“There’s no easy groups now at all.”
Devin Toner being nice and understated at Leinster’s press conference on Tuesday as the three-time European champions prepare for their Champions Cup opener against Castres on Saturday.
However Leinster’s pool is probably a little less terrifying than others, rounded off as it is by Montpellier and Northampton. Saturday’s visitors to the RDS are 11th in the Top 14 and the traditional English powerhouse are ninth in the Premiership. Granted, Montpellier are second in the Top 14 and assembling a Toulon-like collection of mercenaries.
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But, it is less daunting than Munster’s Pool. Rassie Erasmus’s team start out in Paris against Top 14 champions Racing Metro, before facing off against Glasgow and English heavyweights Leicester.
Even Ulster’s pool, consisting of Ian Madigan’s Bordeaux Begles, Exeter and perennial challengers Clermont Auvergne, looks daunting. Connacht have a real hope of progression thanks to Zebre joining them in Pool 2 alongside the terrifying playing squads of Toulouse and Wasps.
No PRO12 side made the knockout stages of the Champions Cup last year as the financial clout of the Premiership and Top 14 came to bear on the European competition.
The sheer depth of English pockets was illustrated when the Evening Standard reported that Saracens are lining up a pricey short-term deal bringing terrifying South African second row Eben Etzebeth to London as a replacement for recently retired captain Alistair Hargreaves.
Compare this to the three signings Munster announced last week – the resigning of released scrum-half Cathal Sheridan (unfortunately injured again at the weekend), hooker Rhys Marshall (a veteran of 22 Super Rugby appearances) and a three-month loan deal for Sharks prop Thomas du Toit.
All well-scouted and designed to compliment the existing Munster squad, no doubt, but it does not compare to signing a 53-cap Springbok and former IRB player of the year nominee, simply to fill a gap while your England locks Maro Itoje and George Kruis are on Six Nations duty.
It’s only four years since Leinster could attract World Cup winner Brad Thorn on a short-term contract. Things have changed a lot since 2012.
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