Wasps look to arch-rivals Quins for a rare favour

By knocking Leinster out of the Heineken Cup, the pastel brigade would boost their old enemy's European seeding.

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The relationship between London's most celebrated clubs, Wasps from the north-west of the capital and Harlequins from the south-west, is not so friendly that one might ask a favour of the other with any realistic hope of it being granted. Hands across the Thames? Yeah, right. Just because the pair of them were founded within a few months of each other almost a century and a half ago, it does not mean they have grown close. Quite the opposite. What is it they say about familiarity breeding contempt?

Yet this weekend – European quarter-final weekend, which many of the true rugby cognoscenti consider to be the most compelling of the campaign – Wasps badly need Harlequins to discover the best of themselves. Should Dean Richards' side knock Leinster (Brian O'Driscoll, Felipe Contepomi, Rob Kearney, that lot) out of the Heineken Cup at the Stoop on Sunday, the result will go a long way towards protecting Wasps' position in the top six of the rankings, which effectively govern the seedings for the elite competition. If the Dubliners win, they will automatically swap places with the two-times champions.

Does this matter? Put it this way: if Wasps, who failed to make it through the pool stage this time, are still in the top-ranked half-dozen come the draw for next season's competition, they will avoid being paired with the likes of Munster, Leicester and Toulouse. Should they find themselves in the second batch of six, their chances of a not-so-fun day out at Thomond Park or Le Stadium will be greatly enhanced. While it is undoubtedly true that teams with title ambitions must meet and beat the best at some point during a Heineken campaign, it is equally reasonable to suggest they would prefer to do it later rather than sooner.

As ever with this wildly successful tournament – "It is now seen by rugby-loving people all over the world and holds down a very important place in the calendar," said Steve Meehan, the Bath coach, yesterday – there are plenty of potential complications. Even if Harlequins win and land themselves a semi-final place for the first time in seven attempts, Wasps might still be at risk from Cardiff Blues. There again, Wasps might not qualify for next year's tournament at all, thanks to their well-documented torments in the Guinness Premiership.

Ironically, a Blues victory over Toulouse at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday – a match expected to attract in the region of 30,000 – would help the Londoners' cause, while simultaneously damaging it. By beating the one remaining French side, the Welshmen would guarantee England a seventh place next term. There again, they would be in the last four, fancying their chances of winning the whole thing. That would knacker Wasps completely.

Throw in the uncertainties surrounding the second-string Challenge Cup, which might easily produce a winner from the bottom third of the Premiership and deny a much higher-placed club qualification into the bargain, and you have European rugby at its mind-boggling best. This much is crystal clear, though: Wasps, one of the most vocal supporters of a seeding system unashamedly designed to protect the powerful from the powerful, are in danger of being among its first victims. There is a lesson here somewhere.

Bath, who travel to Leicester for a repeat of the 2006 quarter-final, expect to have the scrum-half Michael Claassens and the loose-head prop David Flatman fit for selection. Meehan has avoided all mention of that previous match at the Walkers Stadium – Leicester moved the game from Welford Road to maximise business at the turnstiles and were rewarded with a 32,500 crowd and a three-point defeat – but he is far from oblivious to the fact that by holding the match at the same venue, the Midlanders are putting themselves at risk.

"We'd rather play at the Walkers than at Welford Road, which is such a powerful place for Leicester rugby, a place with such a history and intensity attached to it," the coach acknowledged. "I think it also helps our mindset that this is a one-off match, an occasion that makes it easier for the players to get excited after the disappointment of losing a league game to Harlequins last weekend. Bath and Leicester have a reputation for staging games of great theatre. My players will get themselves up for this, because it's a part of that tradition."

Thursday night rugby is not part of anyone's tradition, but London Irish, perhaps the form side in the Challenge Cup and favourites to secure a place in the major competition next season by winning the trophy, take on the Frenchmen of Bourgoin at the Madejski Stadium this evening.

Nick Kennedy, the line-out specialist who won his first England caps before Christmas, will lead the Exiles in the injury-enforced absence of his fellow international lock Bob Casey, and will have the likes of Delon Armitage, Seilala Mapusua and Peter Hewat at his disposal. Bourgoin are not considered to be up to much away from their home in the Lyonnais and some of their performances in Europe down the years have bordered on the embarrassing. But they put 40-odd points on Dax last weekend to guarantee themselves top-flight domestic rugby next season, and with the outstanding scrum-half prospect Morgan Parra keen to land a title before leaving for the wealthier surroundings of Clermont Auvergne, they should at least be competitive.

Greats of the last-eight: Three divine Heineken Cup quarter-finals

*Cardiff 22 Bath 19 (Arms Park, 1996) Bath, the most successful British side of the amateur era, assumed they would be the most successful in the professional one, too. But they were given a rude awakening in a raucous, cross-border tie, despite the presence of a certain Jason Robinson in their back division.

*Leicester 7 Munster 20 (Welford Road, 2003) Martin Johnson and his teak-hard Midlanders had beaten the Irish province in the 2002 final, thanks to an infamous piece of chicanery at a late scrum by the England flanker Neil Back. Here, Munster served up their revenge cold to the point of freezing.

*Toulouse 35 Leinster 41 (Le Stadium, 2006) Leinster took on the aristocrats of French rugby at their own game, in their own mansion, and, inspired by Brian O'Driscoll, ran them clean out of town. Toulouse might have won had they played through their forwards, but considered it beneath them. The crowd gave the visitors a standing ovation.