Munster may have to go through Leinster to lift the Heineken Cup again © Getty Images

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Teams: Bath Rugby | Cardiff Blues | Harlequins | Leicester Tigers | Leinster | Munster | Ospreys | Toulouse

Heineken Cup holders Munster may have to go through Irish rivals Leinster if they are to lift the Cup for the third time, just as they did in the 2006 semi-final.

The draw for the Heineken Cup semi-finals has thrown up the intriguing possibility of a clash between the sides should Munster beat the Ospreys at home and Leinster defeat Harlequins at the Stoop in the quarter-finals. Munster have also gained the extra advantage of a home tie should they progress to the semi-finals.

The sides met in the semi-finals in 2006, with nearly 50, 00 packing Lansdowne Road as Munster swept aside Leinster 30-6 thanks to tries from Denis Leamy, Trevor Halstead and Ronan O'Gara before defeating Biarritz 23-19 in the final at the Millennium Stadium.

Munster backs coach John Holland was quick to focus attention back onto the up-coming quarter-final with the Ospreys before any consideration was given to their semi-final opponents. "There's the not so little matter of the game against the Ospreys to consider first," he said. "They're a class side with something like 15 of the Welsh squad plus the likes of Nikki Walker, Marty Holah and Filo Tiatia. That's a pretty awesome bunch.

"There's a lot of rugby to be played before then. We have Magners League games against Edinburgh, Dragons, Glasgow and Leinster, so once we have them out of the way we'll switch the focus to the Heineken quarters finals."

Centre Rua Tipoki believes the Irish province have momentum on their side. "We knew we had to hit the ground running. We had some really tough games against Sale and Clermont Auvergne, which have hopefully put the team in good stead now for these quarter-finals, which are going to be really tough."

"All the teams are really good but Ospreys are a team we've got a lot of respect for and we actually like the way they play the game. They use the ball well and use the space well so we're definitely going to have our hands full in the quarter-final, but hopefully the Thomond Park crowd can bring us home."

Leinster coach Michael Chieka echoed Holland's caution, emphasising the importance of his side's trip to Harlequins. "It's a bit too far ahead for us to be worrying about the semi-finals, but we're just delighted to be in the competition," he said. "All of our concentration in this tournament will be on Harlequins and I'm sure that they will fancy their chances against us.

"English teams seem to see Leinster as a side they can beat and we'll be doing our best to make sure that doesn't happen. We know that we have to improve if we want to be there (semi-finals). In saying that, the potential reward for our supporters of having a home draw is a boost. We have shown a lot of character and guts over the last few weeks and we will look to improve."

The surprise package of the quarter-finals are Harlequins, who beat Stade Francais home and away to top Pool Four and reach this stage of the competition for the first time in 11 years.

Harlequins director of rugby Dean Richards said, "There's no expectations from our point of view, as there haven't been all season on the players in terms of the Heineken Cup. "We didn't win a game last year so to come out and win five out of six this year, we're extremely pleased with.

"The same goes for the quarter-finals and - if we get through - into the semis. The expectations aren't there because of the history we've got in the cup. But - at the same time - it probably makes us a little bit more dangerous as well because we're not going to put any pressure on the boys at all."

On the other side of the draw, the winner of the Cardiff Blues v Toulouse quarter-final will have a home draw against the winner of the all-English quarter-final tie between Leicester and Bath at Welford Road.

Cardiff Blues head coach Dai Young insisted this year's Heineken Cup is wide open and believes the fact the three-time European champions are the eighth seeds proves how strong the quarter-final line-up is.

"To get six out of six, obviously we're thrilled with that," he said. "But how much of a reward for being number one seed drawing Toulouse is, I don't know! Anyone of the eight could go all the way, I feel, in this competition. There's no easy game there. There's no-one that you'd prefer. But we're just happy to be in there for the second European quarter-final in a row."

Toulouse captain Jean Bouilhou, whose side scraped through in Pool Five after Saturday's 3-3 draw at Bath, was under no illusions over the task facing his side.

"It's a big challenge, a big, big challenge, playing Cardiff," he said. "They were first in the pools so it will be a very hard game for us. But it's a quarter-final so we will play to our maximum and we'll see after the game."

Heineken Cup semi-final draw:

Cardiff Blues/Toulouse v Leicester/Bath

Munster/Ospreys v Harlequins/Leinster

Semi-finals to be be played on the weekend May 2/3.

Quarter-final draw:

Cardiff Blues v Toulouse, April 11 2009, 3.30pm

Leicester v Bath, April 11 2009, 6pm

Munster v Ospreys, April 12 2009, 1pm

Harlequins v Leinster, April 12 2009, 3.30pm