IF DECLAN KIDNEY is keen to present fresh challenges to his high-achieving national squad, then Saturday’s crunch clash against France fits the bill perfectly. With just a solitary win in the French capital in the past 38 years, conquering the Stade de France this weekend is a potential fast-track to glory.

WE’RE spoiled. After the drama and excitement of the race to reach the last eight of the Heineken Cup, we now have a Six Nations championship to nourish our insatiable appetite for top class rugby.

IT’S 25 years since Ireland entered the RBS Six Nations as reigning champions, and all of 62 years since they defended a Grand Slam.

FOR the Munster players saying their farewells at Thomond Park last Friday night, the scene was reminiscent of classmates leaving boarding school at the end of term. There were handshakes all around as a 12th successive Heineken Cup quarter-final slot was secured.

AND then there were eight.

NO OTHER rugby tournament worldwide can match the drama and excitement of round six of the Heineken Cup. After five intense rounds of competition – encompassing 60 games – only two teams, Biarritz and Toulouse, have officially qualified for the quarter-finals.

WHO would want to be a referee? Well quite a few actually. In fact over the last three years the numbers officiating in Ireland have increased by 25%, from 400 to 500.

FOR A brief period last Sunday, it felt like the good old days of the Celtic Tiger, happy faces everywhere, supporters laden with Christmas presents and the Munster team smashing a quality French outfit away from home.

WITH SO much negativity surrounding rugby at the moment, with the plethora of law changes that favour the team without the ball (and the kickfest that has ensued), how refreshing to see so much positive rugby produced by a whole host of teams in last weekend’s Heineken Cup.

IT was not the type of preparation any of the Irish sides would have wished for last weekend before resuming their respective European journeys, with all four provinces losing in the Magners League.