"We've made tentative enquiries but we'll be stepping things up in the next month, " said the Branch's chief executive, Garrett Fitzgerald.

"We've looked at stadiums in all the usual locations across the water, places like Cardiff, Manchester and London and we've compared notes with clubs that have hired the facilities before. You don't want to be tempting fate by doing things like this but you have to be organised."

Venues at the top of Munster's list include Madejski Stadium, home of London Irish and Reading FC, the City of Manchester Stadium, where Manchester City now play their home games, and the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. "A number of factors still need to be decided and of course everything is subject to availability, " said Fitzgerald.

"Obviously we'd prefer to be playing the game in Ireland but if we can't, at least it means that Thomond Park and Lansdowne Road are closer to being ready."

There's also a suggestion that Munster and Leinster . . .who are in a similar situation to Munster for any potential home quarter-final . . . may club together and hire one venue for the weekend, or possibly, play both games as part of a double-header at a high capacity venue like the Millennium Stadium. "We've exchanged brief notes with Leinster on this, " said Fitzgerald, "and it would make sense in terms of economies of scale if we were to hire the same venue together. But that depends on a lot of factors coming together.

Everything will become clearer in the next month or so."

Meanwhile reports in Australia have suggested that flanker Tim McGann is set to join Munster. The 23-year-old currently plays his rugby with Eastern Suburbs in Sydney and will link up with his teammates as soon as his club are knocked out of the Toohey's New Cup competition.