Sunday Snippets

Leinster demolition job: Matt O”Connor’s Leinster side put a dismal Castres to the sword at the rDS on Saturday evening, with the Irish province bagging themselves all five match points courtesy of a 50-8 victory over the Top 14 side. Arguably the biggest anomaly of the European season to date, last year’s Top 14 runners up Castres, have been in pitiful form of late, languishing at the foot of the Top 14 to go with a single point from their endeavours in the Champions Cup. With the hosts in no mood for sympathy, no less than seven tries were accumulated by the home side, with Dave Kearney opening the try scoring account, finishing off a sublime first phase move on the inside line. Tries for Moore, Reddan and Cronin followed to ensure the bonus point was in the bag just on the stroke of halftime. Despite their endeavours in the second period, Castres rarely troubled the Leinster defensive effort, but did come close through Marcel Garvey, who left with his reputation in tact after a fine covering tackle on Rob Kearney midway through the second period. That second period was once more perpetuated by Leinster five pointers, this time a trio of replacements crossed in the shape of Tadhg Furlong, Darragh Fanning and Luke McGrath. McGrath’s try late on and Madigan’s conversion took the scoreboard to the half century mark and on a night when Leinster moved to the top of Pool 2, Matt O’Connor’s men deserve all the plaudits.

Exit door for Barcella: With the majority of French clubs now actively recruiting for the 2015-2016 season, Grenoble have confirmed the arrival of 2011 World Cup finalist Fabien Barcella. Once the talk of the prop world after some stellar Autumn International performance for France a few years back, Barcella has somewhat drifted off the radar thanks to a combination of injury and poor form. However, at 31, Barcella still has a lot to offer in terms of a front row forward and after joining Toulon from Biarritz last season, the 20 times capped loosehead is on the move once again. Having featured in just three games for the Toulon Galacticos this season, including just a solitary start, Barcella will join Grenoble in the hopes of a regular starting slot in the 1 jersey.

Ryan Sheady