Ulster were, of course, the first Irish team – and therefore the first Celtic side – to win the Heineken Cup when they beat Colomiers 21-6 at Lansdowne Road in January 1999.  Many cynics pointed out that Ulster’s success was due in no small part to the absence of the English clubs who – with the Welsh ‘rebel’ sides, Cardiff and Swansea – had boycotted the competition.  But that simplistic view conveniently ignores that fact that Ulster beat Toulouse twice (once in the pool stages and then in the quarter-finals) before disposing of Stade Français – the reigning French champions - in the semi-final after the Parisians had thrashed Pontypridd 71-14 in the last eight.

The Irish side qualified for the quarter-finals as group winners, winning their last four matches after opening with a 38-38 draw at home to Edinburgh and a 39-3 drubbing in Toulouse.  But back-to-back wins over Ebbw Vale (61-28 away and 43-18 at home) either side of a 29-24 victory in the return with the French side saw them enter the final round of fixtures knowing that they had to avoid defeat in Edinburgh to qualify for the last eight.  They sneaked though, 23-21, while Toulouse, incredibly, were beaten 19-11 at Eugene Cross Park, and the two sides were drawn together again at Ravenhill in the quarter finals.  The home side won narrowly, 15-13, and shocked favourites Stade Français 33-27 in the last four.  The final was no thriller, but few in the then record crowd of 49,000 seemed to care, as full-back Simon Mason kicked six penalties from six attempts, and skipper David Humphreys added a drop-goal to subdue Colomiers into submission.  Meanwhile, as Humphreys’ side were writing their names in the history books, Welsh were struggling to overturn a three point half-time deficit to beat Newbury 14-10 in a friendly at Monks Lane, Craig Raymond converting a Graeme Peacock score – his 28^th and last for the club - and a penalty try.

The Irish sides have taken the British & Irish Cup pretty seriously, possibly because of the lack of ‘A’ team fixtures available to them.  Against Exeter two weeks ago, for example, Leinster’s starting line-up featured Girvan Dempsey (82 caps) and Malcolm O’Kelly (92 caps) as well as Australia ‘A’ cap Shaun Berne (50 league starts for Bath) and prop Mike Ross, who made over 60 Premiership appearances for Harlequins.  Conversely, the Chiefs’ XV that afternoon have averaged only five Championship starts apiece – no question where their priorities lie this season.

Between them Ulster, Munster and Leinster have an aggregate return of eight wins and a draw from the three rounds played so far, with Ulster’s 21-21 draw at Parc y Scarlets two weeks ago being the only stain on the record.  Llanelli led 14-6 at half-time, and the first 32 minutes of the second half were scoreless before replacement scrum-half Paul Marshall crossed for the visitors’ first try.  He was followed across the whitewash two minutes later by Fijian winger Timoci Nagusa, with Ian Humphreys – David’s younger brother – adding the conversion.  He also landed a penalty with barely 60 seconds left on the clock, increasing the Ulster lead to seven, before blindside Aaron Shingler scored the third try of a breathless eight minute spell, and fly-half Dan Newton secured the draw.

While Danny Wilson’s comments prior to the Bedford match suggested that Welsh are not overly concerned with qualifying for the last four, Ulster’s squad for Friday suggests that they fully intend the make-up for their failings in Llanelli.  Loosehead Justin Fitzpatrick played in that Heineken Cup final 11 years ago, while fellow prop BJ Botha has 18 caps for South Africa and is rumoured to be negotiating an early release from his contract with a view to making the Springbok squad for next year’s World Cup.  In addition, hooker Andy Kyriacou has had spells in the Guinness Premiership with Leeds and Saracens, and in the autumn he added Ireland ‘A’ honours to his England U21 Grand Slam of 2004.  In the backs, New Zealand-born scrum-half Isaac Boss has six caps for his adopted country; Ian Humphreys scored 172 points in 27 appearances for Leicester before returning home to replace his retiring brother; while centres Ian Whitten and Darren Cave formed a midfield partnership for Ireland in the Test match against Canada last summer.

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