A record-breaking crowd, weather gods playing ball and more than one intriguing sub-plot had everyone set for a blockbuster.

But then Leinster decided to take all the intrigue out of it by having all the fun themselves as they ran in three early tries against a Munster side that they, realistically, always held at arm’s length.

Had Calvin Nash’s first-half effort not been ruled out for a forward pass it may have gotten more interesting but, Munster’s inability to convert pressure and linebreaks, against a ferocious Leinster defence, into points was always going to see them fall short.

On that defence, a stat from the URC jumps out. Off 53% of the possession, Leinster missed 27 tackles (84%) compared to Munster’s 14 in the 26-12 win.

Jacques Nienaber’s aggressive defensive system has missed tackles built in because he reckons the risk you take for the faster bigger shots is worth it for the return. It’s working so far. However, Donncha O’Callaghan had a word of warning in his post-match analysis.

“[Their] defence was really good tonight but I promise you, good teams are looking at that defence and they are going to find ways to exploit it,” said the former Ireland lock.

“Munster were blunt and didn’t fire a shot. When you come up against the higher quality in Europe, they’ll be licking their lips at some of that.”

When Nienaber was just a month into the job last year, Dan McFarland’s Ulster, with Billy Burns outstanding, quickly decoded the system and won at the RDS. Blueprints are available.

While Munster were missing Peter O’Mahony and a number of others, it was the RG Snyman-shaped hole in their forward pack that stood out.

The 29-year-old was outstanding for Leinster as he dominated in the air and grabbed the bonus-point try before the break. Meanwhile, fellow World Cup winner Jean Kleyn was notably the least noticeable of the four starting locks.

Are you not entertained?

No fewer than five players needed head injury assessments during Leinster’s URC win over Munster on Saturday, while four of those came in the first half.

It was more like the opening scenes of Saving Private Ryan than the Hokey Cokey.

The carnage continued in the Belfast battle as Ulster emerged 32-27 victors over Connacht.

Following an early passage of play, Ireland internationals Bundee Aki and Iain Henderson both needed treatment.

Aki’s head collided with the hip of an Ulster player, while Henderson was seen getting his teeth checked by a medic before departing 10 minutes later.

The lock looked dazed leaving the field and didn’t return, while Connacht and Ireland prop Finlay Bealham (below) was twice removed from play, with Temi Lasisi coming on in the 13th and 67th minutes.

After returning early from Emerging Ireland duty, Jude Postlethwaite’s evening lasted just half an hour after the in-form centre suffered a shoulder injury.

Referee Andy Brace won’t have an easier decision to make this season than the one to send off Josh Murphy.

Already having spent 10 minutes in the bin, and with the game level at 24-24 with nine minutes to play, only Murphy (below) knows what was going through his head when he shoulder-charged into James McCormick’s head.

“It looked fairly clear,” admitted Pete Wilkins to Galway Bay FM after the game.

It was a rip-roaring contest with nine tries, two yellow cards a red but it wasn’t for the faint-hearted.

This week’s injury bulletins, starting with Leinster’s this afternoon, will make for interesting reading.

Meanwhile, there were a couple of notable milestones in the Ulster game with stalwarts Andrew Warwick and Al O’Connor winning their 200th caps, while Nick Timoney reached 150 games for the province.

For Connacht, Ben Murphy (above), son of Ulster coach Richie, scored his fourth try in four games.

“A lot of them have been on the back of some really good play by other people and it’s just trying to get on the back of our attack, about trying to play with my head up,” the former Leinster scrum-half said modestly. He’s surely on the Ireland radar.

Elsewhere

Antoine Dupont tried to 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁 Leinster’s buzz by reminding them of his sheer brilliance in the Top14 late kick-off on Saturday night.

The Toulouse scrum-half was the difference in last May’s Champions Cup final and after coming on as a substitute in his team’s win over Clermont, the Olympic Sevens gold-medallist ran in a 13-minute hat-trick. Why bother?

Last word

The Women’s World Cup draw takes place on Thursday evening with Ireland set to learn their opponents for next year’s tournament, which takes place between 22 August and 27 September in England.

Scott Bemand’s side, who finished second in the WXV1 table after wins over New Zealand and USA in Canada, are ranked sixth in the world and will be in band 2.

They know they will face one of England, Canada, New Zealand and France in their pool, while they won’t meet any of Australia, Scotland or Italy in the group stages.

The match schedule will be confirmed early next week.