Owen Doyle

Andrea Piardi made some curious decisions but his officiating did not determine the result, which was admirable enough to match anything Munster have achieved down the years

Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster will have plenty of legitimate questions, but the final inquest will focus on off-field affairs

Munster may reinvigorate a great rivalry, and Jack Crowley showed why drop goals are so precious

Andrea Piardi was the best referee of the weekend showing game knowledge, decisiveness and communication

Tony Spreadbury, the European referee manager, will be scratching his head

Individual Unions are responsible for developing match officials and some are more interested than others

Outline includes nothing about how violent head collisions might be avoided during tournament

An incident in Australia suggested the new red card protocol will not take off if it leads to referees ignoring a key option

Adamson’s failure to produce a red card, not a yellow, for La Rochelle’s Colombe was a key moment in the French club’s narrow defeat of Gloucester

Players have a duty of care to their peers and nobody should forget the tragic case of Dani Czernuszka

Andy Farrell and his coaching team deserve great credit for Ireland’s disciplinary record, which contrats with England’s poor one

Given what Farrell’s men endured, it was a quite brilliant display which left the Scots bereft of ideas long before the end

Everyone is agreed the system needs to change to ensure player safety, but not everyone can agree on how to do it

Ireland got out of jail in their Six Nations game against Italy as McCloskey avoids yellow card

Owen Doyle: Concussions are occurring in school and club rugby and that puts the game in a high-risk place