Donal Lenihan: Toulouse and Leinster look down from a lofty plateau

Munster are crying out for the stability a long-term director of rugby would bring and allow the new head coach to concentrate solely on the preparation and selection of the side.

STRENGTH IN NUMBERS - AND QUALITY: Leinster head coach Leo Cullen and Jordie Barrett arrive before Leinster rugby squad training at UCD in Dublin. Pic: Sam Barnes/Sportsfile

IT’S not that long ago since the Champions Cup was the biggest show in town, bigger for some provincial supporters than the Six Nations.

At the time, Ireland weren’t performing with anything like the consistency they are nowadays and for many Munster followers in particular, away trips to the magnificent French rugby strongholds of Clermont, Perpignan, and Toulouse became staple diets on the calendar around December and January.