With sporting and cultural events scheduled well into the summer now being cancelled or postponed, it is all too clear that Irish rugby’s current shutdown is set to extend beyond the current March 29 cut-off.

Quinn Roux’s hopes of returning to the Irish side for the start of the Six Nations have been dashed with the 29-year-old having to undergo surgery for a hand injury.

Quinn Roux knows that Ulster will be gunning for them on Friday night as they are the last team to have defeated them at Kingspan Stadium.

Jack O’Donoughe’s first-half try and a perfect kicking performance from JJ Hanrahan gave Munster the honours in this feisty inter-pro, which saw them stretch their lead at the top of the PRO14 Conference B standings.

Dave Kilcoyne makes his return from a calf injury to start for Munster against Connacht in tomorrow's PRO14 clash.

Skipper Jarrad Butler has had to deal with contrasting emotions in the Connacht changing room at the Sportsground this week as several members of his squad dealt with mixed news from the Irish camp.

A week which started with a recall to the Irish squad is set to end in further celebration for Quinn Roux when he makes his 100th appearance for Connacht on Saturday against Munster.

"It’s good but it can be intimidating and if you’re not expecting it, it’s a very challenging place to go."

Connacht coach Andy Friend has told Jack Carty not to panic over his surprise omission from the Irish squad and he’s confident the 27-year old can play his way back on to the international stage.

Connacht’s stand-in captain Quinn Roux said that while few outside of their squad believed they would win at Stade Ernest-Wallon, the team were bitterly disappointed not to secure victory in Toulouse.

Fifteen minutes after hanging up, Allister Coetzee rings back, eager to share one last thought.

There was no doubting the satisfaction Joe Schmidt took from the heights Ireland scaled against France last Sunday, and yet the Kiwi coach wasn’t slow in pointing out how the collective performance fell off a cliff towards the end.

Ireland were offered every incentive in Rome to get their Six Nations title aspirations back on track as they watched Wales beat England from their hotel base on the eve of this game.

Quinn Roux stands 6’ 6” and tips the scales at close to 20 stone, and yet this is a guy who has something of a knack for hiding in plain sight.

Ireland boss Joe Schmidt is hopeful Tadhg Beirne could return to fitness in time to face Italy in Rome when the defending champions resume their Guinness Six Nations campaign in 13 days.

Quite what impact Saturday’s Murrayfield result has on the next time Ireland meet Scotland in September’s key opening World Cup pool game in Yokohama remains to be seen but, right now, Joe Schmidt has more immediate problems to address, writes Donal Lenihan.

Tadhg Beirne spent the first two weeks of this tour cramming for exams like a Leaving Cert student but his reward made the effort well worth the hard work and now Ireland’s newest international is hungry for more.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

Connacht can seal a spot in the quarter-final of the Challenge Cup this weekend by beating Worcester Warriors, but they will have to do it without lock James Cannon.

Connacht lock Quinn Roux has been in Ireland long enough to appreciate the festive inter-pro clashes have a special edge but he can’t recall a time when all four provinces have gone into the derbies in such flying form.

Their PRO14 form is dodgy to say the least, but Connacht’s pedigree in the European Challenge Cup is obvious and on Saturday night they took a big step not only towards securing a quarter-final spot, but ensuring that they will enjoy home advantage in the last eight.

Why didn’t South Africa win the right to host Rugby World Cup 2023? That is the question being grappled at the moment because it seems, not for the first time, the country is pulling daggers from its back.

South African Rugby chief executive Jurie Roux hopes “sanity will prevail” in the vote to decide the hosts of the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Guinness PRO14: Connacht 23 - Cheetahs 15: Tiernan O’Halloran has no qualms about being left out of the Irish squad for the autumn internationals, but the 26-year-old will be keeping a bag packed over the next few weeks in case there is a call from Joe Schmidt.

Ireland’s 2023 World Cup bid committee has come out punching in support of Taoiseach Leo Varadkar’s assertion that their challenge to host the tournament is still very much alive.

Connacht 15 Worcester Warriors 8: You suspect the more Kieran Keane settles into life in Galway the more he appreciates exactly what his predecessor Pat Lam achieved, not just with limited resources but the manner in which he got them to play in the difficult climatic conditions.

Connacht lacked so much ‘attitude and commitment’ according to coach Kieran Keane who bristled with frustration as his side lost for the third time in four PRO14 games on Saturday.

Connacht paid the price for a shocking first-half display as they were beaten 21-8 by the Dragons in Newport.

Floating the idea that you can live on Ireland’s waterways might not be as strange as it sounds. Rita de Brún meets some of our barge people

Glasgow Warriors 35 - Connacht 24: This time last year Connacht fans were holding their breath in anticipation. Sitting pretty at the top of the table, having only lost five times all season, Connacht were working their way to a first Guinness PRO12 trophy and Champions Cup rugby.

Fianna Fáil finance spokesman Michael McGrath has linked the departure of Central Bank deputy governor Cyril Roux and a high level of vacancies at the regulator to restrictions public bodies can pay their top staff.

St Etienne 0 Man United 1 (United win 4-0 on aggregate): Jose Mourinho expects influential Manchester United duo Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Michael Carrick to miss the EFL Cup final through injury.

Connacht 14 - Dragons 9: Connacht coach Pat Lam says Kieran Marmion is fit to make his first start in the Six Nations next Saturday against France if called into action.

Guinness PRO12

Ospreys 29 Connacht 7: Connacht’s hopes of qualifying for the Champions Cup quarter-finals were hit when out-half Jack Carty added to their growing injury list in a 29-7 defeat to the Ospreys.

CJ Stander says Anthony Foley is continuing to inspire Munster and the province’s players have vowed to do something special in Foley’s memory this season.

Connacht warmed up for their Champions Cup double header with Wasps by thrashing Benetton Treviso 47-8 in the Guinness PRO12 at the Sportsground.

The confirmation from Pepper, an Australian mortgage lender based in Shannon, Co Clare, that it will sell home loans directly, has been welcomed by a leading expert as it boosts hopes that new entrants will shake up the market.

Scarlets 17 Connacht 8: After a third successive loss, Connacht are in choppy waters, and Edinburgh’s impending visit to the Sportsground has taken on a must-win feeling.

Tadhg Furlong has plenty to celebrate in his own right after being a first start for Ireland but he is also backing Test debutant Quinn Roux to shine in tomorrow’s second Test against South Africa.

Oscar Pistorius removed his prosthetic legs in a South African courtroom as part of his defence team’s argument that the double-amputee athlete, convicted of murdering girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp, deserves leniency when he is sentenced on July 6.