David Jordan, the Director of Celtic Rugby, was greatly encouraged by the performances of Magners League teams in Europe over the weekend.

Out of a possible total of 55 points, the Magners sides collected 39 points with Leinster, Munster and Ulster completing a clean sweep of wins for the Irish provinces.

Notably, there was also resounding success for Magners League teams against opponents from the Guinness Premiership, with the English outfits being whitewashed 4-0 in their match-ups.

In total, Magners sides won seven of their eight matches in the opening round of the Heineken Cup. The only team to fail to record a win was Edinburgh and they came extremely close, going down 19-17 in Agen.

Leinster, bonus point winners over Gloucester, attracted the largest crowd of round one with 22,530 spectators taking in their 37-20 triumph at Lansdowne Road.

In the Challenge Cup, the Dragons ran in six tries in a 50-3 romp at home to Bayonne, while Connacht, who were just pipped by NEC Harlequins, and Glasgow were just held off by English clubs.

Jordan said: "The results from the first round of the European competitions have been very encouraging with some highly significant victories. All Magners League teams came away with something from their matches this weekend, even those that failed to claim a victory gained a losing bonus point.

"These superb results reinforce just how strong the competition in Magners League has become, and the players are now proving it on a wider stage."

RESULTS OF THE MAGNERS LEAGUE TEAMS IN EUROPE:

HEINEKEN CUP - ROUND ONE

Border Reivers 35 Overmach Parma 3 (5 points)
Ospreys 17 Sale Sharks 16 (4 points)
London Irish 25 Llanelli Scarlets 32 (5 points)
SU Agen 19 Edinburgh Rugby 17 (1 point)
Ulster 30 Toulouse 3 (4 points)
Bourgoin 5 Cardiff Blues 13 (4 points)
Leinster 37 Gloucester 20 (5 points)
Leicester Tigers 19 Munster 21 (4 points)

EUROPEAN CHALLENGE CUP - ROUND ONE

Connacht 18 NEC Harlequins 19 (1 point)
Newport Gwent Dragons 50 Bayonne 3 (5 points)
Saracens 28 Glasgow Warriors 23 (1 point)