Time for IRFU to state its intention for provinces

Call it coincidence, but there was a prescient air of doom and gloom — amongst media and supporters at any rate — among the Pro12 sides heading into Round 2 of the Champions Cup. With good reason, as it transpired.

The only comfort, if that is the right word, in Munster’s postponed trip to Paris to play Top 14 champions Stade Francais is that it prevented a Pro12 whitewash.

Since the World Cup, much has been made of the gulf between the northern and southern hemisphere’s best at that tournament and, even more recently, the growing disparity on the European stage between the English and French clubs against the rest.