Andy Friend says Connacht’s PRO14 play-off hopes are on a knife-edge and only a victory in South Africa will suffice.

Connacht backs coach Nigel Carolan says another “ruthless” performance is necessary to have any chance against Edinburgh in tonight’s Guinness PRO14 clash (7.35pm, eir Sport).

Dublin hurlers, having led by two points at half time, took second control of this NHL Division lB third round tie at Netwatch Cullen Park, Mattie Kenny’s side outscoring hosts Carlow by 0-14 to 0-5 in that second period.

On the one hand, Andy Friend is delighted that only Bundee Aki is missing on Six Nations duty as Connacht prepare for a real 10-pointer against a Cardiff Blues side who are just below them in the table.

Connacht left this season’s Champions Cup with their heads held high after Andy Friend’s side recovered from a 21-point deficit to lead, only to be denied two minutes from time in Montpellier.

Connacht’s hopes of reaching the Heineken Champions Cup knockout stages for the first time died in Galway after they were outgunned by French champions Toulouse who finished with 13 men.

A grim night for the visitors to the RDS. And it could have been much worse.

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.

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.

Derrygonnelly will have a long winter to wonder how they were so wasteful as Kilcoo, who did more with less possession, took a big step towards an elusive first AIB Ulster club title.

A nerveless Conor Fitzgerald penalty 13 minutes from time clinched European victory for Connacht as Andy Friend’s side battled bravely to launch their Champions Cup campaign with an impressive Sportsground win.

Keith Earls will make his first Munster appearance of the season in tomorrow's Champions Cup opener against the Ospreys.

Derrygonnelly twice came back from the dead and then won a dramatic penalty shootout against Trillick, Tyrone star Lee Brennan the unlucky one to miss as the Fermanagh champions set up an Ulster club SFC semi-final against Kilcoo in two weeks time.

Rory Best’s ankle injury has cleared up in time to allow him to have the send-off he hoped for, and the Ireland captain suspects he’ll be an emotional wreck when he says goodbye at the Kingspan Stadium tonight

A raucous Sportsground welcomed Connacht’s progression into the play-off stages of the PRO14 as their team turned in a bonus point performance in their most important game of the season so far.

Michael Bradley spent most of his seven years at the Sportsground not just wondering if he would be in a job at the end of the season, but rather whether the Connacht team he was coaching would still be in existence.

Connacht got the result, but not the performance they required in this fraught win over Michael Bradley’s Zebre.

Liam McGrath pointed a 40-metre free five minutes into additional-time to gain Tipperary their first point after a hectic finish to an otherwise rather poor tie at Semple Stadium yesterday.

Andy Friend believes his players let themselves down after they missed a golden opportunity to move into the PRO14 play-off places by slipping to a narrow defeat against the Cardiff Blues in Wales.

Simon Lewis Dragons coach Bernard Jackman is under no illusions about the size of the task his side face when they welcome Guinness PRO14 champions Leinster to Rodney Parade this evening.

Leinster 17 Newcastle Falcons 42

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.

Leinster 31 Glasgow Warriers 30: A youthful Leinster side had to deal with a second-half Glasgow power surge and a floodlight failure, the latter coming only 90 seconds out from the final whistle, before securing a 10th straight Guinness PRO12 win last night.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen says Scott Fardy’s experience will play a crucial role in the development of the academy players at the province. The 32-year-old versatile Brumbies lock will join Leinster after the Super Rugby season ends.

Leinster 19 Bath 39: Semesa Rokoduguni, Harry Davies and George Ford helped themselves to second-half tries at Donnybrook last night, as Leinster’s pre-season campaign ended with a 20-point defeat against Bath.

Dependent on team selection higher up, Munster A coach Mick O’Driscoll has rung the changes for tomorrow’s British & Irish Cup game with Yorkshire Carnegie in Lockwood Park, Huddersfield.

Dublin’s comprehensive All-Ireland quarter-final win today put the seal on what was a painfully uncompetitive weekend at HQ.

One change for one Cork team and two for the other as the pair put the final preparations to their do-or-die championship clashes at the weekend.

Fermanagh 1-14 Roscommon 0-16: Sean Quigley kicked the winner for Fermanagh three minutes into added time, but Roscommon will wonder for quite some time how they coughed up a five-point lead with five minutes left.

Sean Quigley and Tomas Corrigan combined to save the day for Fermanagh as they came back from the dead to snatch an unlikely victory over Roscommon at Brewster Park.

Lansdowne 18 Clontarf 17: Scott Deasy’s nerveless conversion of a difficult 66th minute penalty sealed victory for Lansdowne over champions Clontarf in Saturday’s pulsating Ulster Bank League final at the Aviva Stadium.

Armagh continued the impression that they are moving in the right direction under Kieran McGeeney’s stewardship, overcoming a slow start and the first-half sending off of centre-back, Finnian Moriarty to bag the Allianz Football League Division 3 crown.

Clare 1-14 Fermanagh 2-09: Clare maintained their Division 3 status by virtue of a two-point win over Fermanagh at Cusack Park, Ennis yesterday.

Fermanagh 2-19, Limerick 2-10:

Armagh 1-10, Fermanagh 1-10:

Lansdowne 27, Cork Constitution, 20: Mike Ruddock praised the resilience of Cork Constitution after his Lansdowne side had to wait until the 79th minute to seal all the points at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.

Athlone IT 3-10 Trinity College Dublin 0-10

Donegal 0-12 Fermanagh 2-5

Ulster Bank League Division 1A

St Mary’s College 20 Lansdowne 38