DONAL LENIHAN: London calling for Munster and Ulster

Courtesy of that decisive win for Montpellier over Toulon on Saturday, qualification for the Heineken Cup quarter-finals via the one remaining best runners-up slot turned into the straight Leinster-Munster shoot-out Irish fans feared in advance of the weekend.

With the margin for error evaporating before their eyes, qualifying as eighth seed to face Harlequins in April came down to one storied Irish Heineken Cup champion staring down the other.

Leinster’s bonus point win over Exeter, scoring the minimum required four tries in the process, presented a very simple equation for Munster to advance at the expense of the reigning champions — beat Racing Metro with a four try bonus point. The only other outcome that could possibly derail Munster’s progression was the unlikely scenario Toulouse would lose to Leicester but accumulate two bonus points. In a Welford Road snowstorm, that was never going to happen.