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SARACENS v MUNSTER (Sunday, 15.00)

The weekend's second semi-final takes place on Sunday at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry, where Saracens take on Munster for a place in the Heineken Cup final. Sarries tore up the form book in the quarter-finals when they beat the Ospreys, who had themselves torn Alan Gaffney's men to pieces in the EDF Energy Cup. Arguably the most impressive performance in the last eight came from Munster, who took the game to Gloucester on their own turf and ran out narrow winners to set up this clash. Gaffney has of course been in charge of Munster in the past and now he comes to face his old side once more and he feels that containing the ferocious Munster pack is the key to winning the game, as this will starve Ronan O'Gara and the Munster backs. These two sides haven't met since 1999/2000, when they were paired together in the pool stages. Munster came off best in that tussle, winning both games but what was interesting was that both games were free-scoring. I'm not sure we can expect much of the same here, but Munster need to play a similar sort of game that they played ata Kingsholm, where they were very controlling. If Gaffney manages to mastermind a brilliant tactical plan, then Sarries can get something from this and they may well be worth backing getting eight from their opponents. The key to this game is Gaffney, as he will be well versed in the Munster way of play and could well out think Declan Kidney. It's a tough one to call but I reckon the value here could be Sarries, who despite being out of form in the Premiership, will have had this game on their minds for a long time.

Verdict: Munster by three.

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