This European saviour never ceases to amaze

AFTER THE dreariness and frustrations for players, coaches and fans alike, prompted by the game's lawmakers and the processional nature of the Southern Hemisphere rout in November, so another vintage Heineken Cup began saving the season yet again. Where would European rugby be without it?, writes Gerry Thornley

There was so much drama, so many nail-biting finishes. Six of the weekend's 12 games were one-score matches - and that's not including the Thomond Park encounter.

Hereabouts, though, with Ulster's striking improvements coming too late to give them a chance of making the quarter-finals, the dog-eared debate has centred on the starkly contrasting performances of Munster and Leinster, and one could imagine many Leinster fans who have Munster work colleagues ringing in sick yesterday.

Comparisons are particularly odious for them and it just seems too trite to attribute it all to a contrasting willingness to die for the red or blue jerseys, to the relative degrees of passion and commitment the two teams play with.

But as one former player of both provinces puts it: where is the soul of the Leinster team? Which players represent that soul? With Munster, ask the same question and about six or nine names immediately spring to mind, and among those would be Peter Stringer.

As critical had been the organisation and, the discipline in defence which Munster had applied in absorbing so much pressure, no one was more instrumental than the ultra-brave Tomás O'Leary. But Ronan O'Gara seemed to take five paces as soon as Stringer entered the fray and it's doubtful that that eight-phase drive for Marcus Horan would have been possible without the speed of Stringer's distribution.

In light of his performance against the All Blacks, and with defences so well organised and not obliged to over-commit to rucks or defending mauls, Stringer still has more to offer than eight-minute cameos here and there; for both Munster and Ireland.

Winning matches from losing positions, and for that matter vice versa, seems to be almost part of the teams' respective DNAs. It's clear that Munster have an inner belief in their own ability to win matches late on from having done it so many times. Alas, Leinster's implosion also revived memories of previous mishaps on the road. For Castres in '07, read Edinburgh last season and Bourgoin the season before.

Once again Leinster seemed to panic under pressure. Maybe it comes with the territory of past failures and the expectations and harsher media that comes with being a capital city club. Possibly lured by their early try, tactically it was a very muddled performance, for Castres were there for the taking had they turned the screw and played more territory in that first 30 minutes. Interestingly, Luke Fitzgerald's break up the middle for Jonathan Sexton's try came from a scrum - when they were obliged to come from five metres behind the hindmost foot.

But a catalogue of missed place kicks, awful work at the breakdown (15 turnovers to add to the 18 of a week before) and curious decision-making invited Castres back into the game, all of which was compounded by a puzzling use of the bench when the exchanges seemed to be crying out for Seán O'Brien and also Trevor Hogan.

Leinster can still top their pool, but almost certainly have to win in Twickenham - looking across the pools, 20 points might not be enough to get them through, and with so much history between the two, you just know that Edinburgh won't roll over in round six.

They need to regroup with a degree of calmness but also honesty, including Michael Cheika and his coaches; none of whom can be completely happy with their efforts. Having clearly been struggling with his hamstring, Brian O'Driscoll looks in need of a rest, whereas Felipe Contepomi looks like he needs games. With Isa Nacewa, Leo Cullen and CJ van der Linde to come back, all is not lost. It's not a disaster yet. It's just that they've blown a great chance to virtually assure themselves of a home quarter-final.

Cardiff's win in Biarritz was arguably the performance of the weekend, but Harlequins' 27-phase drive for Nick Evans' winning drop goal was almost beyond belief. The way Evans twice dummied to have a drop goal and instead made scything breaks, before then taking on the responsibility of putting the game on the line and nailing the drop goal, was out of the Joe Montana or Brett Favre schoolbook of match-winning drives. Absolutely every member of that Harlequins team could feel they contributed to that score. From a strictly neutral perspective, it was probably the highlight of the weekend. Certainly Sky Sports seemed to think so and, to their credit, they are virtually free of an Anglophile bias.

But, sorry, given the new diktat at the breakdown about players going to ground - specifically designed to stop the kind of "pick-and-jam" with which Munster famously closed out the Heineken Cup final against Toulouse last May - many fellow referees, coaches, players and fans alike would have wondered whether Nigel Owens was applying that diktat or conveniently overlooking it in the throes of a thrilling finale. And that's overlooking the fairly blatant knock-on by Ugo Monye in the 11th phase which both Owens and his touchjudge somehow managed to miss.

Put it this way, if you were Stade Francais you were entitled to feel a little robbed. Ditto Clermont. Although after giving such a wonderfully controlled and dominant performance with 14 men their gripes would be less so with the officials than with the mystical powers of Munster in their Limerick bear pit.

Coming after Leinster's implosion, watching Munster struggle to overcome 14 men at home, ultimately resorting to the inner belief that is most pronounced when wearing the red jersey at Thomond Park, the thought occurred that maybe this explains why Ireland aren't equipped to do better at international level. It doesn't help that their lineout maul has been denuded (but why, no less than all other referees, didn't Chris White enforce the ELV with regard to pulling it down from below the waist?)

But then the thought also occurred than no less than when playing Clermont last season - or when Leinster played Toulouse - these two French outfits are probably better than a misfiring France at the moment.

And that's the Heineken Cup for you.

gthornley@irishtimes.com