It’s time to spring forward for showdown at the Aviva

WITH the Cheltenham Festival and the Six Nations complete and the lawnmower once again failing to start, spring is upon us. And to corrupt an old adage, at this time of year a young man’s thoughts turn to... the European Cup, obviously!

This means that while Wasps are currently looking no further than despatching Sunday’s Premiership opponents Worcester, the rest of us are peeping excitedly over the horizon to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday week, when Dai Young’s team can clinch a second successive semi-final appearance with a win over Leinster.

Whether the ten Leinster players who were part of Ireland’s Six Nations win over England can claim any psychological advantage over Wasps’ four Englishmen is a good talking point, but what is certain is that both sides will be subject to a rigorous examination from the world’s top referee Nigel Owens.

The experienced Welsh official, who took charge of the 2015 World Cup final, joins France’s Jerome Garces and English pair JP Doyle and Wayne Barnes in the panel of officials appointed to the quarter-final ties.

Meanwhile, Wasps and Leinster are also going head-to-head in the prestigious EPCR end-of-season awards. Both clubs have three nominees on the 15-strong short-list from which the eventual winner is determined following the completion of the final. Wasps skipper Joe Launchbury (inset) who is also on a 12-strong list from which the Six Nations player-of-the-championship will be chosen, is joined by fellow red rose star Elliot Daly and Wales squad flanker Thomas Young. Their Leinster rivals include two current Irish internationals - prop Tadhg Furlong and rising star Garry Ringrose - plus the Dubliners’ longserving back Isa Nacewa.

Title holder Maro Itoje’s name once again features, as does his Saracens team-mate Owen Farrell and a collection of other players who performed strongly during the Six Nations, including Scotland’s Stuart Hogg and Ireland’s CJ Stander.

Voting opens on April 3, with the winner eventually being chosen from a reduced list of five by a combination of the public vote and an expert panel. European rugby’s governing body EPRC has also confirmed that the seventh-placed Premiership club will have home advantage against the ninth-placed Pro-12 outfit in the play-off semifinal which determines the identity of the final qualifier for next season’s Champions Cup.

The winner of this tie then hosts either the eighth-placed Pro-12 club or the team finishing seventh in the French Top 14 in the play-off final.

While this will not involve Wasps, who could seal a top four finish this weekend should Leicester lose at Northampton, it gives added spice to their forthcoming games with Saints and Harlequins, who seem likely to scrap out the final automatic qualifying places with Bath and Leicester.