Adventures in French Auvergne

DESPITE an horrendous eight-hour delay in Clermont Airport last Sunday night, arriving in Dublin at 5am, I am looking forward to next weekend already.

These back-to-back series of games in the Heineken Cup have that effect on you.

The little narks and niggles that fester, the comments that grate and the sheer desire to rectify the issues that were a source of concern from the opening encounter (all in the course of only two meaningful training sessions), impose its own demands on the management teams.