Nothing symbolises a new beginning more than the prospect of Jack Crowley being handed the famous No 10 shirt as he starts a Six Nations game for the first time in his career in succession to Johnny Sexton.

The former Ireland boss will be a familiar face when Andy Farrell leads the Lions south next year.

The most significant statement made on the European club stage last weekend came from Ronan O'Gara's back-to-back holders La Rochelle.

Ahead of the final round of Champions Cup action pool games next weekend, incredibly, all four Irish provinces have something tangible to play for.

In the circumstances, the return of former captain Peter O'Mahony and a rested Tadhg Beirne is badly needed for Munster to turn a corner.

The IRFU’s performance director David Nucifora was happy to sign off on Snyman’s move to Dublin in one of his last big calls before handing over the reins to David Humphreys next June.

Quite how Munster find themselves one from the bottom of their Champions Cup pool will greatly exercise Graham Rowntree and his coaching group over the festive period.

Graham Rowntree's camp need to seriously look at their lack of control in the final quarter when they were guilty of playing too much rugby from deep. 

Make no mistake, La Rochelle have proved the bane of the Leinster players lives for three years now, especially with a certain Ronan O’Gara at the helm.

With their manhood being questioned early on and Leinster drawing a line in the sand, it was inevitable that a serious bust-up would ensue.