Cup has worked wonders for Irish game

Not even in Tom Kiernan's wildest dreams could he have envisaged it panning out quite like this. There's arguably never been a better year for Irish rugby than 2006, certainly not in the professional era, and there's undoubtedly never been a better competition for the game here than the Heineken European Cup. So it was fitting that it took its latest end-of-year break with another clean sweep by the Irish trio.

When historians trace the remarkable rejuvenation in Irish rugby they will assuredly date it back to Ulster's 1999 triumph and Munster's epic march to the 2000 decider. It's all flowed since then, and accordingly all of the 14 clean sweeps by the Irish triumvirate have come since the 2000-2001 season.

The latest was marked by excellent individual performances all over the place: Peter Stringer's razor-sharp skills, the potency of the number eights Denis Leamy and Jamie Heaslip, the emergence of Trevor Hogan (possibly the best performance of his career so far) and Darragh Hurley, the brilliant opportunism of David Humphreys, and on and on.

Nor were Irish heroics confined to the Irish provinces.

Following Simon Easterby's awesome all-round performance for Llanelli against Toulouse, there was the sight of Shane Jennings and Geordan Murphy at their brilliant best for Leicester. Once again you see Murphy's visionary ability to serve up tries on a silver salver for team-mates and wonder why he isn't used more like that in an Ireland jersey. It remains an enigma wrapped in a riddle.

Yet Leicester, and Gloucester, continue to loom large, while Toulouse's remarkable capitulation was bad news for Ulster.

So on the premise that nothing serves as a better barometer than at least one, preferably two and ideally three provinces in the last eight, if the gloom and doom was a little overplayed exactly this time a year ago, so too would undue optimism be now.

Realistically, about 15 teams (including Ulster) remain in contention, with only the Italian trio, the Scottish duo, Cardiff, Bourgoin, London Irish and Toulouse out of the running for those cherished but dastardly difficult last-eight places.

The climax to the group stages looks like it will be as enthralling as ever, with perhaps only four, and no more than half-a-dozen, obvious dead rubbers over the final two weekends, and the Welsh rejuvenation and probable participation in the last eight is good for the tournament.

One is loath to disagree with Munster coach Declan Kidney, especially when it comes to the umpteen permutations the last round or two of the pool stages invariably throw up, but the dramatic 88th-minute bonus point Munster claimed on Saturday could yet give them invaluable room for manoeuvre.

Whatever Leicester do at home to Cardiff on Saturday, January 13th, Munster must match the next day against Bourgoin in Geneva to retain their four-point lead going into the spine-tingling, emotional Thomond Park farewell clash between the Irish and English standard-bearers.

If that is the case Munster will have qualified for the last eight with 22 or 23 points but would need at least a bonus point, while denying Leicester one, to top the group and earn a home quarter-final.

Of course, losing at Thomond Park is not an option. Effectively, as Kidney has maintained all along, they're going to need six wins from six.

Leinster are similarly placed but, with Pool Six liable to throw up one of the best two runners-up, could yet be squeezed out of the last eight if they don't win Pool Two.

Here again, they need to match whatever Gloucester do away to Agen the night before they entertain Edinburgh in Donnybrook to maintain their four-point lead over the Cherry and Whites before their last-round rendezvous in Kingsholm on Friday, January 19th. If that is the case, then Gloucester would have to do more than just beat Leinster; they would have to win with a bonus point and deny Leinster one.

A lot done, but a heck of a lot more to do.

Unless the GAA suddenly and unexpectedly make Croke Park available, both provinces would be obliged to seek alternative grounds outside Ireland for any home quarter-final. In addition to the proposed redevelopment of Lansdowne Road, Munster plan to start the staged redevelopment of Thomond Park immediately after the Leicester match with a view to having the ground available, if not in totality, for the scheduled resumption of the European Cup in November.

The World Cup ensures a month's delay to the start of the 2007-2008 season, always presuming there is a tournament.

In the circumstances, a future without the European Cup is too grim and too ridiculous to contemplate, yet the threat appears real enough and emanates from both a predictable and an appropriate source, the English and French clubs flexing their pecs as much with their own union or federation as with the ERC.

Renewing the Paris Accord is caught in the crossfire of the battle between, on the one hand, Serge Blanco and the French clubs and, on the other hand, Canal+ over the lucrative deal for rights to the Top 14, the French TV company being miffed that teams sometimes rest Test players rather than flog them for 40-plus matches a season.

If the opening four salvos of the European Cup, in tandem with the autumn Tests, have shown us anything, it is that the French frontliners are even more overplayed than their international counterparts.

The Top 14 is too top heavy with clubs, with games and, hence, with too many overseas players (amazingly, over 50 per cent). The conveyor belt from the club academies has slowed to a trickle.

Take the example of Agen. The club that gave French rugby Daniel Dubroca, Abdel Benazzi and Pierre Berbizier among others is festooned with players of differing nationalities. They had one French forward in the first match against Leinster and just two in the second, and the flakiness of Juan Miquel was indicative of France's apparent inability to produce outhalves.

Clive Woodward was recently hogging the headlines when bizarrely claiming their World Cup win was the worst thing to ever happen English rugby. While it may have covered over the cracks in England, frankly no matter how much partisanship Les Bleus generate on home soil, it's hard to see French rugby being burdened with the same mantle of world champions.