Comment: Munster will not kick on unless they buy some top-class talent

The recent restructuring of European competition, driven by the ever-increasing financial clout of the English and French clubs, had triggered a fear that the glory days of our provinces in Europe were being consigned to history and, while the changes, coincidental as they were with a relatively fallow period for our provinces, have so far turned out to be not as cataclysmic as feared, the return of Leinster and Munster to the last four in Europe was nonetheless most welcome.