The gap between club and international rugby is widening - here's why it matters

This weekend saw a series of thrilling, high scoring matches in the United Rugby Championship. Leinster, Munster and Connacht all lost - Ulster provided the sole Irish win of the weekend - but fans of attacking rugby cannot say that they were bored. 

Is this what we want to see from rugby matches, though? Do we want a basketball style, end-to-end product wherever whoever has the ball last takes on the final shot to win?

Gordon D’Arcy and John O’Sullivan join Nathan Johns to pick through the weekend’s action and assess the state of the game. Is this an issue of how rugby is officiated? What to make of defence coaches’ role in all this? Are we catering too much to new audiences or younger people with shorter attention spans?

Plus, we review the women’s Six Nations where Ireland lost to France, albeit in a way which avoided the heavy defeats of years gone by. Did Ireland’s coaching staff cleverly manage to stick a plaster on the talent gap, or are Ireland making serious strides? Is the domestic game adequately preparing the players for the top level? 

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