This weekend, the Champions Cup semi-finals take place with Saracens taking on Wasps in the Madejski Stadium and the Leicester Tigers will play Racing 92 in the City Ground in Nottingham.
For those whose memory is in need of jogging, The Champions Cup was once named after its former sponsors Heineken and was one of the most beloved competitions among sports fans on this island.
Since its rebrand, it has lost its lustre in this country and, beginning this year, now boasts roughly the same profile and status in the Irish media as the Silk Cut Challenge Cup which was last year won by Leeds Rhinos who defeated Hull KR on a scoreline of 50-0. (We are informed that the competition is now sponsored by Ladbrokes rather than the old ciggie manufacturers).
Aside from the tenacious minority of rugby anoraks whose interest in the European Cup has survived this year's group stages, past experience strongly indicates that the upcoming semi-finals will pass the majority of Irish people by.
In their interest, we will give a classified rundown of the Champions Cup semi-final results on Monday morning. If you don't want to know the scores before then don't turn on Sky Sports or purchase a BT subscription in the meantime. Try and stay off English news websites as well (Irish websites should be all-right).
The death of interest in the Champions Cup has had some notable positive side-affects. The sorry exit of the Irish provinces from the group stage of the Champions Cup has done wonders for the profile of the Guinness Pro12, formerly regarded as a rinky dink consolation prize during the Irish heyday of the Heino Cup.
On the eve of the first semi-final, we instance a few events which the Irish people will find more of a draw than the Champions Cup semi-finals.
1. The Harvest Marine Shinty Premiership
Battle of the champs this weekend as reigning Camanachd Cup winners Lovat host last year's Premiership title holders Newtonmore on Saturday. The visitors may enjoy a psychological advantage as they defeated the hosts 3-0 in a recent RBS MacTavish Cup match.
2. The Indian Premier League
The Indians love their cricket more than anything else in the world. In the seminal year of 1992, Sky Sports executive Dave Hill described Britain's sporting preferences in order - "Football first, second and third." In India, one can substitute in the word cricket.
There are two big clashes in the IPL this weekend. The Delhi Daredevils take on the Mumbai Indians in the Feroz Shah Kotla Ground in Delhi in the afternoon. That evening, Sunrisers Hyperbad face the Kings VI Punjab. The following evening, the League leaders, the Kolkata Knight Riders face the Rising Pune Supergiants.
3. NRL action
The Canberra Raiders travel to the Wests Tigers tomorrow afternoon with pride on the line. The Raiders have recently suffered chastening losses to Parramatta and Cronulla.
The situation is acute for the Raiders. As Full-Back Joel Wighton said this week, "we've got to play good."
Elsewhere, the Dragons face the Sydney Roosters in Illawarra. The latter are the club of Mitchell Pearce, best known in this country for simulating a sex act with a dog.
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