Ulster and London Irish will pin their European Cup quarter-final hopes on their brittle French opponents once again pressing the self-destruct button on Saturday.
Ulster's stunning 23-13 Pool 4 win over Stade Francais in Belfast last weekend was overshadowed by French pair Julien Dupuy and David Attoub being cited for eye-gounging home flanker Stephen Ferris.
France international scrum-half Dupuy and prop Attoub apologised for their actions but are facing lengthy bans, a factor adding extra spice to the teams' return clash in Brussels.
London Irish crushed Brive 36-3 to top Pool 6 but French duo Arnaud Mela and Guillaume Ribes were both suspended in the aftermath.
Mela was banned for seven weeks for punching and Ribes, who was sent-off for kicking, received a four-week suspension.
Ulster, the 1999 champions, are braced for a backlash from Stade, the 2005 runners-up, but know that a win would put them on top of the pool with two games to play.
"They will be coming at us hard and fast," said Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin.
"We all know how good Stade are and towards the end of the game last week, when we basically stopped playing, having gained a 23-6 lead, they came back at us."
Brive, the 1997 champions, have lost all three of their matches and skipper Fabrice Estebanez admits that London Irish, who top Pool 6, are one of the favourites for the title.
"I can't really say that London Irish have any weaknesses. They base their game on a strong defence up front and they have two ace players in centre Seilala Mapusua and No 8 Chris Hala?ufia.
"Their line-out is probably one of the best in Europe. They are in a very good position to finish top of our group and I think it's London Irish who will go furthest in the competition."
Three-time champions Toulouse are another French side with a point to prove. They still top Pool 5 but slumped to a 15-9 defeat at Cardiff Blues last weekend.
The Welsh side have now beaten Toulouse in the past two seasons, having notched up a 9-6 win in the quarter-finals in 2008-2009.
Former double champions Leicester desperately need to turn the tables on Pool 3 leaders Clermont against whom they lost 40-30 last week. Leicester are third in the group, three points behind Clermont and Ospreys.
Munster, the 2006 and 2008 champions, lead Pool 1 after a 24-23 win over Perpignan, but travel to face the French champions who have lost just two home European Cup matches in 29 outings.
Perpignan are also on a record run of 16 straight victories at home.
Munster full-back Paul Warwick said: "I am not sure about the state of some of their injuries but we are assuming some of their missing back rowers will be available - and, if that includes Henry Tuilagi, that will only add even more size to an enormous pack."
Biarritz are the only undefeated team left in the tournament and are virtually assured of a quarter-final place having built up a nine-point lead in Pool 2.
They travel to Wales to face Newport who they defeated 49-13 last weekend.
Copyright 2009 AFP Global Edition
