Men in green.

Munster put in a performance reminiscent of old last night, smashing Gloucester 41-15 in Kingsholm to take full control of Pool 2 in the European Champions Cup.

The southern province scored five tries in a dominant performance that sets them up nicely ahead of next weekend’s final pool match against Exeter Chiefs at Thomond Park on Sunday.

And we’ve noticed something quite incredible that bodes very well for Irish Rugby. Dominant Munster teams of old have always relied on having foreign players in their side to give them that extra edge.

Over the years the southern province have attracted the likes of Christian Cullen, Rua Tipoki, Doug Howlett, Jim Williams, Trevor Halstead and Jean de Villiers to Irish shores.

Even recently they’ve spent big on players like Francis Saili, but last night every single player in their starting line-up was Irish eligible bar one – Jean Kleyn who’s qualified in a matter of months.

In fact 13 of the 15 starts are full fledged Ireland internationals, with only Haley and Kleyn yet to wear green. On the bench only Botha and Mathewson can’t wear green with Marshall soon to be eligible and the rest already.

Absolutely fantastic work from the IRFU. They’ve moved players around the provinces and their ability to seek out project/eligible players is second to none.