Former Munster back row James Coughlan says that with France in lockdown, none of the Irish players or coaches there know when any restrictions will be lifted.

Cork's Eoghan Barrett is set for his European rugby debut with French club Pau.

Ahead of Saturday's eagerly awaited Heineken Champions Cup semi-final clash between Munster and Saracens we look back at previous titanic clashes between these two old rivals.

Billy Holland will make his 200th appearance for Munster when he lines out against Connacht in Saturday’s crucial Guinness PRO14 game at the Galway Sportsground.

A humid Saturday morning and clearly it is moving day in Lourdes. Dozens of buses clog the narrow streets of the town in the Pyrenees, hazard lights on as people are wheeled or carried from their hotels, others moving with a pep in their step as if the visit to the Marian shrine has uplifted them.

A chip on the shoulder and the feeling of being written off.

As U2 tune up for tomorrow’s The Joshua Tree Tour 2017 in Croke Park, Dublin, Olivia Kelleher meets their biggest fan.

Injured second-row Dave Foley has played his last game for Munster after the province revealed he will be joining French Top14 club Pau at the end of the season.

The back garden of this suburban semi-d is a sun-trap, facing south, and the location’s ace. 

A near-frozen Glasgow and an in-form Warriors provide yet another test of this Munster’s side mettle this evening as Rassie Erasmus’s players bid to reach the Champions Cup knockout rounds with a week to spare.

Anthony Foley has acknowledged that the combination of an inexperienced coaching ticket and a playing-group shorn of veteran players through injury and retirement saw Munster struggle to compete this season.

Dormer houses in Cork’s Landsborough scheme, by Bride View Developments in the 1990s, were always steady re-sellers, popular with families looking to trade up, and with several house types and sizes within it to suit varied budgets.

The growing Munster contingent in Pau is settling into life in the top flight in France and showed at the weekend they have what it takes to cut it amongst the best in the richest rugby league in the world.

Former Munster assistant coach Simon Mannix said he played no part in Paul O’Connell’s move to France and has denied he ever tried to sign the Irish captain for Pau.

Paul O’Connell won’t be the only Munster player making his last appearance in the red jersey at the Kingspan Stadium tomorrow night.

If individual awards — Player of the Month, Man of the Match and the like — are an indication of the impact made by James Coughlan in his first season playing French rugby, then the boy has done well.

Paul O’Connell may harbour ambitions to live and work in France but for now the Ireland captain believes he has no option but to see out the remaining year on his IRFU contract.

Back rowers Paddy Butler and Sean Dougall are leaving Munster at the end of the season, but versatile back Denis Hurley has signed on for another season.

Munster look set to lose another back-row forward to Pau with Sean Dougall in line for a move to the French Top 14 hopefuls this summer.

If CJ Stander brings even half his fiercely competitive nature to bear on Munster’s journey into the lion’s den at Stade Marcel Michelin today, then the province should have nothing to fear from Clermont Auvergne.

CJ Stander wants to stay at Munster well beyond his current contract in a bid to make a similar impact on the province as Doug Howlett.

Clermont Auvergne have been knocked off the summit of the Top 14 ahead of their two Champions Cup clashes with Munster after they went down 27-19 away to champions Toulon on Saturday night.

Munster are holding out hope that Lions winger Keith Earls will be available for their final Champions Cup pool games in the new year, putting him in line for a late run into Ireland’s Six Nations reckoning.

Added expectation? Paul O’Connell has been playing under the burden of it for years and the Ireland captain sees no reason why his side cannot deal with it when they play Australia in Dublin this afternoon.

Paul O’Connell has claimed “there’s been nothing done on my behalf” in the wake of rumours linking him with a move to France after next year’s World Cup.

French newspaper reports Paul O’Connell will end his career with French 2nd division club Pau after the 2015 Rugby World Cup came as a bombshell yesterday to his team-mates and Ireland and Munster fans.

Ian Keatley’s inclusion and Paddy Jackson’s absence will prompt much of the debate surrounding the squad Joe Schmidt has chosen to do battle with South Africa, Georgia and Australia next month.

With five Heineken Cup successes over a magical seven-year period between 2006 and 2012, European rugby had become a happy hunting ground for the Irish, writes Donal Lenihan.

Many Munster fans were shocked when James Coughlan, one of the most admired and respected players in the squad for the previous decade or so, looked to be released from the final year of his contract to sample life in Pau, France, with his wife and family.

Even though Anthony Foley was far from optimistic about Keith Earls’ prospects of being given the all clear at his consultation with a top Swedish consultant in London on Monday next, the Munster head coach has included the Ireland and Lions centre in his 38-man European Champions Cup squad.

Munster’s back-row forward Paddy Butler gets a chance to show what he’s capable of in an Ireland jersey against Uruguay in Wednesday’s IRB Nations Cup clash.

INTERNATIONAL TEST:

Munster Rugby announced a deficit of €0.8m at the Branch’s AGM last night, but delegates heard some encouraging news for the province in the form of a restructured repayment plan of its loan from the IRFU for the redevelopment of Thomond Park.

Everyone is a fan of James Coughlan because, with Munster, he did his talking on the pitch.

Simon Mannix’s time at Munster may be up but the former backs coach is bringing the province’s number eight, James Coughlan, with him to new club Pau.

Munster have announced that James Coughlan is leaving the province at the end of June.

Damien Varley retains the captaincy for Munster's PRO12 semi-final against Glasgow Warriors on Friday night at Scotstoun Stadium, ko 7.35pm.

Munster 17 Ulster 19

Munster 17 Ulster 19

Conor Murray has been named this year's Munster Rugby Player of the Year at the annual Munster Rugby Awards.

Ireland captain Paul O’Connell never considered looking for an early summer holiday and is relishing the prospect of leading the international squad on their tour of Argentina next month.

Andrew Trimble pipped Peter O’Mahony to the players’ player of the year gong at last night’s IRUPA awards ceremony.

Ireland, 2014 Six Nations champions, are the only nation in the IRB’s top 20 test sides without a men’s Sevens team.

Edinburgh have issued a worrying decree — Munster will have to fight for a productive result in Scotland tonight.

Munster have made 11 changes to the side that lost to Toulon in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup for their penultimate league game against Edinburgh.

Niall Ronan is to focus on the exact reason he had to retire from professional rugby to embellish the next stage of his working life — injury.

The emotions will inevitably be raw when Munster return to work this morning, thoughts of defeat by Toulon still painfully fresh in the minds of players who will feel there should still be a league and Heineken Cup double on their horizons.