That's more like it from Leinster. The youthful looking Leinster team seemed to many to be an affront to the European competition, with English and French fans saying that Leinster were fielding a weakened team because they were already out.
But 'Cullens Cubs' showed people that they are here to stay with Leinster's first win in Europe this season. The youngsters dazzled, with 21-year-old Leo Cullen clone Ross Molony winning man of the match, openside flanker Josh van der Flier outplaying Springbok Francois Louw, and scrumhalf Luke McGrath showing why many consider him a future Lion.
But it was Garry Ringrose who most people were impressed with. Winning the one-on-one battle with England's Jonathan Joseph, it lead to Sky Sports pundits Shane Horgan and Will Greenwood debating whether it's time to put Ringrose onto the international stage after just his first European start:
When asked whether he thought Ringrose should start for Ireland ahead of the in-form Luke Marshall, Horgan was adamant that he should, although he mentioned some other contenders for the job:
Ahead of Luke Marshall yeah. But whether that is the selection criteria I don't know. There's a number - we've got Henshaw there, Luke Fitzgerald is going very well in the centre as well, Jared Payne. So that's a very tricky position - but I think he (Ringrose) will play again for Leinster next week, see how he goes there. And then bring him into the squad certainly.
As Horgan says:
We thought we'd struggle for centres after Brian O'Driscoll and Gordon D'Arcy retired, there's centres everywhere.
Thank god.
See Also: Ireland's Form XV Shows How Many Tough Choices Schmidt Will Have To Make
Picture credit: Stephen McCarthy / SPORTSFILE