There were mixed fortunes for English giants Leicester Tigers and Northampton Saints in England's Powergen Cup last weekend.
The Saints cruised into April's Twickenham final with a comfortable 38-9 victory over defending cup champions London Irish.
While Leicester crashed out of the cup with a 16-11 defeat to Gloucester - coincidentally at Northampton's Franklin's Gardens.
And the Saints will be hoping that Leicester's loss is the first sign that the double European champions are losing their grip on their knock-out crown -as the two teams are in-line for a potential all-English semi-final if they win their respective games in the last eight of Europe's premier club competition.
Whoever emerges on top from the Leicester v Munster match - a repeat of last year's Heineken Cup Final - must travel to play the winner of the Toulouse-Northampton quarter-final, for a place in the Lansdowne Road party on May 24.
Matt Dawson and co. were the last team to win the Heineken Cup when they beat Munster 9-8 at Twickenham in 2000 before Leicester took hold of the trophy with back-to-back Heineken Cup triumphs.
In the past two seasons the defending Zurich Premiership champions have established themselves as the dominant force on the continent.
Tigers skipper Martin Johnson lifted the Heineken Cup trophy in 2001 in Paris and again last year in Cardiff after a 15-9 victory over Munster at the Millennium Stadium.
And after stuttering in the early stages of this season's Heineken Cup - registering a draw at Neath and defeat in Beziers in the opening three weeks - Leicester hit back with three straight wins to secure a home quarter-final against Munster.