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).

UCC Fitzgibbon Cup final hero Shane Conway continued where he left off in midweek with another marquee display as Kerry extended their unbeaten run in Division 2A of the Allianz HL in challenging conditions at Trim on Saturday.

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.

The visitors dominated much of the opening half and held a commanding 0-9 to 0-2 lead approaching half-time.

A goal in each half from Jordan Conway and Brandon Barrett fired Kerry to a comfortable Allianz HL Division 2A victory over Mayo at MacHale Park on Saturday.

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.

New Waterford boss Liam Cahill admitted he was disappointed by Phillip Mahony’s inter-county retirement but said the decision deserved to be respected.

A much improved second-half display saw Waterford finish their Munster Senior Hurling League campaign with a 22-point victory over Kerry in Austin Stack Park this afternoon.

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.

Connacht produced a frustrating and sloppy performance on their way to a bonus point victory over Southern Kings in the PRO14 on Saturday.

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.

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.

Conor McManus says John McEntee didn’t “shirk” his job with Clontibret even though it brought him the one scalp he never wanted to take.

Five-try Connacht picked up their second bonus-point victory in a week as Andy Friend’s side overwhelmed Dragons at Rodney Parade.

Andy Friend has knocked down a few barriers since arriving in Galway 15 months ago, and this evening (kick-off 7.35pm) hopes to win in Wales for the first time since he took charge of Connacht.

It was an historic day in Austin Stack Park on Saturday as Kerry condemned four-time Liam McCarthy Cup winners Offaly to Christy Ring Cup hurling in 2020 when they won this dogfight to maintain their own Joe McDonagh status.

It was an historic day in Austin Stack Park as Kerry condemned four times Liam McCarthy Cup winners Offaly to Christy Ring Cup hurling in 2020 when they won this Joe McDonagh dogfight and maintained their second-tier status for another year.

Laois are through to the final of the Joe McDonagh Cup after comfortably overcoming Kerry this afternoon.

There has been no wielding of the axe by the Clare management in the wake of last weekend’s 13-point hammering at the hands of Tipperary, with the team named for tomorrow’s game against Limerick showing just one change in personnel.

Kerry boss Fintan O’Connor admitted that the soul searching that followed their defeat to Antrim proved the catalyst for Saturday’s sensational Joe McDonagh Cup win away to Westmeath.

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.

A second-half blitz in the snow saw Kerry crush Meath at Fitzgerald Stadium yesterday and book their place in next weekend’s Allianz Division 2A final against Westmeath.

Kerry had far too much firepower for a disappointing Mayo side in this one-sided Allianz Hurling League Division 2A tie at Austin Stack Park 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.

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.

It’s a measure of how much things have changed at Connacht since they won the PRO12 title in Murrayfield two years ago that 10 of the 23 players involved that day are no longer at the Sportsground.

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.

Kerry 0-15 Westmeath 2-12: It might not have been fluent or aesthetically pleasing but Westmeath still made it three wins from three in the McDonagh Cup as they saw off a stern challenge from Kerry with three injury-time points at Austin Stack Park yesterday.

There were fresh-faces aplenty on show at Letterkenny in the respective Donegal and Galway ranks but, in the end, it was left to experience to settle the issue.

A Daithi Casey point in the sixth minute of injury-time handed victory to Kerry at the end of which the hosts had 14 players on the field and Donegal one less.

Kerry 1-23 ... Cork 1-13: A historic day in the world of Kerry hurling as they defeated a Cork team for the time in a competitive senior fixture since 1891 — en route to the Kingdom’s first and only All-Ireland title.

Limerick 3-19 Kerry 1-15: For the second time in three years, Limerick and Clare will contest the final of the Munster Hurling League.

Italy 22 Ireland 21: Munster’s Calvin Nash ran in a couple of tries, but Ireland’s hopes of reaching successive World Rugby U20 Championship finals took a nosedive as Italy pipped them at the death in Georgia.

Ireland U20 head coach Peter Malone is looking forward to having another crack at New Zealand as he prepares to bring his side into battle for this summer’s World Rugby U20 Championships in Georgia, writes Daire Walsh.

Laois secured their third straight win in this Leinster SHC Round Robin qualifier and advance with confidence to face Wexford in the Leinster SHC quarter-final. 

Kerry 0-20 Westmeath 2-12: Kerry senior hurling manager Fintan O’Connor, confessed to being “relieved, more than anything” after his side pulled off a vital win against Westmeath in miserable weather in Mullingar yesterday afternoon.

Ireland 10 England 14: Gavin Coombes’ late try was not enough to deny England U-20s a Grand Slam as Nigel Carolan’s side fell just short in Donnybrook.

Ireland U20 coach Nigel Carolan insists his side wouldn’t lack for motivation against Grand Slam- chasing England at Donnybrook this evening (6pm).