Some of the reaction to Ireland’s defeat by England last weekend has been crazy, writes Donal Lenihan.

You can hear the excitement in Ian Whitten’s voice as he described the feeling of being in an Exeter Chiefs back-line when everything comes together. The bad news for Munster is that the Ulsterman experienced that buzz only last weekend as the Chiefs put Castres to the sword to set up tomorrow’s pivotal Heineken Champions Cup pool finale at Thomond Park.

Munster reclaimed their grip on Pool 2 and took a giant step towards an 18th European quarter-final as they claimed a bonus-point Heineken Champions Cup win over Gloucester with a stunning performance at Kingsholm.

Over the years, when their backs were firmly pressed against the wall, Munster always found a way to prevail in Europe, writes Donal Lenihan.

Neither Bath nor Leinster have taken a scalpel to their fifteens this week. The weather, that brutal cocktail of wind, rain and cold, will be more of the same. Talk to Leo Cullen, though, and he will tell you that little else stays the same come the second of these back-to-back European encounters.

The opening European home game of the season is upon us and what a fine time it would be for Munster’s developing team and game plan to click into place.

The perseverance of some players is necessary to overcome damaging perceptions of them, writes Ronan O’Gara

The challenge for Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster is to keep players firmly focused on the task at hand in the face of the inevitable plaudits that will accompany last weekend’s incredible performance, says Donal Lenihan.

Johann van Graan praised Keith Earls’s selflessness in putting his side first after ruling himself out of Munster’s European clash at Exeter just before kick-off.

THAT was a game Munster will be glad to have put behind them. Johann van Graan’s side will attack with relish preparations for this Saturday’s visit of Gloucester, after returning home from a daunting, Heineken Champions Cup pool opener, at Exeter Chiefs, with a lot more than expected.

Peter O’Mahony believes Joey Carbery’s talent and rapid adjustment to life at Munster is helping the young Ireland fly-half quickly get on the same page as his new team-mates.

The ride into Exeter was not for the faint of heart, Munster’s charter flight buffeted violently in gale force winds. The landing was pretty white-knuckled too, not helped by the knowledge that five earlier flights had been diverted at that stage. It all made for a strong test of the constitution which would serve Johann van Graan’s men well on Saturday at Sandy Park, writes Donal Lenihan.

Johann van Graan’s bid to get his first full European campaign off to a winning start could not have come in more difficult circumstances, yet the Munster head coach has learned enough in his short time in charge to expect the unexpected on Heineken Champions Cup away days.

A new Heineken Champions Cup season, and for the first time in nine seasons a new destination for Munster supporters as they journey to Exeter for the opening pool game of the 2018-19 campaign.

The size of the task facing Munster in their Heineken Champions Cup opener at Exeter Chiefs has been made loud and clear, with home captain Gareth Steenson believing his side are finally ready for a serious European challenge.

Irish rugby, to borrow a phrase made famous by Harold McMillan, has never had it so good, says Brendan O’Brien.

Keith Earls is confident Munster’s game is coming together nicely as they prepare to visit English league leaders Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park on Saturday.

When the RFU eventually begins their search to find a replacement for Eddie Jones, there is no need for them to scour the globe.

Jean Kleyn is adamant Munster can hit the ground running in Europe when they open the new Heineken Champions Cup campaign at Exeter Chiefs on Saturday.

Munster’s squad depth ahead of the new campaign was given a stern test by English heavyweights Exeter Chiefs as Johann van Graan’s team was well beaten in Cork last night.

Munster are set to return to terrestrial airwaves for the first time in 12 years after their Heineken Champions Cup round two clash with Gloucester was chosen for free-to-air broadcast.

Every position in the back line has been filled by Leinster’s Isa Nacewa, including scrum-half where he excelled in one game last season when Luke McGrath was sinbinned. The veteran New Zealander even scored a try while holding that fort, writes Brendan O’Brien

The Champions Cup may be heading into a brief period of hibernation but not even the prospect of one of the most competitive Six Nations championships for some time will dampen the enthusiasm for the tournament’s return in April, writes Donal Lenihan.

CJ Stander believes Johann van Graan will have headaches finalising his back-row trio for next Sunday’s all-important European Champions Cup game against Racing 92.

Sean Cronin has shipped a few blows lately.

As Munster’s on-field coordinator, Billy Holland has to size up the opposition, attack vulnerable areas, and decide where to target, writes Donal Lenihan.

Leinster 22 Exeter Chiefs 17: There are any number of arbitrary ways to measure a team’s progress, but it seemed the obvious thing to think back to Leinster’s semi-final loss to Clermont Auvergne last April as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday evening.

Leinster overcame the reigning English champions and league leaders for the second time in six days this evening.

Leo Cullen is hoping that Stuart Lancaster continues to ignore the whispers connecting him to vacant posts in the Aviva Premiership, with Northampton Saints the latest role to be painted as a good fit for the former England head coach.

All games carry a narrative, but the storyline tends to be written in a particularly prominent bold type in the run up to Christmas when the Champions Cup delivers its glut of back-to-back fixtures.

Exeter is a club that has never been asked to run before it could walk and that has fashioned an inexorable rise, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Joe Schmidt must have loved the manner of Leinster’s win last week. 

Leinster are the team to beat, the No. 1 in Europe’s power rankings. And Munster are No. 2, writes Ronan O’Gara.

Exeter’s Champions Cup engagement with Leinster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday is unlikely to be the time to stop and smell the roses.

Now I get it. After my maiden visit to Sandy Park, nestled in the picturesque city of Exeter, I understand why Donncha O’Callaghan has described the reigning Aviva Premiership champions as everyone’s second favourite team in England, says Donal Lenihan.

The understandably grumpy figure cut by Leicester captain Tom Youngs at Thomond Park on Saturday night was neatly representative of the English mood in general after a terrible weekend of Champions Cup results for Premiership clubs.

The past weekend was a golden one for the Irish provinces against their English counterparts, but Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster isn’t getting carried away with talk of a power shift in the Champions Cup.

Time and again, Leo Cullen has teed up a Champions League tie as a meeting of opposites.

Robbie Henshaw is back in the Leinster team for Sunday's crucial Champions Cup match against Exeter at Sandy Park.

Exeter Chiefs were a run-of-the-mill second-tier English side when Gareth Steenson arrived in 2008 and the Irish fly-half believes Leinster’s visit to Sandy Park will be the ultimate barometer of just how far the club has come since.

The physicality endemic to modern professional rugby is asking ever more of the game’s elite players but none reach the top without a thick skin.

NEXT weekend three Irish teams play three English teams in the European Champions’ Cup. Ulster travel to London to play Harlequins at the Twickenham Stoop, Leinster go to Sandy Park to play the Exeter Chiefs and Munster will again welcome Leicester Tigers at Thomond Park.