Not enough to simply thank our lucky stars

Let’s take a quick head count of Munster’s starting XV against Ulster in the Heineken Cup quarter-final.

Ardscoil Rís, St Munchin’s, St Munchin’s, PBC, CBC, PBC again, another Ardscoil alumni, Munchin’s... well, you get the picture. By my count, there’s 12 of Tony McGahan’s starters in red who’ve come through a handful of Munster’s rugby academies. The rest graduated from the school of hard knocks that is southern hemisphere rugby.

The point has been well presented before — and often from a high stool — regarding dependence on certain school blazers in Irish rugby.