Gleeson confident Lions pack can pass gruelling French test

AT half-time in Ravenhill last Saturday, the odds of Leinster avoiding defeat appeared between slim and none.

For the previous 40 minutes, the visitors had played with an almost Siberian wind at their backs but, by the interval, only led 3-0.

Without the services of the injured Felipe Contepomi at 10, things went from bad to worse when emergency tighthead prop Fosi Pala’amo was forced off. And yet, in the end, it was Ulster who were left glancing at the clock.