Gerry Thornley

That was their first tournament.

And a bit unnervingly, this tournament has a habit of throwing up teams like Toulon three in a row, Saracens three in four years, La Rochelle two in a row.

It just feels like, well, put it this way.

If Leinster beat Bordeaux Begley in the final, they'll have certainly deserved their fifth star.

Yeah, Montpellier will be tough.

They've won this competition twice before.

They are, relatively speaking, I suppose, a juggernaut as well, like a lot of these French teams.

The French have won five Champions Cups in a row, so it just shows you the strength and depth of the top coutures now and the money that's pouring in from Canal Plus and other sports.

Interestingly, both semi-finals in France in the Champions Cup, as well as the Challenge Cup, sorry, Champions Cup semi-finals, were on terrestrial television, France TV.

Whereas in Ireland, it's only on Premier Sports.

So I really worry about the reach that Leinster and the Irish province have with their public anymore.

But that apart, I think that Ulster have a fighting chance.

It's got a very interesting dilemma for Richie Murphy now.

I'm happy for Richie Murphy.

He seemed like a really good lad.

He never seeks any personal glory.

He never looks for any reflected glory in himself where his teams go well.

He's had a really positive impact on Ulster.

They play a great brand of rugby.

They've probably been the best of the four provinces to watch for large tracks of this season.