O'Gara riddle holds key to the Tigers' lair

Heineken Cup: Pressure on an Irish enigma as irresistible forces collide in a game teeming with twists

We come to any other business on the agenda, and this may take some time. Martin Johnson has the Grand Slam safely tucked away and today is engaged in another major production when Leicester meet Munster in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup. In some respects it is a sequel to the Ireland-England showdown in Dublin.

Under Johnson's captaincy Leicester already have a size-12 footnote in history as the first club to win the European Cup twice, following the 34-30 victory over Stade Français in Paris in 2001 with a successful defence in Cardiff last year, when they beat Munster 15-9 before a crowd of 74,000.

At Welford Road today the Munstermen, whose support has been a factor in the success of the Irish province, have been restricted to 4,000 tickets, a quarter of the allocation, so the choir for "The Fields of Athenry" will be hard-pushed to compete with the more prosaic but deafening chant of "Tigers, Tigers''. But putting up an extra stand has increased the capacity to 17,500. The asking price for a pair of tickets on the internet was £800. What nobody can put a value on is home advantage, except to agree that it is priceless. Ask Leicester, ask Munster.

If this game was in Limerick you would not bet against Munster. It was at Thomond Park in January that Munster came up with a minor miracle to knock Gloucester out of the Heineken. Having been humbled by the Cherry and Whites at Kingsholm, Munster's target was four tries and a win by 27 points, and they did it against the best side in the Premiership.

Ronan O'Gara, whose conversion of a last-minute try was crucial, said he did not realise the importance of the kick. "Ronan has been criticised in the past for losing his cool under pressure,'' Alan Gaffney, Munster's Australian coach, said, "and maybe that was his way of dealing with it.'' When Munster lost 9-8 in the final to Northampton at Twickenham in 2000, O'Gara missed vital kicks at goal; he missed two penalties in last year's final and was beaten by his opposite number, Austin Healey, who scored a typical try from close range. The two, who became friends during the Lions tour to Australia, renew old acquaintance today in a subplot that holds one of the keys to the outcome.

Both have a chance of salvaging something from a frustrating season. O'Gara, injured in the Celtic League final on 1 February, was sidelined by David Humphreys in the Six Nations, although his drop goal against Wales proved what he can do under the severest pressure. Healey only returned last week after a long absence through an Achilles injury, and while O'Gara is reunited with Peter Stringer, the Leicester Lip forms a new partnership with Tom Tierney.

Tierney, who joined the Tigers from Munster last July, was the Ireland scrum-half until they conceded 50 points to England at Twickenham in 2000. His rehabilitation has taken a long time, but he has finally made himself first choice at Leicester, who have another important Irishman on duty. Geordan Murphy, who scored a try in the final last May, appears on the wing to accommodate Tim Stimpson at full-back.

Leicester are missing Graham Rowntree and Lewis Moody, which will not harm the optimism of Jim Williams, the Munster captain. Williams plays at No 6, where Leicester are short of a specialist. On the other hand, they have two openside flankers in Neil Back and Josh Kronfeld, whereas Munster are short of an out-and-out No 7. Alan Quinlan has been converted to do the job usually so ably performed by David Wallace.

As if the contest at half-back and back-row is not absorbing enough, there is another intriguing bout in the second row, where Johnson and Ben Kay line up against Donncha O'Callaghan and Paul O'Con-nell. O'Callaghan, the up-and-coming rookie, is expected to jump against Johnson.

It seems the older the England captain gets, the more he plays. This will be his 29th match of the season, and as the limit in England, proposed by all the relevant bodies, is 32, Leicester will have to box clever.

Last Sunday Lawrence Dallaglio was replaced by Wasps against Bath before half-time, and because he did not complete a half it did not register as a tick under the column of appearances. Leicester have four Premiership matches remaining and can still figure in the shake-up, which involves a semi-final and final next month. If Leicester win today that's another match or two in the Heineken, and then there's England's matches against New Zealand and Australia in June. Something will have to give, and that is not in Johnson's nature.

Munster's problem, if it can be described as such, is of an entirely different nature. Apart from a practice game against Connacht, they have not played together for 10 weeks. Does this make them as fresh as daisies or as rusty as an old banger? The fact that Leicester are engaged in meaningful activity most of the time is to their advantage.

Whether they can complete the Heineken Cup hat-trick in a season during which they have been vulnerable is less clear. Lady Luck was on their bench when they triumphed in Paris, and last season she put in an appearance when they beat Llanelli 13-12, Stimpson's injury-time penalty bouncing over via crossbar and upright. It was still one hell of a kick. Leicester deserved to beat Munster in the final, but the waters were muddied in the dying minutes by the notorious "Back-hander" at a five-metre scrum.

This may be club versus province, but Leicester and Munster are similar outfits – hard-headed, tightly knit, proud as punch, ultra-professional and with sets of supporters money can't buy.

The final is in Dublin, which would be a fitting reward for all the miles clocked up by the men of Munster in vain pursuit of the Cup. But it is because the Tigers will enjoy the creature comforts of Welford Road today that the Irish will not reach Lansdowne Road.