Schmidt happy with his ‘mix’

FEW would have foreseen a scenario whereby Leinster — and Munster — would be hoping to emulate Brive when the Heineken Cup started last November but such is the rather strange way of things as the pool stages fade into memory.

It’s been 15 years since the unfashionable French side thumped Dean Richards’ Leicester Tigers in the final at the Cardiff Arms Park to become the first, and still the only, club to navigate an entire Heineken Cup campaign without loss.

So much has changed since.