1. Another big shift from Andrew Porter

With 72 minutes on the clock at Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Leo Cullen finally sent in his final replacement. On went Michael Milne, off went Andrew Porter. It was the second Saturday running where Porter was asked to play 72 minutes, with Milne getting less than 20 minutes across those two fixtures.

Porter has a massive engine for a front-rower and his coaches aren’t afraid of putting plenty of minutes into his legs. It’s a luxury to have a loosehead with those fitness levels but it’s also a reminder of how Leinster’s propping stocks have looked a little light recently, with Cian Healy covering tighthead during Tadhg Furlong’s injury troubles and loosehead Ed Byrne also sidelined.

As well as playing 144 minutes out of a possible 160 against Gloucester and Racing, Porter went the full 80 against Munster on St Stephen’s Day – other notable shifts this season include Australia (72mins), South Africa (68mins) and New Zealand (80mins, 64mins and 58mins).

Porter has developed into a world class loosehead but Leinster and Ireland need him to stay fresh heading into the tail-end of a long, demanding season so it will be interesting to see how his minutes are managed from here.

Leinster will move toward using a different group of players with the Six Nations approaching and it’s a good opportunity to give Milne more exposure. The Offaly man is highly rated at the province but has made just one start this season. At 23, he’s still a raw talent but if he can make the right impression over the next few weeks, maybe Porter will be able to put his feet up a bit more often.

- Ciarán Kennedy

2. Connacht set for different path

Connacht’s progress through the pool stages of the Challenge Cup had proceeded without incident – three wins from three games, two of those with the added value of bonus points – and left them in a healthy state heading to Newcastle on Saturday evening. A bonus point win at Kingston Park would have set them on a route to the final that would contain fixtures only in Ireland.

Dejected Connacht players. Tom Maher / INPHO Tom Maher / INPHO / INPHO

But that pathway was scuppered by a Falcons side, who charged into the game despite being already eliminated before kick-off. Andy Friend defended the team selection, star names like Jack Carty and Bundee Aki, marked absent, but the loss, despite the try-scoring heroics of Finlay Bealham, leaves Connacht now facing a different prospect.
An away trip to Italy to face Benetton now beckons on the first weekend of April. Perhaps the outcome is not surprising considering Connacht’s truly wretched record in encounters in England, they have now lost 27 times out of 30 matches.

3. Ulster impress against Sale

It was difficult to constitute an admittedly stirring defeat in La Rochelle last weekend as a turning point but at Kingspan Stadium on Saturday night, Ulster indicated with more than just their victory against Sale at Kingspan that they have left their recent wobbles in their rearview.

All of Dan McFarland’s senior players parked their patchy periods of form and stood up: Jacob Stockdale, whose inclusion in Ireland’s Six Nations squad last week turned heads, looked positively imbued by the faith shown in him by Andy Farrell and showed glimpses of his old self.

Duane Vermeulen, who had stated publicly last week that his teammates might as well pack their things and go home if they didn’t believe Ulster could win the Champions Cup this season, backed up his words with an inspiring display. John Cooney, deservedly overlooked for Nathan Doak of late, was hugely influential off the bench.

But perhaps most impressive was how Ulster as a collective kicked on in the final quarter, a period in which they have more often faltered than not in big games this season.

A familiar foe awaits in the last 16 and while the nature of their defeat to a 14-man Leinster in December might have directly caused their recent tailspin, this Ulster side won’t have to look too far into its past to know that if they get everything right, they have the capacity to take their provincial opponents to the wire in the next round.

- Gavan Casey

4. John Ryan will be missed by Munster

The fact that he was let go in the first place still rankles with many of them and now Munster fans will have to come to terms with losing John Ryan all over again. The 34-year-old tighthead prop is off to the Chiefs in New Zealand after next weekend’s game against Benetton and his performance for Munster in Toulouse underlined why Ryan such a good signing for the Kiwi side.

His scrummaging was superb against the vaunted Toulousain pack, while he came up with a pivotal breakdown turnover just before half time as he contributed handsomely around the pitch too. It has been a tumultuous time in Ryan’s career, dealing with the disappointment of Munster letting him go in the first place, the excitement of his move to Wasps, followed by the sudden loss of his job when the English club went bust.

Returning to Munster on a short-term deal suited Ryan, of course, but Munster have arguably gained more from it. His six starts have shown that the Cork man still has a huge amount to offer. With 24 Ireland caps on his CV too, Ryan now departs for New Zealand for what should be a brilliant adventure. As for Munster, Roman Salanoa’s improvement is promising and the experienced Stephen Archer is still around, although Keynan Knox remains sidelined by a knee injury.

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