The European Rugby Cup goes into the quarter-final stages over the weekend of December 11th-13th and Ulster and Munster continue to represent Irish interests. Looking at an analysis of the try-scoring and kicking ability of the various clubs, it appears that the French teams are good at scoring tries, but not so hot at place kicking.

Of the 11 top players listed as scoring tries, eight are French. The top three places are occupied by one Stade Francais and two Toulouse players, all of whom have scored seven tries in six matches.

In the kicking league, Ulster's Simon Mason tops the group of eight players with 97 points kicked in the campaign to date. However, only one French player appears here, Dominguez from Stade Francais.

The French are not so bad at kicking, yet exceptionally good at scoring tries. Running the ball rather than kicking it evidently pays dividends, after all there are now four French teams in the quarter-finals each with a realistic chance of going through to the next round.