WHILE this weekend’s Heineken Cup action wasn’t as exciting as the previous one, Munster once again stole a game at the death through another brilliant Ronan O’Gara drop goal to get four vital points from their trip to the south of France.
With Northampton having suffered a surprise defeat to the Scarlets at Franklins Gardens, the winner of this group will be determined by the home and away legs between Munster and the Welsh side in December.
Castres made the strange decision to move the Munster game from their home stadium to Toulouse, which can hold a larger crowd.
They were obviously hoping to cash in on the famous Munster travelling support with Toulouse an easier place to fly in and out of.
However, while there was a decent travelling support given the current economic climate and the proximity of Christmas, there was only a crowd of 11,000 and the atmosphere wasn’t nearly as hostile as it would have been in Castres.
Munster are a team in transition and it’s interesting to note that of the starting XV from the 2008 Heineken Cup final, only five started against Castres.
However, they are now two from two and if they can get out of their group no team will want to get them in the draw for the quarter-finals.
They made plenty of mistakes on Saturday but the pride, passion and honesty of effort was there for all to see.
They have two world class players in Paul O’Connell and Ronan O’Gara and the process of rebuilding the team has begun with Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony and Danny Barnes injecting youth.
Niall Ronan had his best game ever in the Heineken Cup and their summer signings BJ Botha and Will Chambers have strengthened them.
Chambers was only signed on a short-term deal but he looks to be very creative and could be a coup.
Leinster were very impressive at the RDS against Glasgow and had the bonus point in the bag by half time.
Eoin O’Malley showed his talent by scoring two tries and the strength in depth that Leinster have in the centre position is frightening.
While Glasgow took a three-point lead with an early penalty, Leinster got the first try after only three minutes when Isa Nacewa fielded a brilliant crossfield kick from Johnny Sexton.
Then just before he was tackled into touch he threw a wonderful one handed offload to Rob Kearney who touched down.
While Glasgow battled hard in the second half Leinster never looked like they would be caught and they finished the game with a fifth try when replacement Isaac Boss scored at the death.
The biggest positive for Leinster, apart from the five points, was the performances of official man-of thematch Jamie Heaslip and Luke Fitzgerald who were both superb.
Leinster are now in control of the group and have a double header with Premiership side Bath to look forward to in December.
Both Connacht and Ulster failed to get anything from their matches at the weekend and I think that Ulster coach Brian McLoughlin will have more regrets than Eric Elwood.
It was a special night to be in the Sportsground on Saturday where over 9,000 people attended.
That was a record crowd for a rugby match in the west of Ireland and they did everything in their power to lift their side.
Toulouse showed Connacht real respect by selecting the side that they did and by the way they approached the game.
They were so clinical and took the points that were on offer at all times whether that was through a penalty or drop-goal.
If Connacht were to have caused an upset they really would have needed to get a lead early and rattle Toulouse but it wasn’t to be.
Entry to the Heineken Cup is brilliant for Connacht but they will need to learn fast if they are going to get some points on board.
The focus returns to the Rabo Direct Pro 12 league for all four Irish provinces this weekend, which will give some fringe players a chance to stake a claim.
The Irish management will be keen to look at all the options available to them when the first national squad is announced in the New Year.