Martin Crowson looks back at five key points from the weekend's rugby action.
1 If anyone needed to be reminded of the value of club captain Geordan Murphy to Leicester Tigers, the last few weeks have made that perfectly clear. As he ponders whether to continue his career by seeking another contract at the club, the Irishman has made huge impacts off the bench against both Bath, in the Premiership, and Treviso, in the Heineken Cup, on Saturday. He went on, rolled up his sleeves and lifted his team-mates' flagging fortunes. Leading by example, Murphy has been clever, skilful and very spiky.
2 I ordered a celebratory peppered steak at Da Pino restaurant in the centre of Treviso after the game on Saturday night. It was superb. But it was served on a piece of toast. Potatoes, carrots, courgettes and peppered steak – on toast! Is this some sort of local speciality or had the chef had one too many sangiovese? Please tweet me @martin_crowson if you know the answer.
3 The Toulon bench for their nine-try, 62-0 drubbing of Sale Sharks in the Heineken Cup was as follows: Sebastien Bruno, Andrew Sheridan, Carl Hayman, Jocelino Suta, Mathieu Bastareaud, Juan Fernandez Lobbe, Jonny Wilkinson and Simon Shaw. At a rough guess, I reckon that talent would cost around £2million a year to keep. That's half the English salary cap – on the bench! And South Africa star Bryan Habana is on his way next season too!
4 The controversy surrounding referee Alain Rolland's performance in Treviso over-shadowed a Leicester try that should be lighting up highlights reels for weeks to come. Adam Thompstone's 14th-minute score was sensational. The try-scorer and Anthony Allen did well to keep up with play, Ben Youngs created it with superb vision and pace after a quick tap-and-go, and Mat Tait's back-handed offload was world-class. More of the same please Leicester.
5 Hats off to two sides at the weekend for crucial results. Clermont showed what a world-class side they are by beating champions Leinster in their own back yard, winning every single facet of the game. And Northampton's 10-9 win at Ulster showed tremendous character and resolve with their backs against the walls and their players and coaching staff under fire. Ouch, it almost hurt to write that sentence.
