So what have we missed in the last 174 days?

O2 Challenge 31/7/2010 Connacht/Munster vs Leinster/Ulster An Aerial view of the Aviva Stadium during the first match to be played there. Mandatory Credit ©INPHO/Norman McCloskey

The wait is almost over. At long last, 174 days after an Irish province heard the full-time whistle and the sport was thrown into darkness, Leinster and Munster will this evening get rugby on this island back up on its feet and carry it into a brave and strange new world.

When Connacht put the tin hat on a 29-19 victory over the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth back on March 1, few of us could have imagined it would be the last we would see of our professional teams for almost six months.