Proper rugby came back with a vengeance at the weekend and reminded us what we have been missing for the past few months. The Guinness Pro 12, a bit like the national hurling and football leagues, just doesn’t carry championship intensity. We saw plenty of that from our Irish provinces last weekend and we’ll need to see more over the next few days if they are all to maintain an interest in this European Champions Cup.

Ulster were the only Irish side to lose, although they did secure a bonus point in defeat to Leicester. They have just seven days to rest before welcoming the two-time defending champions Toulon to Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon. This will be must-see rugby. At home, whether it is called Ravenhill or Kingspan Stadium, Ulster are close to invincible. Against French clubs, even more so. They have seen them all off on this ground in recent years, with famous wins against the likes of Toulouse when they were European kingpins.

The Gallic flair doesn’t travel too well and Belfast, like Limerick, can sometimes take a serious side down a collective notch. Toulon will face a test of their hat-trick credentials and if they are in one of their moods, they will pay for it. With the vociferous baying crowd behind them, Ulster will be in their face from the start. The ball will be in the air and the French will be under the Ulster microscope.

The lunchtime kick-off time is the only factor in Toulon’s favour – well, that and their undoubted class. The Ulster pack were a little morose in Leicester on Saturday; they will have to stand up and hit their opposing numbers with intent early on. Behind 19-3 and on the rack in Welford Road, Ulster showed something in battling back to a bonus point and Tommy Bowe’s classy try was the turning point.

Saturday’s is just the type of game in which Irish provincial sides revel. It’s not an ambush – it’s just set up like one. After this game comes the international break and it is simply crucial that Ulster win because they then have Scarlets on the double in December – both eminently winnable. Saturday is Ulster’s European season on the line. They can just get over it. That would do.

Munster

The same applies down south when Saracens come calling to Thomond for the first Friday night European clash in Limerick. This should bring its own pulse to a ground that is always livelier at night. It will be rambunctious and Saracens are the perfect team for the stadium’s Friday night debut. Players like Chris Ashton are simply tailor-made for occasions like this. Ashton is a fine player, a quality international, but he’s a showboating rugby player, embellishing his try-scoring with exaggerated dives over the line. That might pass for style in London, but for clued-in rugby country like Limerick, he’s a Hollywood type that must and will be brought down to size. Ashton will give as good as he gets, but get he will.

That’s just a small part of the prospective entertainment. Out-half Charlie Hodgson knows all about Munster – they have run over him before – while the excellent number eight Billy Vunipola is another who can expect the Thomond treatment. I will be in the stands for this match and if the heavens opened it wouldn’t be wide enough.

The Jekyll and Hyde of the Sale match must not be on show. This goes without saying because Munster in the first half on Saturday were as poor as we have seen them. Anthony Foley’s face said it all at the break; his team had zero intensity. The hairdryer obviously worked, mind you, although this is not a trick you want to be reaching for too often. Munster must put their foot on the Saracens’ throat early and never let it up. Their opponents have already collected a bonus-point win over Clermont and this was one of the most impressive results of last weekend. They are decent and after the break will have a beaten up and winless Sale for two games.

We need Munster to do a Munster on it. They will.

Leinster

The same applies to the most recent of our champions, Leinster. They’re in France to play one of the lesser French heavyweights, Castres, in a game they could do with winning. Sunday lunchtime is another strange hour to be playing rugby, but the Irish won’t mind. The French side were put on the ropes by Harlequins in London last weekend, losing 25-9, and it is up to Leinster now to apply the knockout punch because a loss to Heaslip and co will see the French done and dusted.

This is not beyond the boys in blue but they are still clearly struggling for form and only just got over the line against a game but limited Wasps last Sunday. With a vocal RDS behind them, the home side could not get the elusive fourth try and could rue that failure. Win on Sunday and perhaps it becomes moot because in reality the home and away against Quins will probably decide the pool.

With Connacht as expected the only Irish side with a bonus point win in Europe from week one, the takings were still rich enough for our provincial sides. This competition is expected to turn into an Anglo-French affair as the money sides eventually talk the talk, but all three of our grade one horses can win this weekend and plant serious play-off foundations.

In this format, a home defeat is almost certainly game over for the quarter-finals, so Munster and Ulster are under the greatest pressure – something their team and supporters always savour. The wind and the rain is back with us, the evenings are dark and it’s beginning to look a lot like winter. Optimum Thomond Park and Ravenhill conditions. CL