Racing 92 will have to find another gear to compete with Leinster - Neil Best

A wise man proportions his belief to the evidence

It’s a great shame for Irish rugby that this season’s European Rugby Champions Cup Final won’t be a Leinster v Munster one. It would have been special and spectacular. This year’s final is the first hosted outside the geography of the old five nations, and despite the prominence of Irish rugby, it will be the first time we’ve had an Irish finalist in six years. And 2012 was the only all Irish final in the history of the competition -when an unforgiving Leinster ruthlessly destroyed Ulster optimism.

Since 2012 rugby’s premier European Final has been all about the English and the French. I genuinely feel for Munster fans -their team having fallen just short of the final half a dozen times since their last final appearance back in 2008 -they know how special and infrequent these opportunities can be. And for me Munster were the only club in Europe that might have been capable of derailing Leinster. As it stands, I can see no other outcome than Leinster pulling alongside Toulouse as four-time European winners.

The statistics told the tale of the weekend semi-finals. Leinster haven’t lost to the Scarlets this season beating them at home and drawing away. Welsh rugby hasn’t had a finalist since the first Heineken Cup Final way back in 1996. With Leinster at home and close to full strength, there was only going to be one winner. Leinster once again showing themselves to be unforgiving and ruthless.

In France, Racing 92 started strong and Munster left far too much to make up in the second half. But the statistics were with Racing too. There has been a French finalist every year since the all Irish affair of 2012. Racing 92 themselves lost out to Saracens in the 2016 final, and Munster having to travel to France made the task just that little bit tougher.

Racing 92 impressive as they were, will have to find at least another gear to compete with Leinster -and Leinster at times feel capable of finding gears other club sides haven’t even contemplated. For me the evidence of the weekend strongly points to Leinster returning to the European club rugby throne -and they could be there for a few seasons to come.

Elsewhere in Irish rugby Ulster’s stunning second-half PRO14 demolition of Glasgow can’t pass without mention. It keeps them in the mix for Champion’s Cup rugby next season and was a fine home send off for the retiring or departing Tommy Bowe, Charles Piutau and Paul Marshall -who’s performance in the second half should have Ulster pleading with him to stay on board for one more season.

The weekend also produced a solid rumour that either Leinster’s Joey Carberry or Ross Byrne will be forced by the IRFU to leave for Ulster, to fill the void left by Paddy Jackson. My advice to the IRFU -Ulster fans don’t want reluctant players at their club next season -they’d much sooner give their own youth products a chance -now go and ask Leinster fans what they think.

There is nothing which we receive with so much reluctance as advice.