Ulster insist they will not be intimidated by the prospect of facing Munster at Thomond Park in the quarter-final of the Heineken Cup.

And for the victors the massive prize is an Aviva Stadium semi-final clash with the winners of the Edinburgh v Toulouse tie.

Ulster and Munster will meet in the 26,000-capacity Limerick stadium during the Easter weekend, and in view of what is on offer it promises to be a memorable derby.

Munster — European champions in 2006 and 2008 — have played six Heineken Cup quarter-finals at Thomond Park, winning the lot.

But Ulster — in the last eight for the second year in a row — are not put off by that record.

“We know Thomond Park well so we know what it’s going to be like,” was coach Brian McLaughlin’s reaction following yesterday evening’s confirmation of the pairing.

“We’ve just played in Clermont and Limerick won’t be any more difficult than that.

“With us not quite having managed to win our group we knew we’d be playing away from home. Now we know where and it's fine with us.”