The European debuts came thick and fast as Munster said their farewells to the Heineken Champions Cup for another season and made a determined change of direction towards the Guinness PRO14.

Connacht left this season’s Champions Cup with their heads held high after Andy Friend’s side recovered from a 21-point deficit to lead, only to be denied two minutes from time in Montpellier.

DAN McFarland was looking forward to a day of watching rugby on the couch yesterday as the extent of the challenge awaiting Ulster in the spring slowly unfolded in front of his eyes.

Before this game, Leinster repeatedly talked up the difficulty involved in getting one over their Italian opponents.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline

Ulster secured the home win they needed against Bath to qualify for the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals for a second consecutive season.

Leinster clinched top-seed status and a home Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final as they made it a record-breaking 16 wins in a row in all competitions this season with an 18-0 victory at Benetton.

A team playing at Thomond Park this Sunday in desperate need of a victory to kickstart the second half of the season?

Garry Ringrose’s ability to duck and weave is not confined to the pitch.

Small margins separate a very good season from a title-winning one and Alan O’Connor says Ulster have identified three areas where they need to add an extra one per cent in order to get over the line in big games.

There has been no shortage of praise for Leinster’s latest batch of youth, but to watch Max Deegan give another Man-of-the-Match performance yesterday in Ballsbridge could make you think that they perhaps haven’t been lauded enough.

Peter O’Mahony was left to regret missed opportunities throughout Munster’s Heineken Champions Cup pool campaign but the captain is confident his province has the right mix to compete with the European elite in future.

In the end, there was simply too much firepower for Munster to cope with. They had battled hard for 70 minutes, taking a 22-20 lead into the endgame and keeping hopes of another European miracle alive.

Another runaway success, but some signs of vulnerability too.

While a win over Ospreys is well within their compass, the fact that holders Saracens can still advance as a best runner up will suit them just fine.

Even as the celebrations of Racing’s Champions Cup win over Munster still echoed around La Defense Arena, head coach Laurent Travers was looking to the future.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline.

Clermont Auvergne secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Champions Cup with a 29-13 victory over Ulster at the Stade Marcel Michelin.

Sale’s hopes of progressing to the European Champions Cup quarter-finals came to an end as they were beaten 30-23 by La Rochelle.

England suffered an injury scare just three weeks before the Six Nations when Anthony Watson limped out of Bath’s 25-19 Heineken Champions Cup defeat against Harlequins.

Dr Kearns faces a charge of bringing the game and the competition into disrepute for alleged comments towards Jamie George during the course of this match.

Bath’s nightmare Heineken Champions Cup campaign continued as Stuart Hooper’s men were hammered 52-26 by Clermont Auvergne.

Seven tries last week, another seven tonight.

Johann van Graan backed his players to make the right on-pitch decisions after Munster missed a chance to rescue a losing bonus point in a 15-6 defeat at Saracens today.

With Munster holding a slender 6-3 lead on 50 minutes, the mass brawl that led to a Munster penalty handed the visitors a chance to widen their advantage.

Robin Copeland’s last-gasp try rescued a 27-24 win from the jaws of defeat as Connacht pipped Gloucester in a dramatic Heineken Champions Cup clash at the Sportsground.

Connacht’s survival hopes in the Heineken Champions Cup may depend on a superb home record which has seen them lose just one of 14 games at the Sportsground in Europe in the past five years.

‘Tis the season for Christmas jumpers, blue Santa hats, and Leinster at the Aviva.

Munster have reached one objective in this Heineken Champions Cup campaign by beating Saracens for the first time in five years last Saturday.

Simon Zebo scored his first try of the season to secure the bonus point for Racing 92 before the break at the Paris La Défense Arena.

Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan will remain central to Racing 92’s bid to strengthen their grip on Pool 4 when they start for the Parisians at home to Ospreys tonight.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has made two changes to his side for tomorrow's Heineken Champions Cup trip to Harlequins.

Jonathan Sexton has been ruled out of Leinster's Heineken Champions Cup meeting with Northampton Saints this weekend but the full extent of his knee injury has yet to be determined.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

Munster missed a chance to snatch victory over Racing 92 at the death tonight but Johann van Graan praised his side’s resilience to fight back for a 21-21 draw at Thomond Park.

Munster dragged themselves back from the brink with an Andrew Conway try six minutes from time with JJ Hanrahan’s touchline conversion levelling the scores at 21-all.

Connacht head coach Andy Friend was proud of his side’s performance despite slipping to a 32-17 Champions Cup defeat against Toulouse.

Leinster withstood a fierce onslaught from TOP14 leaders Lyon to grind out a hard-fought 13-6 Heineken Champions Cup win at the Stade de Gerland.

A brave Connacht effort, which looked like repeating their shock 2013 win here, came up short in the end as Andy Friend’s men left Toulouse without a point to show for their efforts.

In the throes of the action, I’ll be like every other fan, intrigued by Racing 92’s Heineken Cup visit to Thomond Park tomorrow.

Tadhg Furlong is a doubt for Leinster ahead of the province's Champions Cup clash with Lyon.

Not for the first time, Europe has proved the perfect antidote for pining Irish players looking for solace after the woes of an underwhelming World Cup campaign.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen hailed his returning international contingent after their 33-19 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby in their Heineken Champions Cup Pool One opener.

Munster head coach Johann Van Graan stressed the importance of his side’s last-minute try as it secured the province a 32-15 bonus-point win over Ospreys.

Peter O'Mahony praised Munster’s effort in securing a bonus-point victory on the road in Wales but was annoyed by his side’s ill-discipline as the province secured a 32-13 win over Ospreys on Saturday.

Leading 13-6 at half-time, Ireland wings Keith Earls and Andrew Conway put the game beyond Ospreys two tries in four minutes.

He was part of an impressive collective effort back in his home city for Benetton in the opening round of the Heineken Champions Cup.

Exeter Chiefs got their Champions Cup campaign off to a winning start with a 31-12 bonus point victory over La Rochelle at the Stade Marcel-Deflandre.

Garry Ringrose is still sporting a bandage to cover the head injury he picked up in Japan but a hat-trick of tries in this bonus-point Heineken Champions Cup win in Dublin suggests that there is no lingering hangover from Ireland's dismal World Cup showing.

Munster have moved to ease their fly-half problems by adding academy number 10 Ben Healy to their Heineken Champions Cup squad.