The Bath coach Steve Meehan is relishing the prospect of an all-English Heineken Cup quarter- final showdown against Leicester. The Guinness Premiership giants were paired in the last eight after the weekend's action. Bath's 3-3 draw against Toulouse in monsoon conditions at the Recreation Ground - the lowest-scoring game since Heineken Cup rugby began in 1995 - meant they won Pool Five.
The Tigers lost 15-9 at Ospreys but still ended up on top of Pool Three. Meehan believes the tie, which will be played over the weekend of April 10-12, will be a cracker. He said: "Leicester will bring out the best in Bath, and vice versa. To reach the last eight in Europe represents a pretty good effort. "Our target at the beginning of the season was to finish top of our group, and one of the sides in our group was Toulouse. We will have a few players back from injury for the Leicester game, and the squad will be better prepared. I am sure it will be a very competitive game."
The sides have already met in the Guinness Premiership and EDF Energy Cup this season, with Leicester claiming a dramatic injury-time victory when they last faced each other three weeks ago. Harlequins' first quarter-final appearance since 1998 will see them host Pool Two winners Leinster, while Heineken Cup holders Munster host the Ospreys and Toulouse visit the top seeded Cardiff Blues. Toulouse, runners-up in Bath's group, are the solitary French survivors, progressing as eighth seeds in a competition that saw fellow French clubs like Stade Francais, Biarritz and Clermont Auvergne fall aside. It is the lowest quarter-final representation from France in Heineken Cup history.
The Toulouse No 8 Shaun Sowerby said: "It is very difficult to explain why we are the only French team through. It is disappointing, because you are talking about some big clubs with big budgets. "We will go to Cardiff now and hope to pull something off there. They have improved a lot since we played them last season, and are one of the form sides." English clubs, meanwhile, will be at home in all four quarter-finals of the second-tier European Challenge Cup.
London Irish, the top seeds, entertain Bourgoin, Northampton host Connacht, Saracens face an all-Premiership clash at home to Newcastle, while Worcester meet Brive at Sixways. * PA Sport
