On Rugby: Perhaps it had to be after the weekend or week that was in it. With all eyes on The K Club and the Easy Ryder having been completed, the return of the Irish frontliners this week in time for a double round of "interpros" in the Magners League is well timed. And for some more than others.

The season might seem like it is only truly starting this week, especially so in Munster and Leinster, who need to kickstart their league campaigns and quickly. But plenty of rugby has been played already and, a tad unnervingly for Munster and Leinster, the table has taken some shape.

The Welsh clubs having been obliged to squeeze in an extra round of matches to accommodate their participation in the BBC-driven EDF Energy Anglo-Welsh Cup over the next fortnight, the table perhaps has a lopsided view.

Back-to-back weekends of Irish and Scottish derbies will invariably leave some of them looking in better shape.

That said, by then we'll be a quarter of the way through the league. It might be premature to declare September a make-or-break month, but without being alarmist about the title credentials of the pre-season favourites, Munster (a billing based more on name than reality), or the joint second favourites Leinster, no team have ever lost two matches in September and gone on to win the league.

Indeed, all champions have tended to race from the stalls. Last season's champions, Ulster, won their first three games and six of their first seven.

The previous season, the Ospreys won their first seven en route to the title. As with Ulster, in 2003/2004 the eventual champions, Llanelli, won their first three matches and six of their first seven.

Even in the competition's formative years, with two pools leading to the knockout stages, Munster won their first four games and six of their first seven in 2002/2003 as a prelude to claiming the title, while Leinster's inaugural success in 2001/2002 was ignited by seven pool wins out of seven.

Maybe this trend will be broken this season, but on the evidence so far, the form sides are Ulster and Llanelli, with history showing us they should perhaps already be judged joint favourites for the title.

Certainly they produced the best two performances to date over the weekend.

In tandem with the precision and aggression of Ulster's forward play, and the razor-sharp execution of their four tries, David Humphreys ran the show and kicked nine from nine for a 23-point haul.

The Ospreys, admittedly, rolled over and had their feathers tickled, with the apparently demoralising effect Gavin Henson's presence had on his team-mates bringing to mind another rare appearance at outhalf when replacing Stephen Jones against Ireland in Lansdowne Road earlier this year.

Humphreys looks to be enjoying his rugby more than for some time, fully vindicating his decision to retire from test rugby - even if he remains by some distance one of the top two Irish outhalves around.

Eddie O'Sullivan would surely give anything to have him back in the autumn, and while that is out of the question, a summons to arms in his country's hour of need come the 2007 World Cup in a year's time cannot be ruled out.

As an aside, the lack of alternatives has if anything been accentuated by the arrival of Dave Walder at Wasps and Jeremy Staunton's ensuing switch to inside centre. It would be no surprise if Geordan Murphy again understudies Ronan O'Gara against South Africa and Australia in November - even if that is far from a satisfactory situation.

In any event, Mark McCall isn't complaining, all the more so having shrewdly overseen something of a transition in Ulster's playing resources while strengthening his squad. They go to Musgrave Park - where they impressively completed the first half of a double over the European champions last season - this Saturday in buoyant form and with more cohesion.

By contrast, the Munster brains trust will have to decide how many of half a dozen frontline forwards and their halves they will start next Saturday. Even if they all start - and with only three games to ready themselves for their defence of the Heineken European Cup, they probably will - Munster are not getting them back on equal terms.

Ulster, and even Leinster, have had comparatively fewer players held back. Being rendered "idle" last week was a result for Munster, given the three-day Irish training camp, but this Saturday is a hugely significant game for their own Celtic League ambitions, as defeat would leave them 14 or 15 points adrift of Ulster and Llanelli.

At least Leinster didn't roll over and have their bellies tickled after conceding a bonus point with embarrassing ease inside 23 minutes against the rampant Scarlets. And perhaps it is too easy to jump to condemnatory verdicts based on one performance.

Their second-half comeback, along with snatches of individualism in the first half, underlined their potency. Denis Hickie remains the best finisher in Irish rugby. Under Michael Cheika and David Knox, along with Toulouse, Leinster play the most exciting, daring brand of rugby in Europe.

You couldn't but get a buzz out of Felipe Contepomi running hard at the gain line and unleashing the running talents around him, or their threat in broken play - which Luke Fitzgerald has merely added to.

The Scarlets have been revitalised under Phil Davies, who has rejuvenated the careers of younger players, giving the pack far greater mobility than last season, while they have also benefited from the return of Stephen Jones. With their backline riches and clear strength in depth, they look the pick of the Welsh quartet and come the end of the season this will probably be viewed as Leinster's most difficult assignment of the campaign.

Viewed in that light, and compared to their previous two league outings, it is to be hoped Leinster's strangely non-confrontational drift defence was a one-off. Nonetheless, the memory of that deeply disquieting first half, and thereafter the inability of their pack to deliver set-piece ball under pressure at key moments, won't go away.

Many of the familiar questions remain and they need answering quickly.