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Match Pack: Munster power into final four

Matches: Munster 33 - 19 Northampton Saints

Tournaments/Tours: Heineken Cup

Teams: Munster | Northampton Saints

Northampton boss Jim Mallinder believes that English clubs will continue to struggle in the Heineken Cup as long as they remain "handicapped" by the demands of the Guinness Premiership.

The Saints' 33-19 quarter-final defeat by Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday brought an end to English involvement in the Heineken Cup for another year and Mallinder believes that it is becoming increasingly difficult for Guinness Premiership sides to compete with Europe's elite.

"The problems facing English clubs are certainly there and are quite evident. It's tough because the Premiership is tough," he said.

"These days we only have limited squads because of the salary cap and our players are in action every week. If you want to keep your best players, which we do, you've got to pay them the going rate. If you do that then there's only a certain number of players you can have within your squad.

"Next year we'll be reducing the size of our squad from 34 to 31 because we have to. Our players have improved so we must pay them more money, hence we need to reduce our numbers.

"I'm not sure how other clubs see it but for us it's the Premiership that comes first. We get through our league matches and then start planning for the Heineken Cup - you just can't prepare any earlier than the week before. If there was no relegation you'd certainly look at changing our priority and how we use our players.

"Having got the team up for a Premiership game, it's then hard to lift them up again for Heineken Cup rugby. I'd say we're handicapped before we even start the competition."

Indeed, Mallinder believes that the Irish provinces have a clear advantage over English sides when it comes to having players fit and fresh for European encounters.

"Without doubt the priority of the Irish teams is the Heineken Cup," said Mallinder. "They can rest players in the Magners League and really go for it at the right times. Also, France have the financial muscle - they have big squads and double our budgets on the playing side.

"But there are still some good sides in the Premiership and you could look at some of the results in Europe and say it's slightly unlucky that other teams didn't qualify."