Catt aims to keep his nerve in lions' den

Irish wanted inexperienced Italian referee Carlo Damasco to be replaced for the rematch but were told nothing could be done. They now expect to face a very hostile reception from irate French fans.

The Perpignan management and players were so incensed by the performance of Scotland's Malcolm Changleng in their 24-16 defeat, they sent an official letter of complaint and demanded "appropriate sanction" against the referee.

Perpignan were denied a losing bonus point by a disputed last-gasp penalty, lost four players with serious injuries, had three yellow cards and conceded a penalty try.

This very public anger will ensure a full house at the Stade Aime Giral ready to voice their displeasure at any perceived mistakes by the Italian referee. Irish were unhappy with the idea of Damasco handling this kind of match before the first pool meeting between the teams ended in acrimony.

Perpignan will be without Samoan No8 Henry Tuilagi, who broke two ribs in the opening minutes, outside-half Gavin Hume, who has a fractured cheekbone, and flanker Viliami Vaki, who sprained his ankle.

But Percy Montgomery, South Africa's World Cup-winning full-back, has declared himself fit to appear in a Perpignan shirt for the first time after recovering from the knee injury he suffered in the Final against England.

The locals have been hearing their wounded heroes complaining all week about the "flagrant injustice" handed out to the team in Reading and "revenge" is the air. Despite missing key players, Perpignan will put out a huge pack that Catt knows will want to "beat us up" and that puts extra pressure on the Irish eight.

He said: "It is vital we stop going to places like this just hoping to achieve something. We need that different mindset and have the confidence to play our style of rugby against one of the best teams in Europe. We need to be ruthless in the way we execute our gameplan. We have discussed the kind of atmosphere that will surround the match. We cannot control the crowd or the referee, so we have to concentrate on what we can determine and that's our gameplan.

"If we produce the type of rugby I know Irish are capable of then Perpignan will do well to stop us. They are going to play to their strength up front and that puts a massive onus on our pack of forwards. We are in the driving seat in terms of the pool and victory in France would give us added insurance."

Catt has recovered from the back spasm that hampered his build-up to last weekend's match and confirmed that he is ready to accept another year-long contract once this season is over. It was expected that Catt, who is now the backs coach, would hang up his boots but he wants to be on the field even at 37. Irish are happy for him to sign a new playing deal and the England veteran knows the club are struggling to identify potential successors, apart from Shane Geraghty, the young England cap who is soon to return from long-term injury.

Catt said: "The World Cup was fun for me in the last couple of weeks in France but I really got a buzz again when I started playing with the Irish boys."