Two former Heineken Cup winners will be back in the hunt for more major European honours after being registered by their teams for the quarter finals of both the Heineken Cup and Amlin Challenge Cup.
Cook Islands international prop Stan Wright has finally recovered from the knee injury that forced him to miss Leinster's Pool matches and will be hoping to keep the Irish province on course for a second Heineken Cup title having helped them beat Leicester Tigers at Murrayfield in 2009.
Other notable additions to the eight Heineken Cup quarter-final squads include Fijian flyer Rupeni Caucaunibuca (Toulouse), Australian international lock Dan Vickerman (Northampton Saints) and Samoan prop James Afoa (Biarritz Olympique). Afoa could get his first taste of European action just ahead of his brother, John, the All Blacks front rower who will join Ulster next season.
Leicester Tigers have also added teenage outside half George Ford to their squad. Ford scored 76 points to guide England Under 20 to a Six Nations Grand Slam and will join elder brother Joe in the last eight. Joe, 20, made his Heineken Cup debut for Northampton Saints against Cardiff Blues this season.
The other former Heineken Cup winner to be added to a quarter-final squad is England World Cup winner Josh Lewsey. He has rejoined the London Wasps squad for their Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final campaign. The final eight teams in that tournament contain three of the runners-up in the Heineken Cup Pools, Munster, ASM Clermont Auvergne and London Wasps.
Lewsey won the Amlin Challenge Cup with Wasps in 2003 and then was part of the Heineken Cup winning sides in 2004 and 2007. Another Amlin Challenge Cup finalist (Montferrand in 2004), French prop David Attoub, has been registered by Stade Francais Paris, while Montpellier skipper Fulgence Ouedraogo has been registered with his side.
There are 21 additional players who have been registered by the eight Heineken Cup teams for the quarter-finals.