You need breaks in any sport to win things. Connacht got them and took them on their march to the PRO12 title last season. It’s happening again in the Champions Cup this time round but there is nothing fortuitous about Pat Lam’s men being in prime position to make the quarter-finals for the first time in history. 

Leo Cullen has shrugged off the much vaunted new World Rugby laws relating to head contact, by suggesting nothing has changed with regard to how he’ll coach his team.