Irish pair’s Champions’ Cup progress will keep turnstiles clicking

The Irish have done European rugby many mighty favours over the years and now they are about to do the mightiest one of all.

Leinster and Munster in the last four will give the semi-finals of the Champions’ Cup later this month something they sorely lacked last year — a crowd worthy of each occasion. Ireland’s formidable contenders will guarantee that on a sell-out scale simply by turning up in vast numbers of red and blue.

Munster’s crack at Saracens in Dublin will pack the Aviva Stadium to the rafters. The 50,000 gate will be 30% up on the combined attendance for both semi-finals last season at English football grounds: Saracens-Wasps at Reading (16,820), Leicester-Racing at Nottingham (22,148).

No disrespect to Wasps or Toulouse but their removal from the quarter-finals has effectively addressed the serious issue of fading appeal raised by shrinking numbers. For that reason, the organisers will have been almost as thrilled at witnessing Munster secure an Irish semi-final as every foot soldier in every regiment of the Red Army.

When it comes to bringing a crowd for the big games, nobody can touch the Irish. More people (50,266) saw Leinster outclass the English Premiership leaders than attended any European quarter-final for five years, since the then holders took Cardiff Blues to the cleaners in the same citadel en route to the last of their winning finals.

The return of not one Irish Pied Piper but two will be hailed by the number-crunching department of the Champions’ Cup, a section in some danger of having their own numbers crunched last year when no Irish team made the last eight and everyone caught a chill.

Semi-final gates over the last 11 seasons confirm Ireland’s status in a class of their own. Those in England average 24,024, in Spain (San Sebastien) 31,800, in France 35,377, and in Wales, based on one match, 44,212.

In Ireland it’s 56,307, thanks largely to the 82,208 at Croke Park in 2009 for, who else, but Leinster-Munster. There hasn’t been a crowd to touch it for any final before or since and there won’t be this year, with next month’s final at the 67,500-seater Murrayfield.

If it turns out to be an all-Irish affair, a bum will be on every seat. While Munster have home advantage of sorts against Owen Farrell’s Fez Heads from north London, Leinster know what it takes to beat Clermont in a French semi-final. They did it five years ago, 19-15 at Bordeaux.

This time, against the best club not to win the trophy, they will break new ground, in Lyon at the 43,000-capacity Matmut Stadium de Gerland. And that’s another reason why those running the tournament are rubbing their hands in glee this morning because, whatever happens, Leinster will see to it that the tie is a sell-out.

Munster sentence Dusautoir to tearful farewell

Thierry Dusautoir left Thomond Park sounding as cut up as he looked, his final exit from the European stage resembling a scene from Les Miserables.

The French cheval de guerre could scarcely have been subjected to a more punishing farewell but he wasn’t the first decorated back row forward to come to the end of a long road in Limerick and he won’t be the last.

Lawrence Dallaglio suffered the same fate at the same place, his last European fling as a Wasp ending prematurely at the pool stage on a wintry Saturday nine years ago. Coincidentally, Munster finished that season four months later back in Cardiff, reunited with the European Cup after a narrow win over Toulouse.

Unlike then, when he barely lasted more than half an hour, Dusautoir went to the bitter end on Saturday which was more than could be said of Toulouse. Munster had counted them out well inside the distance and it would have been sooner had the officials not taken pity and given the visitors their only try.

If the ageing Ivorian had any doubts pre-match about hanging up his boots next month, Munster smashed them to bits. Compared to the golden days when they had a team for all seasons and occasions, the old emperors are on the bones of their backside.

Synonymous with excellence throughout the first 15 years of professionalism, Toulouse have been fading for so long nobody ought to have been surprised their latest quarter-final in Limerick degenerated into more of a no-contest than the previous one three years earlier.

Sadly, they are now making up the numbers like any other ordinary team, so ordinary in their case they are in some peril of not qualifying for the next Champions’ Cup. For a man like Dusautoir brought up on the glory days, it’s a crying shame.

Pelous sees funny side of baffling TMO call

It was never going to threaten the France-Wales record for the longest half of all time (75 minutes, 55 seconds) but the first 40 at Thomond Park ran to a few seconds short of 50.

It just goes to show how time flies by when technology runs its course.

In the absence of serious injury, most of the added time was down to four referrals to the TMO, starting with England’s favourite Irish ref, JP Doyle, reacting to the crowd’s disapproval at Toulouse No.8 Cros sticking an elbow into scrum-half Duncan Williams.

The longest referral, 15 minutes into the second half, produced a baffling verdict.

Just about everyone could see that Yoann Maestri’s try-scoring pass for Paul Perez had been flung forward, far enough not to require an A-level in geometry.

In between video replays, the dialogue between referee and TMO, David Grasshoff, went like this:

Doyle: “It’s not conclusive but it is a forward pass. Do you have any angle to prove that it’s a forward pass?”

Grasshoff, after showing the last available angle: “No, there’s no evidence.”

Doyle: “I need evidence.” Grasshoff: “We don’t have any evidence.”

Nobody found the decision more amusing than Toulouse head honcho, Fabien Pelous, his ear-to-ear grin providing an oasis of light relief in a sea of despair.

Time to freeze out warm-up?

Warm-ups are rapidly becoming almost as dangerous as the real thing, what with Jamie Heaslip twanging a hamstring before Ireland-England and other mishaps over the weekend.

Toulon’s USA back row forward Samu Manoa ended up in hospital yesterday with a suspected broken arm when he ought to have been on bench duty at Clermont.

Willie Duggan, an Irish Lion in all four Tests against New Zealand 40 years ago, would be appalled to hear that. Like many of his contemporaries, Duggan had a natural aversion to any concept that smacked of extra training and when he arrived late for a club match to be told by an exasperated official that he’d missed the warm-up, Duggan said, “No I haven’t. I had the heater on in the car...”

Carbery stakes his claim for Lions role

Nobody took more impressive advantage of Warren Gatland’s decision to delay naming the Lions squad than Joey Carbery.

On the outside looking in throughout the Six Nations, Leinster’s 21-year-old used Dublin’s Test stage to deliver the best performance I’ve seen from a full-back all season. If that doesn’t get him in, nothing will.

Chris Ashton may have been joking when he claimed his wife had a better chance of Lions selection except that Mrs Ashton might have done a better job of preventing Lee Jones scoring Glasgow’s first try.

On the credit side, her hubbie’s two tries mean that the wing whom England have declared surplus to requirements has equalled Vincent Clerc’s record all-time total of 36.