Munster No 8 Anthony Foley is calling for the Heineken Cup 2000 finalists to go all the way to the showpiece occasion again - "let's do it for Declan," he said.

Munster will go into their Heineken Cup semi-final showdown with Castres Olympique at Stade de la Méditerranée, Béziers, on Saturday (27 April) on the back of a tough 6-6 draw with Leinster in the Irish Interprovincial Championship last Friday (19 April).

"It is going to be a winner takes all game in Béziers on Saturday," said the Irish star. "Going to the Millennium Stadium on 25 May for the Heineken Cup final is the big prize we all want.

"Munster and Castres know each other pretty well now having played four times in the past 18 months and, from our point of view, we know that if we don't produce our best form, we are going to come off second best.

"None of us wants this to be our last game together in the Heineken Cup. Our coach, Declan Kidney, is leaving at the end of the season and Peter Clohessy is hanging up his boots. We have enjoyed the last three years together and it would be nice to give it a big heave and get to the final for Declan and Peter.

"Each player will have his own motivation to get to the Heineken Cup final, but I know we will all want to do it for those two."

And although Munster had to settle for that draw with Leinster, Foley is adamant "the Leinster game was exactly what we needed. We had been away for four days as a group to try to recharge the team spirit because we hadn't been together as a group for so long.

"With our three-tier structure in Ireland, some of the lads had been playing against each other in club matches, joining forces for Ireland or Ireland A, but we hadn't played as Munster for almost 12 weeks.

"We have to try to get the players back to the stage we were at when we beat Stade Francais in the quarter-final. That's the kind of performance and momentum we will need to face Castres.

"We have tasted the bitter pill of losing at this stage only a season ago and the year before that we fell at the final hurdle. Those defeats were hard to take and we will be doing our best to try to put the record straight.

"Sometimes you wonder what you have done to deserve such bad luck, although we have still really enjoyed getting to the final few rounds. Now it is a matter of taking the next step and winning the title.

"If we get to the final we will have had to play all our knock-out games away from home, so the only way we can do it is the hard way.

"Castres have a massive pack and they will look to dominate the scrums and line-outs. They are very physical around the field and they have a quick set of backs.

"They have a solid goal kicker as well as Norm Berryman to run the ball up in the midfield and Gregor Townsend to run the show at outside half. At his best, Gregor is probably the best outside half in the northern hemisphere.

"They beat us the last time we played so they will go into the game with the extra edge. Nobody wants the favourites tag, but history shows that very few teams win away from home in the semi-finals.

"The tournament has introduced a new element for rugby fans. There is so much excitement and anticipation - it's fantastic.The Heineken Cup is the best competition we play in. It took a few years to get going, but now it is the tournament every club or province in Europe wants to win."