Condolences and Congratulations

Although this site is primarily concerned with the fluctuating fortunes of the Ireland rugby team, I guess that it would be an act of extreme ignorance to overlook the most recent European adventures of Ireland's top three provinces.

As expected, Ulster came up short against a high-flying Saracens team, 27 points to 16 to be precise. You would think that any Ulster pre-match team talk might have dealt with the need to restrict the goal-kicking opportunities of the lethal Owen Farrell, but evidently not! One hopes that Ulster can recover from this setback and claim at least a place in the final of the PRO12 in May, a reward which their season-long endeavours would appear to merit.

Meanwhile in the Amlin Challenge Cup, it was encouraging to see Leinster take this consolation cup seriously as they comfortably conquered London Wasps to the tune of 48 points to 28. If they play their cards right, last year's European champions can still emerge from the carnage of non-qualification for the Heineken Cup knock-out stages with one or two trophies in May. Perhaps it was just their misfortune to be drawn in the same group as the outstanding Clermont Auvergne.

However, pride of place goes to Munster. Written off in many quarters as a team teetering on the brink of decline, they summoned their abundant strength to silence Harlequins, eighteen points to twelve. How ironic that the much-maligned Ronan O'Gara should kick six penalties as Munster took great delight in being underdogs. It was good to know that Paul O'Connell has already apparently passed his audition for a Lions place this summer, on the back of this impressive display. Nobody expects Munster to go on and win the Heineken Cup, and quite frankly that will suit them just fine.

Finally, it was good to see the three Anglo-Irish head-to-head contests result two-one in favour of the Oirish. This represents some semblance of revenge for the 12-6 debacle in Dublin.