And like that he was gone. The Long Goodbye we had called it all season. The last game for Ireland in Dublin. The very last game for Ireland, in Paris. The last Heineken Cup appearance, which turned out to be in Toulon. And then this. The last game. Period.

CONOR O’SHEA will keep Harlequins playing the high-tempo rugby that put Munster to the sword when the Londoners meet Michael Cheika’s Stade Francais tonight.