester, the best of the runners-up, in a rematch of last season's Zurich Premiership final, while Munster, ranked third, will host Stade Francais, ranked sixth, most probably on Saturday, April 10th.
In the other two quarter-finals, Toulouse will host Edinburgh in a repeat of their pool match on Saturday, which the French side won 33-0, while Llanelli - stirring winners in Northampton yesterday - will entertain Leinster's conquerors. Biarritz, at Stradey Park.
Ultimately, pedigree told. Toulouse, double winners, have been in the knockout stages all but twice. Munster are in the last eight for the sixth year running, Llanelli for the seventh time in eight years, Biarritz for the third time in four years, and Stade Francais for the fifth season in a row.
Wasps and Gloucester, relative under-achievers in Europe, have only made the last eight twice and once respectively. Edinburgh are the only newcomers at this exalted level of European rugby.
The organisers won't be too disappointed with how the knockout stages have panned out. For the first time, five nations are represented: three from France, two from England, and one each from Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Furthermore, the quarter-finals will be hosted in four countries, which given the line-up, does hold out the distinct possibility that four countries will be represented in the semi-finals.
Munster's coach Alan Gaffney readily conceded he was one of many who hadn't factored in Wasps not only winning but picking up a bonus point in Perpignan - where the outstanding ex-Connacht and Ireland A flanker Johnny O'Connor straightened through for the first try - though he wasn't too disappointed with the twist.
"No disrespect to Stade Francais at all, but I don't mind the draw and from a marketing point of view and in giving the supporters something different, it's probably better that we're not playing Gloucester again after meeting them twice in the pool stages," said Gaffney.
"I'm sure Gloucester didn't want to come back to Thomond Park, but I'd love to meet Gloucester again - in the final.
"I feel a bit sorry for Gloucester. They have the equal-second-highest points total and don't deserve to be ranked seventh."
It will be a repeat of the 1999-2000 quarter-final at Thomond Park, which Munster won 27-10 en route to the final, which, like this season, was played at Twickenham, though Munster lost to Stade in the semi-finals the following season in Lille before gaining revenge in the quarter-finals two seasons ago in Paris by 16-14.
In one other key aspect Munster will hope history doesn't repeat itself, namely in tomorrow's advance draw for the semi-finals. For the last four years Munster have been sent to France for the semi-finals. "Whatever else happens, I just hope neutral means neutral, and that if we are drawn against Toulouse it is not played in Toulouse, but in Beziers, Lille or Paris, or somewhere else," said Gaffney.
Needless to say, there is little chance of Munster moving their quarter-final from Thomond's 12,000 capacity to Lansdowne Road's 48,000 capacity even if it did come with the carrot of an additional €500,000 in receipts.
"There's not a chance on God's earth I would agree to it. I haven't even spoken to our CEO Garret Fitzgerald about it but I wouldn't see any sense to it, and I doubt anyone else would either. We could make a lot more money in the semi-finals and why would you want to give away that advantage?"
Unfortunately for Gaffney and Munster, their season effectively goes into a hiatus now and the prospect of a dozen or so of their players likely to be involved in Ireland's Six Nations campaign is a double-edged sword, given the final game, against Italy, is just a fortnight before the Euro quarter-final.
The good news is that they will be boosted by the return of the All Blacks' record try-scorer Christian Cullen and Gaffney can also name an additional two players (Cullen is already included) for the knockout stages. It could be that Munster ask Leinster for Felipe Contepomi, though Gaffney confirmed that Alan Quinlan will almost certainly be one and Mike Prendergast, recovering from his knee operation, may be the other.
Toulouse v Edinburgh
Wasps v Gloucester
Munster v St Francais
Llanelli v Biarritz
(Ties to be played April 9th-11th)
Challenge CupSemi-finals
Harlequins v Connacht
Montferrand v Bath
(First legs April 9th-11th, draw for home advantage tomorrow)
