Clubs get taste for Heineken chasers

RABOBANK Pro12 officials will continue to schedule derbies such as tonight’s Leinster-Munster games a week before the first round of the Heineken Cup in order to give their teams the best chance of achieving European success.

That represents very good news for the country’s two most successful provinces who have used these high-intensity interprovincial encounters to steel themselves for European rugby’s most demanding competition and reintegrate returning internationals to the ranks.

Coaches and players have spoken of the benefits of facing their greatest rivals at such a juncture even if the policy was questioned two seasons ago when Leinster and Munster lost their opening pool games on the back of a Magners League meeting in Dublin.