Joe McCarthy and iarán Frawley giving Andy Farrell food for thought

It was a disappointing weekend of European action for Irish provinces before Leinster turned things around at the Stade Marcel Deflandre with a brilliant win over La Rochelle.

Ronan O'Gara may have been banished to the stands, but his side didn’t lack intensity in his touch line absence.

The reigning champions threw ferocious physicality at Leinster, but the four-time European champions proved to be more than a match for their bogey team.

It was a great week for Leinster to be supplemented by the services of World-Cup winning head coach, Jacques Nienaber.

Leinster have always been a physical side in terms of winning collisions and moving teams around to play to their strengths. However, Nienaber’s influence will, and has already, given the team another step forward in terms of how they deal with oppositions size in the contact area.

Will Connors was given the nod ahead of Josh van der Flier for his contact skills and his 50-minute effort more than justified his vote of confidence. However, it’s the maturity of Joe McCarthy in the pack that really stood out.

Since returning from the World Cup, it feels like now is the time for the 22-year-old to step into his long touted role as Ireland’s tighthead lock.

It’s easy to forget that it’s not long since Jason Jenkins from Munster because of the uncertainty as to how quickly McCarthy would fill that role.

Discipline and decision-making around the contact area would have been two areas I would have had questions over McCarthy. He could always be relied on for a penalty or two that were avoidable.

He nearly brought that back into his game last weekend with an early penalty concession and a yellow card.

However, the sinbin was a very harsh call. There was no doubt that La Rochelle were the