Leinster face five-day turnaround for final Heineken Cup pool matches

Leinster’s chances of achieving a lucrative home quarter-final have been dented by a five-day turnaround from round five to six of the Heineken Cup in January.

It means a Sunday evening journey home from Castres on January 12th will be followed by the Ospreys visit to the RDS on Friday January 17th.

Pool One rivals the Northampton Saints face a similar predicament away to Ospreys and home to Castres.

The decision by the ERC, to be announced on Wednesday, erects an uncontrollable obstacle for Matt O’Connor’s side as they seek to atone for last season’s failure to escape the pool stages.

Leinster are currently the lowest ranked pool leaders, four clear of the Saints on 13 points. Last season’s lowest ranking home quarter-finalists – Harlequins and Saracens – both finished on 23 points, as did Ulster, but they were still forced to play Saracens at Twickenham. The best four pool winners get a home quarter.

The five-day turnaround has also created concerns about player welfare.

Sky Sports, as broadcast rights holder, ultimately make this decision and there is no right of appeal mechanism to the ERC over fixture scheduling.

Munster, currently five points clear of Gloucester at the top of Pool 6, are believed to have an eight-day turnaround between the away fixture in Kingsholm and Edinburgh’s visit to Thomond Park.