Last weekend, the Champions Cup came and went without as much as a second thought from most Irish support, a connection to Racing's the backroom staff produced the only tenuous link to what some considered an unimportant event.
This will not be the case when the Pro12 culminates over the coming weeks as three Irish provinces will be involved and there will be at least on province in the final.
Speaking on tonight's Off The Ball, Eddie O'Sullivan said that the competition needs a major shake-up if it is to attract a wider audience.
"When you're looking at a final like that you're hoping for a good game of rugby for the non-partisan. I'm sure the supporters didn't care what way Saracens won it, but it was pretty much a snorefest in terms of entertainment. It was just a really poor game of rugby.
"To be fair, I think finals can be like that because you're trying not to lose it sometimes rather than win it but I think the weather played its part, heavy rain in the first half killed it off. I didn't see any ambition particularly from either team and if it was any team who had ambition it was Racing. They kicked the ball a lot less and ran with it a lot more but just didn't get it done.
"Saracens were the more organised team, they knew what they were at, but it was a poor, poor game of rugby."
He commented on the brand of rugby being played in the competition and cited the more conservative style as the reason why it wasn't as successful.
"I think you get the types of games that are exciting and really great and it makes you say god, this is what it's really all about. The problem with the tournament is that is you need more of those. If they're the exception rather than the rule, the whole brand suffers.
"If you look at the tournament, there were some barn burners. But buy-and-large there were a lot more games in there that were hard to watch. I'd watch anything, I'm a rugby geek. But for the average supporter, it was difficult to watch."
Download the brand new OffTheBall App in the Play Store & App Store right now! We've got you covered!
Subscribe to OffTheBall's YouTube channel for more videos, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for the latest sporting news and content.
