The scoreboard at Croke Park showed the figures 26 and 12 at the end of proceedings on Saturday evening.

While Leinster had not scored in the second half of their United Rugby Championship win over Munster, they had not needed to – the bonus point was wrapped up by half-time – thanks to a blistering start.

Though Munster did get a converted try in the second half to reduce what had been a 21-point gap at the interval, few if anybody present among the crowd of 80,468 – a record for a club rugby game – expected a comeback. The game was done long before the end.

As well as the figures mentioned, those of 565 and 133 should have some relevance. They were the total number of senior international caps won by the respective starting 15s – and that even allowed for the fact that three of the Leinster side (Liam Turner, Jamie Osborne and Lee Barron) have yet to be called up to the Ireland team.

It’s a massive gulf and it showed why nobody should have been surprised with how the game panned out, despite the heightened levels of interest around the fixture.

Given the venue, there were naturally a few call-backs to the 2009 Heineken Cup final, which Leinster won as underdogs.

Kieran Shannon in the Irish Examiner put together a good article based on the testimony of 14 of the players involved – seven from each side – who had written autobiographies.

It was seen as a turning-point in the rivalry between the provinces – Munster were the reigning European champions, seeking a third title, but have not been continental kingpins since, while Leinster went on to win the first of their four. Unfortunately for Munster, a similar reversal of the respective fortunes doesn’t look to be in the offing any time soon.

Leinster, beaten in the last three Champions Cup finals, are the 11/4 second favourites, behind holders Toulouse, for this year’s competition, which begins in December. By contrast, Munster are 25/1 and Ulster are 100/1 while Connacht are in the second-tier Challenge Cup.

Upper hand

The idea of having four evenly-matched provinces is of course appealing but the truth is that such a state of affairs has never existed and probably never will.

When Munster held the upper hand, they were getting pretty much every drop out of a golden generation whereas Leinster were under-achieving and not making the most of their inbuilt advantages in terms of population and marketability.

They are doing that now and they deserve praise for it – the question is whether the rest are falling short in their pursuit or whether the situation is close to par.

The other consideration is that Ireland are enjoying their most consistently successful run of the professional era – is that despite Leinster’s domestic dominance, is it a by-product or is it completely unrelated?

Croke Park will be a lot emptier this weekend than it was for the rugby game, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that the on-field activity is going to be unimportant.

On Friday and Saturday, the inter-provincial football championships will return, to be used as a lab-type vehicle for proposed new rules in the sport. The suggested changes have been put forward by the Jim Gavin-led Football Review Committee after a sustained period of feedback and testing, aiming at improving what has become a sterile and unexciting spectacle.

It’s difficult to say beforehand which of the hoped-for enhancements will work best – those likely to receive the most attention are four-point goals, two-point shots from outside a defined arc and the need to keep at least three players in each half – but the important thing is that they are treated with an open mind.

Certainly, the drive to ensure that as many top-quality players as possible – ie those whose clubs have been eliminated at county level – are involved, along with the appointments of Pádraig Joyce (Connacht), Dessie Dolan (Leinster), John Cleary (Munster) and Kieran Donnelly (Ulster) as managers, ensures that the tests should provide a fair reading.

One concern is that the inclusion of a lot of changes at once may make things difficult for players and officials, but the hope is that the amendments that work best will make themselves clear.

TG4 will show Friday night’s semi-finals, Connacht v Leinster at 6pm and Munster v Ulster at 8pm, while on Saturday the shield between the two losers is at 5.30pm and the final takes place at 7.30pm.

Both of those games will be broadcast by RTÉ.

Long-time readers of the column – they must exist, surely, – might recall how I have previously had dalliances with adventure racing.

That even sounds grander than it is; the exertions have been limited to one particular event, the Skibbereen charity adventure race, or Scar.

Basically, my friend James Milner competed in it in 2016, corralling Donough Lucey and Eoghan O’Donovan in to do it with him. Sadly, James died in October 2017 at the age of just 33, and since then, Scar has served as a way to honour his memory while testing oneself physically.

In addition, it’s worth noting that every euro raised goes towards local charities and community schemes in west Cork.

Domestic and work commitments, not to mention Covid-19, have meant that it hasn’t been possible to enter every year – this Saturday’s edition will be my first time since 2021 to take part.

The 53.5km course comprises 14.5km of running, 37.5km of cycling and 1.5km of kayaking. I have managed to put down a good block of training on the bike, aiming not to have to dismount on the infamous hill known as ‘The Wall’. That may or may not happen, but hopefully, I will survive it in one piece.