Connacht coach Andy Friend says he will field a full strength team in his side’s final Champions Cup game of the season against Montpellier despite already being out of the running to qualify for the latter stages of the competition.

Toulouse are bracing for hard, streetwise, and direct rugby from Connacht this weekend, their insider-in-the-camp Pita Ahki has said.

A knee ligament injury means Connacht will have to plan without their player of the year Colby Fianga’a for this weekend’s Champions Cup clash with Gloucester and next week’s inter-pro derby against Munster.

Tom Farrell’s hopes of playing in next year’s Six Nations have been dealt a blow with the Connacht centre set to be sidelined until the New Year with a fractured shoulder.

It’s amazing how quickly something can turn for a player and when Conor Fitzgerald was let go from the Munster academy 18 months ago the last thing on his mind would have been lighting up the home of Toulouse with an awesome display in the Heineken Champions Cup.

There are three changes to the team that defeated Ospreys.

Ultan Dillane and Kieran Marmion remain as replacement options.

Dublin start-up Danalto is adapting IoT technology to meet the needs of all, writes Trish Dromey.

Wedding watchers tell Rita de Brún how big expense and bad behaviour with the wedding cake can hint that trouble lies ahead

The long road starts here as the race to make Ireland’s World Cup squad for Japan this September ramped up, after Joe Schmidt named a 44-player training squad.

Finalists Leinster have three players nominated.

The northern province's take on Connacht tomorrow with Rory Best and Darren Cave looking to exit on a high with a spot in the PRO14 semi-finals up for grabs.

Connacht are back in the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time in three years after man-of-the-match Jack Carty inspired their 29-22 Guinness PRO14 bonus point win over Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground.

Connacht coach Andy Friend has made two changes for tomorrow's crucial Guinness Pro14 clash with Cardiff at the Sportsground.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said he is relieved they are still in control of their own destiny after escaping from Parma with a 6-5 win in a bruising encounter on Saturday evening.

Connacht Head Coach Andy Friend has made a host of changes to the side that lost to Sale Sharks in the European Challenge Cup Quarter Final last weekend.

This week represents a step back in time for some of Ireland’s senior players.

Connacht centre Tom Farrell says his time in the Ireland camp during the Six Nations has made him an even better player.

Cronin has been dropped from the 37-man squad just a week after his first Six Nations start in 68 international appearances.

Ultan Dillane, Caolin Blade, Jack Carty and Tom Farrell will line-out for Connacht after their Ireland call-ups.

Connacht coach Andy Friend says they must park their European Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification and the call-up of half-a-dozen of his squad for Six Nations duty and concentrate on a crunch PRO14 clash in Cardiff on Saturday.

Jack Carty crowned a glorious week as he celebrating his call-up to the Irish squad by scoring the match-winning try three minutes from time to send Connacht into the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad for the first two rounds of the Six Nations is not the sort of thing, if one is being realistic, that you can sugarcoat or take the glass-half-full view if you’re not included, writes Ronan O'Gara.

Bundee Aki says he can see a lot of similarities between this season and Connacht’s glorious march to silverware in 2016 as he prepares for his second Six Nations campaign.

Munster took pole position of Conference A in the Guinness PRO14 on Saturday night as they scored a bonus-point victory against interprovincial rivals Connacht and banished their poor away form.

Earning a place in the team on the biggest days of all is the ambition of every member of the Munster squad. But when you ply your trade in the centre, that becomes a very difficult ambition to achieve. So when Dan Goggin got the nod from Johann van Graan for the away game against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium in October, following up with starts against Exeter Chiefs and Gloucester in the European Cup, the Young Munster man’s confidence rocketed sky high.

Andrew Porter's last-gasp try topped off a fantastic late fight-back as Leinster overcame Connacht 33-29 in an enthralling nine-try PRO14 derby at the RDS.

Connacht have been boosted by the return of Bundee Aki to training ahead of Saturday’s inter-pro clash with Leinster at the RDS.

Tom Farrell and Gavin Thornbury scored tries as Connacht secured a third successive Guinness PRO14 victory with a 21-17 win over Cheetahs.

Connacht supporters won’t get to see Bordeaux-Begles’s world stars Semi Radradra, Brock James, Seta Tamanivalu, or Jean-Baptiste Serin today, as once again the Challenge Cup has failed to ignite French passions.

Niyi Adeolokun's late try put the seal on Connacht's rousing 33-20 Guinness PRO14 win over Scarlets at the Sportsground, with Bundee Aki and 18-point fly-half Jack Carty starring for the winners.

Connacht 26 Glasgow Warriors 27

Connacht’s decline after winning the PRO 12 title in 2016 started immediately in the first game of the defence of the crown when they fell to a record 41-5 loss to Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground.

Mike Ruddock believes a head-to-head between two Corkmen will be pivotal in settling the battle of Lansdowne and Cork Constitution in the Ulster Bank League season finale at the Aviva Stadium on Sunday (3pm).

Peter Bracken, the former Munster, Connacht and Wasps prop, tells a great story about one of his first encounters playing alongside John Muldoon for Galwegians.

Goosen played his last game in December 2016, when he controversially announced his retirement from playing, aged 24, to become a "commercial director".

Munster have received a boost ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final against French heavyweights Toulon as injury doubts Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway have been declared fit.

Meanwhile, Finlay Bealham returns from a knee injury to make his 100th appearance for Connacht.

Connacht 50 Oyonnax 14: The road to Bilbao has now become clear for Connacht.

Connacht will hope that a home win over a 15th different French club at the Sportsground today will not only confirm a home quarter-final in the Challenge Cup but might also be enough to ensure a potential semi-final would also be back 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.

It’s an interpro, it’s an International trial and, for the respective coaches, it is above all else an important Guinness PRO14 game.

It’s a fixture which Connacht have only won four times in 29 meetings but coach Kieran Keane is hoping that Tiernan O’Halloran’s decision to remain at the Sportsground will be the start of a great festive period.

Zebre 24 Connacht 10: Michael Bradley knows all about building from the bottom in professional rugby — his seven years at the Sportsground took Connacht through the most difficult period in their history — and he is happy with the progress he is making in his first few months with Zebre. 

Connacht's five-match winning run came to an end as Cardiff Blues triumphed 36-30 at Arms Park.

As if interprovincial rivalry was not enough to get the juices flowing in Galway this evening, a controversial Ireland squad announcement is sure to further add to the intensity in both camps as Munster take on Connacht at the Sportsground.