Donal Lenihan: Trip to Galway gives Andy Farrell that delightful frisson of excitement

With Andy Farrell set to announce his Ireland squad Wednesday for the autumn internationals, the performance of the weekend was delivered by Connacht with several of those players putting their hand up for inclusion

GREEN MACHINES: Connacht's Head Coach Stuart Lancaster and Sean Jansen after Saturday's stunning win over Saracens in the opening round of the Champions Cup at Dexcom Stadium in Galway. Pic: James Crombie, Inpho

Despite its many faults, the opening weekend of Champions Cup rugby proved the most competitive and entertaining witnessed in the pool phase of this tournament for a long, long time.

Right across the board, we had rugby of the highest quality with a far greater emphasis on attacking rugby than expected given the proliferation of line out maul tries that has become more commonplace since the recent tweak in law as to how you are allowed to defend against them.