Perpignan's dream of playing a home quarter-final in the Heineken Cup at Barcelona's 56,000 all-seater Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic is still very much alive. And that should act as a warning to Italian champions Rugby Calvisano when they visit Stade Aime Giral for this weekend's final round of Pool matches.
Still smarting from the fact they could not pick up a bonus point in their first encounter in Italy, Perpignan realise that to stand any chance of being ranked in the top four quarter-final qualifiers they must secure maximum points this weekend.
"The Heineken Cup is very important to Perpignan for two main reasons," explained coach Phillipe Boher. "Firstly, we reached the final three years ago and were very disappointed to lose in Dublin to Toulouse - we want to put the record straight on that.
"And secondly, we want to express our true Catalan spirit by playing a home quarter-final in Barcelona. Qualifying for the last eight was our first priority this season, but having a home game was a very close second.
"We know now that our destiny is in our own hands. A win against Calvisano will be good enough to put us through to the quarter-finals, although we know it won't be easy.
"We didn't get a bonus point in Italy and, when that happened, we thought our chances had gone. But the win over Cardiff has put us right back into contention.
"It was a very good performance - we put into practice what we had talked about in the build-up to the game. Our defence was very strong, our scrum and line-out was good and we didn't let them play.
"There are still a lot of teams in the running for the quarter-finals, but we are happy with where we are at the moment. When you go into any competition the aim is to win it, although I don't think we are good enough at the moment to do that.
"But we have some things to work on, and we have some players to come back into the side, and if we can win against Calvisano we will be on our way. We are beginning to grow up in this Heineken Cup competition and we were very good against Cardiff Blues."
Australian utility back Manny Edmonds was one of the chief catalysts in Perpignan's push to the 2003 final in Dublin and was one of five players from that 22-17 defeat at the hands of Toulouse who started against the Blues.
He pointed to the heavy defeat in the French Championship at Agen the previous week, and the growing power of his side's pack, for the sparkling performance at the Arms Park.
"It was the strength of our pack that took us to the Heineken Cup final three years ago and I believe we are better now than we were then. That shows the strength in depth we have in our current squad," said Edmonds.
"We are also a lot more disciplined this season. We have been putting a lot of pressure on ourselves in that area to improve.
"We used to get a lot of yellow and red cards, and give away stupid penalties that hurt us. But we have talked at length together, and to the coaches, and we have been a lot better in that area this season.
"Just making the quarter-finals is a huge goal for us, but the dream is to play in Barcelona in front of thousands of Catalans. If we get that opportunity this season, it is going to be huge for us."
