Expect the unexpected this weekend in Europe

The ghosts of Christmases past will be circling around the four provinces this weekend as they prepare for the unique demands that come with the traditional back-to-back December rounds in the Heineken Champions Cup.

At no other time of year do clubs in the northern hemisphere meet an opponent on successive weekends, and three of the Irish sides go into action this week knowing the men facing them will have been stung by defeat the first time around.