IRISH sides experienced a mixed bag of results across the ECPR Champions and Challenge Cups in the third round of pool fixtures.
Ulster’s loss against Leicester was the only black mark with Munster, Leinster and Connacht winning in their European fixtures.
Leinster came out on top against 2023 European champions La Rochelle at Stade Marcel-Deflandre in a two-point win.
These two sides have formed somewhat of a rivalry in recent years, meeting in the last two Champions Cup campaigns; Leinster winning in the semi-final stage last year and former Ireland out-half Ronan O’Gara leading La Rochelle to victory in the final the year before.
Jacques Nienaber’s men started the game off slowly, knowing the size of the task ahead of them.
The defence of the French outfit proved to be a stubborn beast to tame and would rarely slip over the course of the 80 minutes.
Cian Prendergast kicked three penalties and a conversion to finish the game with 11 points.
The young Ireland international was the difference between the sides as Irish international second-row Joe McCarthy finished off a flowing passing move in the second half to get the game’s first try and Prendergast’s kick would be the winning points.
La Rochelle tried to mount a late resurgence with Dillyn Leyds exhibiting clever kicking to get the ball from under his feet and over the line but Antoine Hastoy, Rochelle’s kicker, missed the crucial conversion from a tight angle to make it level.
Leinster continued their unbeaten record in the United Rugby Championship and the Champions' Cup with a heavyweight win in western France.
Munster defeated English side Saracens after two quick second-half tries from Dian Bleuler and John Hodnett saw the province take one step closer to the knock-out stages of the premier European competition.
It was a cagey first half for the Red Army as Jack Crowley’s penalty was the only number the side had to show for the first period, with Alex Lozowski’s two penalties pushing the London-based Saracens ahead at the break.
Bleuler snuck across the line after Gavin Coombs broke the field and came up inches short, shortly after which Hodnett finished off a move started by an excellent Crowley kick.
Kicks from Elliot Daly and Lozowski sandwiched between the Munster tries rounded up the scoring and it was the Southerners' day in the end.
The province now hopes Castre Olympique will do them a favour by beating Saracens in the last round of fixtures to seal qualification.
In the Challenge Cup, Connacht Rugby came out on top against French opponents Lyon as they qualified for the knock-out rounds of the competition.
The Westerners gave a good account of themselves in Galway as they recorded a bonus point win.
The match started off well for the Irish side as Cian Prendergast intercepted a stray pass and offloaded to Ben Murphy whose blistering pace proved too much for Olympique Universitaire and he grounded after running from his own 22-metre line.
Back row Sean Jansen then got the turn of a maul and put the ball over the line and Finlay Bealham added a third, bringing the score to 19-3 before 20 minutes had passed.
After Lyon pulled a try back, Ben Murphy added his second of the night to round off the half.
Josh Murphy continued the scoring form before Ben Murphy completed his hat-trick, with the second assist from Chay Mullins.
Another try from Lyon added some extra excitement for the travelling French fans but it had little effect on the outcome as Jack Aungier, Dylan Tierney-Martin and Shamus Hurley-Langton also touched down for the side as they ran out 52-24 victors at Dexcom Stadium.