The fortunes and performances of the Irish provinces in the European Cup last weekend have carried the Irish a stage further towards gaining qualification for the knock-out stages: Played three, won two and drew one.

In contrast, it was played six, lost five and drew one for the six English representatives. That may concentrate minds and help curb some of the unedifying infighting and mistrust that continues in the game in England. If The RFU (English Rugby Union) is not fighting with the International Board, the other members of the six nations or the European Rugby Cup (ERC), they are fighting among themselves. It does nothing but damage the image of the game and does not help English rugby.

Saturday and Sunday were two very productive days for Irish rugby. It must be stressed that we have only reached the halfway point in the pool stages. All teams have to play three more matches and in the pools involving Munster, Leinster and Ulster, three teams are still in contention in all three.

Without being in any way complacent, looking at the tables, one is entitled to feel a glow of satisfaction and pride in the context of the Irish provinces' achievements. Munster and Leinster are on top of their groups and Ulster is also in with great chances of making the knockout stages.

Last weekend surely marked the last hurrah for the defending champions Northampton. Like Ulster last season in the aftermath of their triumph 12 months previously, Northampton has failed badly to offer any kind of vigorous defence of the trophy.

In contrast to that, Munster's near miss last season - nothing's more galling, frustrating or disappointing than a one-point defeat - has certainly not had any adverse effect. On the contrary the spirit in the side is truly remarkable, the hunger still insatiable. Thomond Park last Saturday was another memorable experience.

There was a wonderful atmosphere. Bath and their supporters will readily testify to that. All the great characteristics we have come to associate with this Munster side were on view - talent and skill, spirit, hunger and resilience. Are those attributes now beginning to assert themselves in the Leinster team?

It would be very nice to think that the answer is yes. Quite apart from the very tangible benefit of the two points gained last week away to Northampton, the manner of their attainment could do Leinster a great deal of good and foster in the team the self belief to complement the undoubted talent in the side.

They crashed a big psychological barrier last Saturday in circumstances where, in the not so recent past, they failed. Now Leinster must go from this point and sustain a similar effort. They have the ideal opportunity to do just that at Donnybrook tonight. It will help, too, if the crowd get behind the side and give the team the kind of support Munster gets at Thomond Park and Musgrave Park and Ulster at Ravenhill.

Ulster's draw in Toulouse was also a great tribute to their spirit. The result they salvaged by scoring 14 points in injury time could prove invaluable. To get a draw in the prevailing circumstances said a very great deal about the desire and character in the team.

After watching that match on television last Sunday, the mind drifted back to Ulster's win two years ago in the competition; the victories over Toulouse and Stade de France at Ravenhill and then the final triumph before a capacity crowd at Lansdowne Road. Then Munster's great adventure last season came readily to mind.

Reflecting then on those achievements and all the results last weekend and having studied the pool tables, I was struck by the thought how very different it would all have been had all our best players gone to England, once held out to us as the "promised" rugby land.

Most of those who took that route came back disillusioned when reality dawned and we now keep the vast majority of our best players at home. That and the circumstances surrounding it are worthy of examination in the near future.

ONE of the things that has emerged in the Heineken Cup is that visits to France are no longer made with a fear factor. Three successive wins on French soil by Munster tells its own tale. Then there was that quite incredible comeback by Ulster in Toulouse. Not one French club tops a group, and only Stade Francais and Pau have managed even a second place.

French clubs have played 18 matches - nine have been lost, two drawn and only seven won. That is a remarkable decline bearing in mind that Toulouse and Brive have both won the competition, and that last season was the first that a French club failed to reach the final.

Gloucester, Saracens and Leicester of Englands's five entrants do top their pools but only Gloucester remain unbeaten, having won two and drawn one of their three matches. Leicester and Saracens have both lost a match.

In fact Leicester, Pau and Pontypridd are all on four points in Pool Six, and Pau, like Leicester, have scored eight tries, the defining element in the event of teams being level on match points. Of the 18 matches played by English clubs, they have lost nine, drew one and won eight. Wasps and Northampton are in deep trouble.

The five Welsh clubs, like the three Irish provinces, are still in contention. But it is an illustration of the competitive nature of the competition that only two of the 24 teams involved, Munster and Swansea, can claim 100 per cent records.