Lagisquet's bouquets have curious scent

Rugby: Biarritz Olympique coach Patrice Lagisquet has chosen a strong team for Saturday's Heineken European Cup quarter-final against Leinster at Lansdowne Road.

His main selection headache was in the front row where prop Damian Minassian had a stomach bug and will not make the trip to Dublin.

Fellow front row Emmanuel Menieu picked up a thigh strain in Biarritz's 39-30 win over Pau in the French championship last weekend.

England A international Maurice Fitzgerald comes in at loosehead prop to a team that includes eight French Test players and a former Australian Sevens star in centre John Isaac.

Lagisquet was effusive in his praise of Leinster. "I am really finding it difficult to find any gaps whatsoever in Leinster's game. They are the one team in Europe who are most like a Super 12 team - their defence is enormous, their game is organised around speed, there is a lot of individual initiative and it is really difficult to destabilise them.

"It will be wonderful to play a club game in front of 45,000 spectators at Lansdowne Road. Maybe as French players, we need that sense of occasion to get us going. You could say it's just like France against New Zealand in 1999 because to all intents and purposes, we don't have a chance. One thing I can say in our favour is that we love big occasions - that spurs us on."

Lagisquet's verbal bouquets won't inspire complacency in the Leinster camp as a cursory look at the composition of the visitors underlines the quality of the reigning French champions.

The backline includes the talents of young Niclas Brusque, a consummate finisher in right wing and former French international Philippe Bernat-Salles, Sevens specialist Isaac and a halfback partnership of Julien Peyrelongue and Dimitri Yachvili about whom French coach Bernard Laporte harbours great hopes in a national context.

Yachvili in particular will be motivated by France's 15-12 defeat to Ireland in the recent Six Nations Championship match. "After watching Ireland's defeat to England, who were so impressive, we French players are even more frustrated to have lost by such a small margin in Dublin.

"However, on a personal level, I see our Heineken Cup quarter-final against Leinster as a chance to put that score right. Ireland's loss at home shows they are not invincible there which makes us even more motivated to go there and win.

"It makes us more comfortable about going to Lansdowne Road knowing that an Irish team can lose there but it will also help Leinster because I am sure those players won't want to lose there twice. After all, Lansdowne Road is still an exceptional place where not many teams come away with a win." 'Gnarled veterans' may be a tad unfair in describing the Biarritz pack but is a compliment rather than a suggestion they're ready for the bus pass. Captain and hooker Jean Michel Gonzalez, second row Olivier Roumat and number eight Thomas Lievremont enjoyed good careers at international level and that experience is supplemented by the presence of the exceptional Serge Betsen.

The Irish players in the Leinster squad will need little reminding of his wrecking ball defence and front foot tackling. Biarritz fly into Dublin today with the majority of the pre-match preparation completed, but will visit Lansdowne Road for a light work-out on the Friday.

BIARRITZ OLYMPIQUE: N Brusque; P Bernat-Salles, M Stcherbina, J Isaac, P Bidabe; J Peyrelongue, D Yachvili; M Fitzgerald, JM Gonzalez (capt), D Avril; D Couzinet, O Roumat; S Betsen, C Milheres, T Lievremont. Replacements: J Campo, B Gallais, O Nauroy, O Tonita, L Mazas, G Bousses, M Etcheverria.