He said: "Of course competition can only be good. It gets the best out of individuals and the squad and it was great to have Mike there tonight."

Marshall was replaced by the Welsh international after 63 minutes but was pleased with his evening’s work whilst being cautious about the return leg with the Irishmen next week.

"The pressure was on us tonight with them sitting at the bottom of the table, but we got the bonus point and we didn’t have to play sevens to get it. Traditionally we don’t play well over there and they’ll be wounded but that’s next week and we’ve done what we needed to do today."