Sean O’Brien: Irish provinces can match the best

Ireland’s provinces remain every bit as capable of seeing off the biggest and best English and French clubs the European game has to offer, according to Sean O’Brien who is desperate for another crack at reigning champions Toulon.

The presence of just one Irish side — O’Brien’s Leinster — in the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup next April is evidence of a dip in the fortunes of the provinces who had dominated the Heineken Cup for much of the previous decade.

Extravagant sums are being poured into the game in France, and some of the top English clubs are eager to expand the salary cap in operation there to keep pace, but O’Brien believes the financial factor is being overblown.