They once boasted one of the strongest playing rosters in European rugby and were famously labelled the ‘Galacticos’ of Welsh rugby.

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.

Munster kept the pressure on Guinness PRO14 conference leaders Glasgow Warriors as they racked up a bonus-point victory over play-off rivals Cardiff Blues in Cork last night.

Ronan O’Gara has been linked with a role in the French coaching setup for the World Cup.

Grand Slam winner Gareth Anscombe has called on the power-brokers to sort out Welsh rugby’s domestic mess.

In Wales, the party will continue for some time.

Joe Schmidt urged Ireland supporters not to lose faith in their team after they were blown away in Cardiff on Saturday by a Wales team that secured the Grand Slam.

Wales have completed the Grand Slam after beating Ireland 25-7 in their Guinness Six Nations match in Cardiff.

It’s not often you hear a player call an opponent chicken.

It was their 12th successive win, setting an all-time national record, breaking the previous best sequence that had stood for 109 years.

‘Mixed’ would be a kind word to describe Munster’s early season form in the Guin

European Rugby Challenge Cup final

Wales moved up to second in the NatWest 6 Nations table behind champions Ireland after claiming an expected bonus point victory over Italy.

If there had been any misgivings in the Irish management think tank about Chris Farrell taking the next big step in his Test career, the Munster centre’s first few minutes of his Six Nations debut will have dispelled them.

Jonny May ran in both tries as England kept their Grand Slam aspirations alive by edging Wales 12-6 in a brutally competitive NatWest 6 Nations clash at Twickenham.

Kick-off at Twickenham is at 4.45pm.

Scarlets have recorded a 14-11 victory over the Cardiff Blues to maintain their position at the top of Conference B in the Guinness PRO14.

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

Ulster 24 Cardiff Blues 24: Cardiff Blues dented Ulster’s hopes of making the Guinness PRO12 play-offs when they carved out a share of the points at the Kingspan Stadium last night.

Guinness PRO12

Cardiff Blues 13 Leinster 16 

Cardiff Blues lost their unbeaten record in the Guinness PRO12 as Leinster came from 10 points behind to win 16-13 at the Arms Park.

Wales 19 France 10: Wales moved to the top of the RBS 6 Nations by beating France 19-10 at Cardiff’s Principality Stadium.

Wales full-back Leigh Halfpenny has been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering knee ligament damage on Saturday.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland admits that he has some “tough calls” ahead as he applies the finishing touches to his 31-man World Cup squad.

Official notice of Matt O’Connor’s exit from Leinster landed shortly after 10am yesterday, but the writing had been on the wall for the Australian head coach for a month.

Ulster must end a nine-year wait for silverware if they are to be truly taken seriously as a force in Europe, according to Tommy Bowe.

Ulster have broken into their bank vault to sign All Blacks scoring machine Charles Piutau with a reputed £1million-plus two-year deal.

Guinness Pro12

Warren Gatland revealed a glowing recommendation from one of world rugby’s outstanding coaches played its part in New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe making an unlikely journey from Super Rugby to potential Wales Test star.

Warren Gatland has revealed that a glowing recommendation from one of world rugby’s outstanding coaches played its part in New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe making an unlikely journey from Super Rugby to potential Wales Test star.

Cardiff Blues 13 Leinster 22: Reigning Pro12 champions Leinster believe they have turned a corner in the New Year after coming from behind to claim a bonus-point victory over Cardiff Blues on Saturday.

Newport Gwent Dragons 9 Cardiff Blues 11

Guinness Pro12

Les Kiss will leave the Ireland set-up after Rugby World Cup 2015 to become Ulster’s full-time director of rugby.

Les Kiss will leave the Ireland set-up after Rugby World Cup 2015 to become Ulster’s full-time director of rugby.

Neil Doak may have ambitions to become a head coach but that does not necessarily mean he would be comfortable succeeding Mark Anscombe at Ulster in the near future.

If a sense of trauma permeates the Ulster rugby squad following the shock departures in the summer of David Humphreys and coach Mark Anscombe someone has forgotten to tell Tommy Bowe and Darren Cave.

Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has been sacked with Ireland assistant Les Kiss stepping in as interim director of rugby at Ravenhill.

Leinster 13 Ulster 9

There may be bigger battles ahead in the culmination of this RaboDirect Pro12 campaign but Munster will close their regular season at home to Ulster this evening intent on maintaining momentum with the play-offs just a week away.

Ulster are sweating on the fitness of their front-row ahead of Friday’s big Irish derby when the visit of Leinster hails the official opening of the rejuvenated Ravenhill stadium where there will be a capacity of 17,500 in attendance.