Pau have become the first team to claim a place in the Parker Pen Shield quarter-finals - and they have done it with a match in hand.

The 2000 Shield champions won their crunch Pool 2 showdown against Colomiers 40-12 to put themselves out of sight. Now they can make it a maximum 12 points if they win at Petrarca Rugby on Saturday and clinch a home draw in the last eight.

But while Pau are home and dry, the other seven Pools are heading for nail-biting climaxes - with the top two teams in Pools 6, 7 and 8 going head-to-head in potential winner takes all contests.

And in Pool 5 it could not be tighter. Bristol Shoguns and Neath are level on eight match points apiece while in their home and away meetings they are level on two match points, level on three tries and level with zero points differences from their two meetings. They simply cannot be separated.

However, Bristol have the advantage of having scored 15 tries in all Pool 5 matches compared to Neath's 11 - the next criteria to separate any sides in the same Pool level on match points at the end of the group stage.

Neath travel to Viadana on Saturday knowing that just a win may not be enough - coach Lyn Jones' team need to score a minimum of five tries to put them ahead of Bristol's overall Pool tally - while Dean Ryan's team also have to win, at home to Bourgoin on Sunday.

London Irish, Gloucester and Saracens are favourites in Pools 6, 7 and 8 - but all face ties against their second placed teams who could still throw spanners in the works.

Their respective opponents - Dax, La Rochelle and Bordeaux-Begles - were all beaten in the corresponding Round 1 games, though Dax outscored the Exiles 3-2 in tries back in September.

Gloucester travel to La Rochelle 3-2 ahead in tries and Saracens have a 4-1 try cushion for their trip to Bordeaux as the English trio go for the maximum 12 points.

The weekend freeze has left Pools 3 and 4 with some catching up to do, with rescheduled midweek matches involving Sale Sharks against Narbonne and Overmach Parma against Pontypridd, while Agen know that two points from their trip to Ebbw Vale will give them the Pool 1 honours.

The Welsh club have to go for a win - with style. They need the two match points on top of outscoring Agen by at least three tries on the day.

Pau will be going all out to maintain their 100 per cent Pool record - and with it the prospect of a home quarter-final - but elsewhere it is initially all about making the prestigious PARKER PEN SHIELD last eight.