Simon Zebo limped off eight minutes into Racing 92’s Top 14 victory over Clermont at the weekend, giving boss Laurent Travers an injury headache ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup return against Munster.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline

The Irish provincial video analysts will be busily plugging into footage of the French Top 14 ahead of this season’s European Champions Cup. All four representatives have been handed French assignments over the next three months - with Connacht getting a double helping.

They were patting down sweat-filled brows around RTÉ’s control bunker yesterday as Montrose battled technical glitches at the start of Hugh Cahill and Donal Lenihan’s television commentary from Yokohama.

A stirring second-half fightback from the Ireland Under-20s fell short as fortune favoured France in a 34-24 Six Nations win for the hosts in Bordeaux.