Nick Cain assesses the potential outcomes of the Heineken Cup quarter-finals

Can England's leading club sides come up trumps when it is all on the line, or will they follow in the footsteps of Stuart Lancaster's young pretenders and lose their nerve when the big prize is there for the taking? Given that there are 16 players from the England match-day squad of 23 from the Grand Slam slump in Cardiff spread across the likely Saracens, Leicester and Harlequins
line-ups for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals over the coming weekend, there have to be concerns.
A defeat as resounding as that at the Millennium Stadium can play havoc with confidence, and the English club side that seems to have emerged from the Six Nations with the least effective exit strategy, and the least conviction, are the reigning Premiership champions, Harlequins.
Three defeats in succession in the league over the last three weeks, against Exeter, Saracens and Gloucester, suggest that Harlequins may not be at their best when they try to repel Munster at the Stoop. Despite lifting the LV=Cup by beating Sale, Quins were surprisingly flat in their Premiership losses, and as their director of rugby, Conor O'Shea, accepted, they came second physically in the forward contest.
Where Harlequins are more vulnerable than either Saracens or Leicester, is that their reserve strength does not have the same depth as their English rivals – and there is no side more adept than Munster at turning any cracks in confidence into a Grand Canyon of doubt.
Munster, despite their heavy loss to Glasgow, will believe in being able to summon the collective will and drive that has established them among the best away sides in the tournament, so Harlequins can bank on their mettle being tested. For the Londoners to come through the Munster ordeal by fire without being seriously burned by the Irish bushwhackers, they will need to rediscover a sense of urgency, and the energy, as well as the indomitability, that earned them their first English title.
The challenge facing Leicester is even steeper. They have to not only win a trial of strength against the Toulon all-stars, but to do it in Mourad ‘Moneybags' Boudjellal's own backyard.
If the Tigers forwards can somehow get on top of a legends-only Toulon pack which includes Andrew Sheridan, Carl Hayman, Gethin Jenkins, Bakkies Botha, Simon Shaw, Chris Masoe, Joe van Niekerk, Danie Rossouw, and Rocky Elsom then they will forever be among the immortals at Welford Road. Even then it might not be enough, with Fred Michalak, Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau waiting in ambush in the recesses of the Stade Felix Mayol.
The English side with the most momentum is Saracens, especially as they go into their Saturday evening tie against Ulster at Twickenham on the back of impressive domestic wins over rivals Harlequins, Leicester and Wasps.
Their victory at Welford Road at the end of February – with both teams missing their England contingents – served notice that they have supplanted the Tigers as the Premiership team with the biggest and best bench. At the same time, four second-half touchdowns by Mark McCall's outfit dispelled the notion that they are forward grinders who are unable to score tries.
However, Ulster will not go quietly into the night. Last year's beaten finalists have found a good all-round balance of driving forward play and incisive attack under their Kiwi coach, Mark Anscombe – as well as a deep desire to make up for their heavy defeat by Leinster at Twickenham last May.
For the players, the hunt for European glory alongside clubmates they play alongside week in week out is a huge motivation in itself.
However, with the Lions head coach, Warren Gatland, delaying his squad announcement until the end of April – after the Heineken Cup quarter and semi-finals – there is even more to play for.

SARACENS v ULSTER (Twickenham)
Saracens are now a team with a depth that rivals the big French clubs. Almost every player who comes off the Saracens bench is an international, and, if like Will Fraser and George Kruis, they are not quite there yet, they look as if they will be soon.
If Mako Vunipola isn't starting at loosehead, then Wales Test prop Rhys Gill will be. At hooker, it's either the match-winning skills of Schalk Brits or the punishing close-quarter power of 2007 World Cup-winning Springbok captain, John Smit. Anchoring the scrum at tighthead, Sarries can choose from the rejuvenated Matt Stevens, the under-rated Petrus du Plessis, or a heavyweight scrummager like the Argentine veteran, Carlos Nieto.
The same two or three tier cover applies in virtually every position, and Sarries have started to show that they have backline strike power to go with their forward gears. With Owen Farrell or the venerable Charlie Hodgson pulling the strings at fly-half outside the inspirational former Springbok No.9, Neil de Kock, Sarries have an impressive mix at the tactical hub. The direct running of Brad Barritt, the distribution skills of the fast-improving Rugby League import Joel Tomkins, and the finishing of David Strettle and Chris Wyles adds to their multiple means of inflicting damage. Add the turnover-winning, linking, and abrasive carrying of openside Fraser into the mix alongside the athleticism of Kruis, who looks as accomplished at blindside as lock, and the shockwaves from the collision with Ulster promise to be seismic.

The Ulster pack is a handy outfit.
The All Black tighthead John Afoa has proved to be one of the best buys in European rugby, and he anchors a tight five that includes Ireland hooker Rory Best, and a Test second row pairing of Springbok lock and captain, Johann Muller, and Ulster stalwart Dan Tuohy. Their back row of Ireland flankers Iain Henderson, Chris Henry, and the blockbuster Kiwi No.8 Nick Williams also has a good balance to it.
Ruan Pienaar is the pivot around which the team operates, and the Springbok scrum-half is a proven match-winner as a poacher around the fringes and as a goal-kicker. Pienaar also lifts some of the load from young Paddy Jackson at fly-half, and with the direct running of Darren Cave and new Irish cap Luke Marshall in midfield and finishers on the wing of the calibre of Andrew Trimble and Craig Gilroy, the backline joust promises to be lively.
Saracens will also have to pay special attention to Jared Payne, who showed in Ulster's trouncing of Northampton at Franklin's Gardens that he is an inspirational play-maker and finisher. On that evidence the New Zealand full-back has the wheels, and the flair, to be the most dangerous runner on either side.
PREDICTION: Saracens to edge it and clinch a semi-final on English soil

CLERMONT v MONTPELLIER (Stade Marcel Michelin)
Clermont want this title, and that, combined with home advantage at their almost impregnable Stade Marcel Michelin stronghold make them favourites to win this all-French clash. Where Montpellier have the capacity to hurt any team with inspirational forwards like Mamuka Gorgodze, Johnnie Beattie, and Worcester-bound Agustin Creevy, they are up against a Clermont side whose reservoir of talent is deeper than almost any Top 14 club, with Toulon and Toulouse their only challengers.
Trying to keep a side with a scrummaging spearhead like Thomas Domingo at bay is hard enough, but Clermont threaten from everywhere. Whether it's the driving maul with the fierce Canadian Jamie Cudmore at its heart, the linking skills of Portuguese flanker Julien Bardy, the orchestration
of half-backs Morgan Parra and Brock James, or the strike running of skipper Aurelien Rougerie, former All Black wing Sitiveni Sivivatu, or the outrageously gifted Wesley Fofana, containing Clermont is well nigh impossible.
PREDICTION: Clermont to march on and stay in France for their semi-final

TOULON v LEICESTER (Stade Felix Mayol)
Leicester do not often meet teams in England who place as much emphasis on the scrum as they do, but the monster packs in the French Top 14 also consider the scrum sacred – and they don't come more monstrous than Toulon. Bernard Laporte, the former France coach at the Toulon helm, set out quite deliberately to assemble the most punishing power pack in the game, with Jonny Wilkinson, one of the best goal-kickers in the world, primed to kick the stream of penalties they screwed out of the opposition.
So far, so good, with Toulon leading the Top 14 and Laporte's plans for French and European domination on track.
A front five of Andrew Sheridan, Sebastien Bruno, Carl Hayman, Bakkies Botha and Danie Rossouw – with Simon Shaw as back-up – is the stuff of nightmares for most opponents, and for Leicester to halt the Toulon forwards on their own patch will take giant-killing to new heights. Dan Cole's credentials as a Lions tighthead will face severe scrutiny from Sheridan and his multi-national mates, likewise Tom Youngs at hooker, Geoff Parling at lock, and Tom Croft at blindside.

The danger for Leicester is that if they are beaten at their point of strength in the set piece, it is not just their pride that tends to suffer, but their whole game-plan. The Tigers are not a team that often has to resort to ‘Plan B'– however, this time, trying to emulate the quick-strike raider rugby England employed against New Zealand and Scotland could be their best means of rattling Toulon.
With Cole, Tom Youngs, Parling, Ben Youngs, Manu Tuilagi, Toby Flood and Tom Croft familiar with the intensity required in the loose to make it work, Leicester's best bet could be to disengage from a trial of strength and go mobile. But can Julian Salvi, Ed Slater, Steve Mafi and Croft bring the linking skills that Steffon Armitage does for Toulon, and will the handling along the Tigers backline hold up under pressure from Mathieu Bastareaud and company?
If Leicester want a reminder of what's possible, they need look no further than the brilliant length of the pitch try they scored recently against Saracens, sparked by George Ford and touched down by Dan Bowden. You sense that only audacity of that sort will see the Tigers draw blood.
PREDICTION: The Toulon juggernaut to roll on to a semi-final against Saracens

HARLEQUINS v MUNSTER (The Stoop)
Harlequins have already won one trophy this season, the LV=Cup, but what they really covet is to be champions of Europe at the same time as retaining their Premiership title. There are signs that the three-pronged trophy pursuit, combined with losing Chris Robshaw, Danny Care, Mike Brown and Joe Marler to Six Nations duty, has left them vulnerable against Munster, a team with a great track-record in sniffing out any weakness.
Not only has young prop Marler returned to the Stoop with serious dents to straighten out, but their three core internationals have suffered a major disappointment, with Robshaw, Care and Brown also on the receiving end of harsh lessons in Cardiff.
Quins fans will be praying that it is case of ‘what doesn't kill you makes you stronger', and tighthead James Johnston will also breathe a big sigh of relief to see his tractor, Olly Kohn, returning for duty on the right-side of the scrum after an injury incurred on bench business for Wales.
The upshot is that the Londoners should be at full strength against Munster for the first time in a couple of months – which is just as well with Paul O'Connell returning from injury to bring his experience and desire to bear for the Irishmen.

O'Connell is Munster's ‘Stand Up and Fight'motto incarnate, and George Robson will have to go toe-to-toe. When it comes to ring-masters, Ronan O'Gara is capable of playing the territory game as well as any fly-half in Europe, and he marshalls an under-rated backline which will demand that the English champions are at their best.
A Munster line-up which includes Doug Howlett, Casey Laulala, James Downey, the former Tigers wing Johne Murphy – or, possibly, Simon Zebo – is no less menacing from 11-15 than Harlequins.
Munster will also have the benefit of their Ireland contingent of Conor Murray, Donnacha Ryan and Peter O'Mahony preparing for the quarter-final after a fortnight's rest – unlike Robshaw and Co who were straight back on club duty, and defeat, at Saracens while Marler, Brown and Care were among the vanquished against Gloucester on Friday.
Be prepared for a battle royal at the Stoop, and, if Quins are to repeat their 2011 Amlin Cup semi-final win at Thomond Park, then the big game players along the spine of their team — Robshaw, Nick Easter, Care, Nick Evans, and Brown – will have to stand and deliver.
PREDICTION: Harlequins to shade it – but it will take a return to their pre-Six Nations form