Six Munster players have signed new contracts with the province, including three academy players who have been promoted to the senior squad.

Na Gaeil needed extra-time to beat Mayo side Kilmaine.

For all the positive reviews of Munster’s adventurous attacking innovations under new senior coach Stephen Larkham, the lack of tries in December has underlined the reality that the province’s brave new world remains very much a work in progress.

Carbery has spent the last two months rehabbing an ankle injury.

Simon Lewis Rory Scannell embarks on his fifth European campaign this weekend confident that the value new attack guru Stephen Larkham can add to Munster’s arsenal could be the missing ingredient to

Waterford intermediate champions, Ballysaggart, had to call on all of their resolve to see off their Kerry senior counterparts, Causeway, in today’s Munster Club IHC quarter-final at Fraher Field.

Jack O’Donoghue, the only forward to be retained from the victory over the Ospreys, captains the side for the second time in his career.

Glen Rovers face Imokilly in tomorrow’s Cork senior hurling final, the kind of bald covering statement that covers a century-plus of history.

Despite all those stars jetting east to the Land of the Rising Sun, the absentee which generated the most debate was the one left at home.

The competition watchdog has warned that the rights which online shoppers take for granted when buying from UK retailers are likely to be fundamentally changed by Brexit.

The risks ranged from potential eye damage from sunglasses which did not provide UVA/UVB protection to fire hazards from unsafe phone chargers.

‘The decision to move into residential care is usually taken in stressful circumstances.”

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

IFA President Joe Healy has urged the Government to push ahead with an independent retail regulator to give effect to tougher legislation on the food chain.

Conor Murray, Keith Earls and Joe Carbery are all set to return to training to give Munster a massive boost to their Guinness PRO14 play-off hopes.

Johann van Graan’s glass remained half-full as he argued Munster are still very much in Guinness PRO14 title contention despite defeat to the Scarlets in Llanelli.

The consumer watchdog claims it is unable to put a timeline on its investigation into anti-competitive practices in the motor insurance market.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan reserved special praise for his young players and the experience of scrum-half Alby Mathewson after his team survived a big scare in Newport.

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.

Munster needed this. Even Johann van Graan admitted as much.

Munster boss Johann van Graan was on Monday counting the cost of two highly physical Heineken Champions Cup games as he assessed his reduced selection options for this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 visit of Glasgow Warriors to Thomond Park.

Dan Goggin could easily have fallen between the cracks as he recovered from long-term injury while Munster transitioned from one boss to the next last season.

Munster 64 Ulster 7

Munster overwhelmed an under-strength Ulster as they ran in nine tries in a record-breaking 64-7 Guinness PRO14 derby victory at Thomond Park.

Munster 38 Cheetahs 0

FIFTEEN-year-old Fionn Hickey put the Junior Cert to the back of his mind to shoot a two under 69 and claim his maiden Senior Scratch Cup on Saturday at Muskerry Golf Club in Cork.

It will be Sunday evening before we know for sure which two of the four sides left standing in this season’s Champions Cup got their preparations spot on for the semi-finals, but at this juncture it would be a surprise, notwithstanding they are playing in France, if Munster isn’t one of them.

Southern Kings 22 Munster 39: There was a carnival atmosphere at Outeniqua Park on Saturday and while it seemed for a time that the Southern Kings were going to spoil CJ Stander’s homecoming, Munster’s superiority shone through in the end as they cantered home.

With a newly inked contract in his back pocket and a pep talk from Andy Farrell fresh in the mind, Sam Arnold was in a perfect position to reboot his season in the bonus-point win over Zebre at the weekend.

Munster 33 Zebre 5: Munster coach Johann van Graan accurately summed up the view of the majority of Saturday night’s sparse Thomond Park attendance when he commented that “this won’t go down as the greatest game in the history of Munster”.

Increasing competition for consumers and the adoption of the so-called “Danish model” would improve the current “dysfunctional” mortgage market which has an unhealthy level of mistrust between customers and lenders, the chair of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) has said.

A consumer watchdog report has found Ireland’s mortgage market is “dysfunctional” and in need of long-term actions to lower the cost of mortgages and to improve improve competition and customer protection.

Munster A 26 Ulster A 3: It was rugged, it was tough, but Munster A secured a well-deserved B&I Cup quarter-final victory over Ulster at Musgrave Park yesterday and earned themselves a home date with Ealing Trailfinders, who had a huge 84-7 win over Llanelli Scarlets.

The clock may be ticking but there is still no definite news on whether South African centre Jaco Taute will be available to Munster in 2017. His temporary contract comes to an end on January 1st so a decision as to whether his stay with Munster can be extended must be made imminently.

Witnessing Rassie Erasmus’s reaction to defeat last Friday night was as instructive as it was surprising.

Bid rigging, ‘car-clocking’ and selling of crashed cars were among the offences investigated, and in some cases prosecuted, by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, in its first two years of work.

We are living in an era of zero interest rates, but, for many Irish people, the need to generate a return for their money has never been more important. So where do you put the money you save?

The body responsible for enforcing consumer protection law in Ireland has opened its own investigation into the Volkswagen emissions scandal.