Pro12 sides lead charge against English and French heavyweights in Europe

Dec 13, 2016

The dominance of Leinster, Munster, Glasgow and Ulster in the Champions Cup was a result of performances as eye-catching as their results

So let’s just examine the old scoreboard. Leinster, Munster, Ulster and Glasgow played Northampton, Leicester, Clermont Auvergne and Racing Métro in the European Rugby Champions Cup last weekend and the supposed English and French heavyweights, as they say on television sports-news bulletins, may want to look away now. Adding the four results together makes for distinctly one-sided reading.

So here are those stats in full: Pro12 4 Premiership/Top14 0. Tries scored 16, tries conceded 7. Points for 137, points against 56. A star-studded Wasps did beat Connacht at home on Sunday but even that was less than straightforward. How different it feels to a year ago when Ireland’s proud provinces could barely win a game in Europe and failed to have a team in the last eight for the first time since 1997-98.

Tags: European Rugby Champions Cup Glasgow Rugby Leinster Munster Rugby union Sport Ulster Rugby