VMTV Rugby Pod | Alan Quinlan joins Stuart McAvoy to discuss European and URC rugby

Um, yeah, of course.

I think I, I, I ...

You know, we spoke last week, and I fancied both of them.

Um, not, not with my head, more so my heart, thinking that, um, they would find performances in the final and give themselves a real chance of, of possibly winning, both teams, both Ulster and Leinster.

But I suppose the reality of it, um, and it's hindsight's e- it's easy in hindsight to look at that, that power, that depth, um, that the French teams have.

You know, Montpellier are second in the league.

Bordeaux are down a couple of places.

They've lost a few, um, a few games, but they'll be in the mix again for, for the top 14.

And yeah, it's just, uh, it's a little bit of a scary reminder to everyone in, uh, in Ireland and the UK and, and, uh, just where the French teams are at, the power and the, the squad depth they have and, and the quality as well because it's, it's not just about power.

I don't think Leinster or, um, Ulster were completely overpowered.

I think they were more ruthless, the, the French teams.

I think you could probably argue on Friday night the Ulster game probably was telling.

Henderson, McCloskey, Stockdale were, were big misses for Ulster.

Um, I suppose the first, they started the game well.

You know, they were in the game, but just both sides just couldn't stem the tide and the ruthlessness of the French teams and, and maybe the heat played a factor as well.

I'm sure it did.

Um, but yeah, Montpellier produced their best performance in the final.

I think they ...

You know, that power up front and that maul strength, um, you know, got Ulster in the end, and, and just the way they managed the game as well.

And I suppose for Leinster, yeah, to start the game with a Tommy O'Brien try and, and look like they were ...

You get, you get a good start, exactly what you wanna do in a final, and, uh, Bordeaux were just ruthless in their attack and, and the tries they scored were ...

I think they'll be frustrating when Leinster look back and review this.

I think it was probably more frustration with respect to Leinster on, on, on, on Saturday that, um, they coughed up some easy scores, and the two tries just before halftime were the killers really.

But that's what happens when you're playing good teams.

They had, both sides had more possession, more territory in both games, the Irish sides had, and, uh, they just weren't clinical enough when, when, uh, when, when they needed to be and, and the opposition were.