Munster draw no comfort as die is cast

Sod's law decreed that Munster would invariably be drawn against Castres in Paris. Actually, it was the hand of Gareth Edwards who decreed it, the Welsh legend drawing the French club ahead of Munster in the second semi-final pairing of the Heineken Cup in Cardiff last night and so consigning Declan Kidney's men and the travelling Red Army to a third successive semi-final on French soil. Damn and blast him.

"Not only that, but it will be the third time in-a-row that we have to travel to France in the competition this year," commented the Munster manager Jerry Holland a tad wearily.

Indeed, it will also be Munster's fourth trip to France to play Castres, who they lead 3-2 in head-to-head combat, and their 12th trip to France.

Already Holland was playing hard ball with the ERC and French delegates in the Millennium Stadium last night with regard to the choice of French venue for the semi-final, which will be played on the weekend of April 27/28th.

The competition organisers arguably owe Munster one after the flawed choice of Lille's football stadium for last season's semi-final away to Stade Francais.

Mindful of that, and with Lyons being mentioned as a possible venue on the basis that it is France's third largest city, if not possessing a bona fide rugby stadium, Holland pointedly remarked: "As far as I'm concerned the ERC have a responsibility to cater for our travelling fans and therefore to pick a stadium which is a rugby stadium and which is easily accessible."

The option of say Parc des Prince in Paris, akin to Dublin had Munster been at home, "would be ideal for us," said Holland. The ERC mightn't agree, while Lyons is at least six hours drive from Castres and Paris even further. Toulouse's damaged Stadium Municipal would have been Castres' ideal option, while the nearby Montpellier, Bordeaux and Nimes are ruled out as each is hosting first division football games that weekend.

A preferred option for the Castres supporters, according to their out-half Gregor Townsend, would be Beziers, a mere one-and-a-half hours' drive away, where the Stade de la Mediterranee hosts both first division rugby and football, and whose capacity of 17,600 might possibly be raised to the ERC's minimum requirement of 20,000.

In any event, if Munster are to finally reach their holy grail, once again they are going to have to do it the hard way, given that Leicester, the reigning European and English champions, have been drawn at home to Llanelli in the other semi-final.

"We're particularly disappointed for our supporters," admitted Holland, "they've travelled all over Britain and France supporting us and they've been a huge influence on the team. Unfortunately now they're going to have to put their hands in their pockets again.

"But our players are well travelled professionals and playing away in France doesn't faze them anymore."

Alas, the Castres-Munster pairing also gives a new slant on the notion of bad blood existing between the two sides given that Munster cited Ismaela Lassissi for biting Peter Clohessy in their pool game in Castres on January 12th, only for the French club to have the back-rower's one-year suspension overturned on appeal when he was represented by a pathologist and legal advisors.

"There is an onus and responsibility on the two managements now to ensure that the emphasis is on the game," said Holland, "and that what has happened in the past is consigned to history."

These sentiments were echoed by Townsend, who reckoned that players from both sides will feel they'll have to be "whiter than white on the pitch".

Admitting that he had nudged Mick Galwey just before the draw was made and whispered "it's going to be us," Townsend added: "I honestly thought they'd be beaten by Stade Francais, who are probably the number one side in France, and you only have to look at Ireland's performance to realise how good they are."

While Castres were missing Raphael Ibanez last month, Munster were without Peter Stringer, and also had the recuperating John Hayes, Paul O'Connell, David Wallace and Rob Henderson on the bench.

The lengthy lay-off before last year's rusty semi-final defeat to Stade will be counter-balanced this year by an uninterrupted Six Nations, while Munster will also have a preparatory interprovincial against either Leinster or Ulster the week before.

London Irish, only two games away from qualifying for next season's European Cup via the Parken Pen Shield, have been drawn at home to Pontypridd, with Loftus Road and Vicarage Road being mentioned as possible venues.

The Sale-Gloucester semi-final will be held in Northampton.

Ties to be played on the weekend of April 27th-28th at a neutral venue in the country of the first drawn side.