"Only Munster of last year's quarter-finalists have reached the playoff stages this year after a final round which completed the cull of the hardy annuals." Huw Richards reports on the latest Heineken Cup action

Three English qualifiers, but no Wasps or Leicester. Two from France, but no Stade Francais or Biarritz. Two Welsh teams....and neither is Llanelli. Three first-time qualifiers - four if you regard Cardiff Blues as a different club to Cardiff.

Plus ca change, but not very much meme chose. Only Munster of last year's quarter-finalists have reached the playoff stages this year after a final round which completed the cull of the hardy annuals.

The vast arc of a new grandstand may loom over Thomond Park, but there was a reassuring familiarity about the way Munster disposed of Wasps. They were minus Paul O'Connell and facing the pre-eminent one-off big-game specialists, but slowly squeezed the life out of them.

Donncha O'Callaghan rampaged while Ronan O'Gara made everyone wonder who that chap in the Irish number ten shirt was at the World Cup. O'Gara's break, coming after a 22-phase assault, set up the Denis Leamy try that sealed a 19-3 win that bumped Wasps down to third and ejection from the tournament. Their misery was completed by an ankle injury to Simon Shaw that will rule the lock out for several weeks.

Wasps were leapfrogged by Clermont Auvergne, who rounded off Llanelli's appaling tournament - six defeats and no points a year on from qualifyingwith six straight wins - with a 41-0 massacre at Stradey. Mario Ledesma started the rout and full-back Antony Floch finished it with his second try to leave Clermont hoping that somebody would stumble and admit them to the best runners-up circle.

One place had gone earlier in the day as Perpignan flattened Newport Gwent Dragons 25-0 in the rain at Rodney Parade, but were beaten to top place in their pool by first-time qualifiers London Irish, who doubled their single-point lead with an injury-time bonus from their 24-11 in at Treviso when Peter Hewat crossed for his second try.

That put them up to 24 points, tied with Saracens, but the Watford club retained the top seeding they'd claimed with a tough 20-17 win at Glasgow, sealing their first ever quarter-final place with the first away win in 27 meetings this season between the 15 teams still in the running as the round started.

Glasgow handicapped themselves from the start when Hefin O'Hare delayed a touch down and was ambushed a la Rob Howley by Richard Haughton. But their spirited fightback underlined the better impression they and Edinburgh have made this season.

The same can be said of the Italian teams. True, they managed only one win between them, but they were competitive at home and Viadana reached an honourable conclusion by holding Biarritz - still technically in contention but needing a surreal collection of results - to 25-16 at the Aguilera where Takudzwa Ngwenya scored twice.

Toulouse also confirmed their qualification, without knowing if they would be home or away, with a 34-10 beating of Edinburgh that included two tries by Vincent Clerc. They would have progressed even if they had lost, as Leicester ended Leinster's hopes with a 25-9 win at Welford Road.

That left three places to be filled on Sunday, and two were taken in the lunchtime starts. Gloucester fans may have gone to Kingsholm hoping, on the basis of the massacre they inflicted at Ravenhill on weekend end, they might be capable of scoring the eight tries needed to take Sarries' top seeding.

They did get five of them, but for most of the match were far more concerned with the simple matter of winning the match as Ulster, in by far their best performance in this year's tournament, kept on hitting back. Akapusi Qera's two tries for Gloucester were matched by two for Tommy Bowe and it wasn't until Luke Narraway's late score gave them a 29-21 lead that the hosts could breath easily. Ospreys, pursuing the second runners-up spot unless Gloucester stumbled, also faced an unexpectedly spirited challenge at Bourgoin.

Early tries by Shane Williams and Lee Byrne put the Ospreys in charge, but Bourgoin kept coming back at them and it took a Gavin Henson interception finished by Jonathan Thomas to seal their first qualification 28-21 win and put Clermont out of their agony.

That left a single place to be contested in the afternoon, and Cardiff duly clinched it with a 17-0 win at Bristol. Fourteen points up at the break, with tries from Maama Molitikia and Gareth Thomas, who also blew three clear opportunities, they were sufficiently in control to suggest that they might take Toulouse's home draw - for which they needed either three tries and a 24-point advantage or a fourth try and bonus point.

But the one thing Bristol never lose is their spirit and they confined Cardiff to a Ben Blair penalty. In consequence Stade Francais' 31-10 away to Harlequins was academic although it did squeeze France ahead, by 61.1 per cent to 60.7, of England for the best national record in the pool stages.

Cardiff must now travel to Toulouse, so Ospreys may feel the more positive of the two Welsh qualifiers as they contemplate a trip to Saracens - formidable, but hardly invincible - who'll they also meet in the EDF semi-final.

London Irish and Perpignan will renew recent acquaintance at the Madejski while Gloucester cop the booby prize among the home draws, at home to Munster.

All now goes quiet until the first weekend in April - presumably rugby fans will find something to entertain themselves during the long wait.