Catt's comeback from injury can lift Bath and England

It has taken him long enough, but it looks as if Mike Catt is back in the land of the living. Weeks of torment and frustration with a hamstring injury should end when the England player returns to action in Bath's Parker Pen Challenge Cup tie against Montauban tomorrow.

Catt, whose return should also interest the England head coach, Clive Woodward, will almost certainly be on the bench for the second-leg tie. "Last week, I did a lot of running and this week I've done full contact," he said. "I have not felt it at all, so for me to go and do the hamstring again now in a game, would be very, very unlucky. I am sure it will be all right."

Not so fortunate is his England colleague Mike Tindall, who has not trained this week because of a shoulder problem, and a final decision on whether he plays will be made tomorrow. Alex Crockett is standing by to help Bath overcome a three-point deficit from the first leg.

The climax to the Pool stages of the Heineken Cup starts tonight with Ulster entertaining Northampton and Glasgow taking on Llanelli.

Llanelli, semi-finalists in two of the last three seasons, will progress as Pool Three winners if they avoid defeat, but any slip-up by the Scarlets and Bourgoin, who have a better try-count and points difference over two games against Llanelli, would steal pole position if they beat Sale at Stade Pierre Rajon on Saturday.

So the Scarlets must buck a statistical trend, given that they have lost on all three previous visits to Hughenden.

"Glasgow have a lot of quality in their side with international players in the front, second and back-rows," said the Llanelli coach, Gareth Jenkins. "They play at a high tempo and can take you on up front or play out wide with equal prowess. They are able to mix it up in all aspects of play, and have a great balance to the way they approach the game, so we are expecting a very tough contest. It's a must-win occasion for us."

Wayne Smith will settle for a repeat performance of the character and commitment that saw off the French champions, Biarritz, last weekend when Northampton face their Heineken Cup D-day in Belfast.

Victory or a draw against Pool Six rivals Ulster at Ravenhill would guarantee the 2000 European champions progress to the quarter-finals. Even if they lose, albeit not by an emphatic margin, then Northampton should still make the knockout stages. If Saints progress to the last eight, then that 17-14 success over Biarritz in which Peter Jorgensen scored a 77th-minute try will probably be remembered as the definitive moment in their campaign.

"It was a magnificent effort against Biarritz," said the Northampton coach Smith, who is once again without the services of injured international flankers Andrew Blowers and Budge Pountney. "The performance showed just how much we wanted it. The players' character was great."

Ulster also have quarter-final ambitions, but they need to win by a considerable distance and score tries, otherwise the exit door beckons.