There may have been no Guinness Six Nations action to enjoy this weekend, but there were plenty of international stars on show for their domestic sides across the continent.
Wherever you looked, there were a raft the Championship stars – past and present – doing the business for their club sides across the weekend, although not all of them ended up on the winning side.
Scotland captain Stuart Hogg was one such player who ended up on the wrong end of the result for reigning English champions Exeter Chiefs, with the full-back watching on as Joe Simmonds’ late conversion was controversially thwarted in 13-12 loss to Northampton Saints.
Simmonds never got the chance to take the final kick – that would have won it for Chiefs – as Saints’ Ollie Sleightholme raced off his line to kick the ball off the tee before the No.10 arrived there.
Elsewhere, 2021’s star of the show Louis Rees-Zammit was unable to replicate his try-scoring form on the domestic stage, as the Welsh wizard couldn’t prevent Gloucester from going down 16-14 to Bath in a local derby.
John Cooney might not be within the Irish ranks this year, but the scrum-half is still producing the goods for Ulster in the Guinness PRO14, as he helped his side to overcome Glasgow 19-13 at Scotstoun.
Two conversions throughout the match helped his side to maintain a lead over their Scottish counterparts, while 2015 Championship winner Ian Madigan impressed at fly-half.
Leinster have a plethora of players in the Ireland squad for the Championship, but it was Ross Byrne who produced the goods with the boot for his domestic side to help them to a 35-29 victory over Dragons on Friday night.
Byrne played the second half of the Round 2 defeat to France at the Aviva Stadium, scoring five points as the Men in Green went down 15-13 a week ago, and he added another eight points at Rodney Parade.
He may not be involved on the international scene any more, but three-time Championship winner Dan Cole is still going strong for Leicester Tigers in the English Premiership.
Having lifted the trophy in 2011, 2016 and 2017, Cole is no stranger to success on the biggest stage, and the 33-year-old used all of that experience to lead Tigers to a 27-8 victory over Wasps at Welford Road.
It was a crazy game on Saturday afternoon, with three red cards being shown throughout the 80 minutes, with the hosts having two men dismissed and Wasps – who had Italian star Matteo Minozzi in their ranks – also had a man sent off to leave just 27 men on the pitch at the final whistle.
He may be 32 years old these days, but Morgan Parra is still shining brightly on the domestic stage, and was on top form as Clermont hammered Bayonne 73-3 this weekend.
A veteran of seven Guinness Six Nations Championships, including the last time Les Bleus lifted the trophy in 2010, Parra proved he still has top level quality in the resounding victory on Saturday, as he crossed in the second half in the ten-try performance.
