IT was another great weekend for the Irish provinces with Ulster, Munster and Leinster all winning and Connacht performing very well in Toulouse, but unfortunately suffering another defeat.
The performance of the round definitely goes to Ulster who shocked the Leicester Tigers in Ravenhill on Friday night and got a bonus point win which no one would have predicted.
Leicester have had an up and down season so far but given their culture and tradition in the Heineken Cup since its inception they were forecast to have been a real test for the men in white.
Ulster have invested very heavily in foreign talent and players like John Afoa, Ruan Pienaar and Johann Muller don’t come cheap. But it now looks like their money was well spent.
They qualified for the quarter-finals last season where they went down to eventual finalists Northampton.
They are hoping to go further this season but although they now top their pool they still aren’t sure of qualifying and have to travel to Clermont this weekend for a tough fixture.
It’s hard to see them winning in France but a losing bonus point should get them into the last eight.
Munster have assured qualification already and travel to Northampton this weekend knowing that a sixth win would give them a lucrative home draw against one of the lower seeds.
It’s amazing that they have gone five wins from five with very little hype about them.
That is due to the nature of their performances as they have really struggled to put teams away all season and it’s an area that they will have to improve on if they are to be real contenders.
Castres sent over a second string selection and there was a bonus point win there for the taking if Munster had hit top stride.
They had to be content with two tries in the end and with Northampton knowing that a win will give them a back door entry to the Challenge Cup it promises to be a very tough game for Munster.
Niall Ronan went off with what looked like a serious knee injury and given the form he has been in this season he will be a huge loss.
Munster varied their lineout options really well and used Conor Murray’s power and pace to attack Castres around the tail and it paid dividends.
Their scrum and maul are really strong and with Ronan O Gara’s kicking from hand and from the ground being so good they are capable of beating anyone on their day.
I do think a home draw is crucial for them, however.
I not sure what people expected from the Leinster v Glasgow game but I thought Leinster did very well to get the away win.
Glasgow and Edinburgh are both stronger than they get credit for and Glasgow’s home ground at Firhill is a very tricky place to play.
It was built as a soccer stadium and the dimensions of the pitch are very short and narrow which make space at a premium.
Leinster are a team that love to move the ball wide and this lack of space definitely worked in Glasgow’s favour.
The away team’s dressing rooms are tiny and the surface is also very poor which upset your performance and the early kick-off time of 12.45 upsets the body clock.
If you consider all these factors then Leinster’s win is all the more admirable and with a very winnable home game against Montepelier this weekend I expect Leinster to get the top seed spot and play the team ranked eighth at home.
That could set up a tasty tie with Harlequins or Ulster if results go to form this weekend.