‘‘But I can’t see anyone beating them at home, not even Leicester,’’ he added.

Pool four leaders Munster cruised home, delighting a capacity 13,000 Thomond Park crowd by scoring six tries, while fly-half Ronan O’Gara landed 21 points.

Harlequins’ European adventure was already over before they visited Munster, and a crushing 51-17 setback did little for morale on the back of five successive Premiership defeats.

Castres will pip them for top spot if they win and score one try more than Mick Galwey’s men.

Castres warmed up by seeing off Bridgend 37-26, Ugo Mola scoring three tries, although they conceded 19 late unanswered points as the Welsh club bagged tries through Craig Warlow, Colin Noon and Dafydd James.

Bath could face a full-back injury crisis ahead of next Saturday’s crucial Heineken Cup clash against Biarritz at the Recreation Ground.

Victory over the French club would guarantee Bath, who have already won pool three, a priceless home quarter-final draw.

But Iain Balshaw has now joined his England and Lions colleague Matt Perry on the sidelines following Bath’s 24-12 success against Swansea.

Perry is currently out with a back problem, while Balshaw took a blow to his kidneys during the Swansea game, leaving coach Jon Callard facing an anxious wait as he builds towards the Biarritz clash.

Balshaw was hurt in a crunching collision involving more than one Swansea player, and Callard said: ‘‘We are not sure how it happened, but he suffered a knock and it doesn’t look too good.’’

Bath will check video footage for any suggestion of foul play, Balshaw’s injury proving the only blot on their copybook as they brushed Swansea aside through first-half tries from Mark Gabey and Kevin Maggs.

Centre Olly Barkley completed the job by kicking 14 points, confirming Bath’s first Heineken Cup quarter-final appearance since they were crowned European champions in 1998.

Title holders Leicester joined them in the last-eight, yet it was hardly a vintage Tigers performance as they defeated Italian minnows Calvisano 29-7 to top pool one.

Leicester, despite resting several star names, were expected to enjoy a points spree, but Calvisano frustrated them for much of the match and Tigers only conjured up touchdowns through Geordan Murphy (2), Steve Booth, Ollie Smith and Martin Corry.

Neil Back also found himself in the sin-bin, yellow-carded along with Calvisano captain Carl Mayerhofler for fighting near the end of a forgettable game.

‘‘We were well below-par,’’ conceded Murphy. ‘‘But although we didn’t play well, it was another win, this time in conditions when it was virtually impossible to hold on to the ball.’’

If Tigers beat Llanelli at Stradey Park next Saturday, then like Bath, they can look forward to home advantage in the quarter-finals.

Cardiff kept alive their quarter-final hopes by securing a superb 26-20 triumph against Arms Park visitors Montferrand, full-back Rhys Williams scoring two tries and Iestyn Harris contributing 16 points.

Montferrand still lead pool five, and will qualify automatically if they beat Glasgow on home soil next weekend, but Cardiff could still progress as group winners or a best runner-up with victory at Northampton.

Elsewhere, Stade Francais tightened their grip on pool two after crushing Treviso 59-6, Biarritz demolished Edinburgh 45-14, and in another match of no real significance, Newport suffered a 36-23 pool six defeat at Toulouse.