Donal Lenihan: Destination Durban as frustrated Munster head south to face Sharks

Edinburgh’s dramatic win over Saracens on the back field at Murrayfield handed Munster the nightmare scenario of an additional trip to South Africa

BRACED FOR IMPACT: Ben Healy of Munster in action against David Ainu'u, left, and Pierre-Louis Barassi of Toulouse during the Heineken Champions Cup Pool B Round 4 match between Toulouse and Munster at Stade Ernest Wallon in Toulouse, France. Pic: Brendan Moran/Sportsfile

With all three Irish participants in this season's Heineken Champions Cup through to the knockout phase and Connacht, despite a disappointing defeat in Newcastle, also advancing in the Challenge Cup, it proved a decent weekend all round for the Irish in Europe.

Any pre-match nerves or anxiety the Munster party may have been feeling in advance of departure from Shannon airport on Saturday were all but eased by the time they arrived at their hotel base in Toulouse. By then, results elsewhere decreed that their advancement to the Round of 16 was already guaranteed, removing the element of jeopardy associated with an always-challenging trip to the Stade Ernest-Wallon.