The southwest and northeastern corners of Ireland were united in celebration Sunday afternoon in Bord na Móna O’Connor Park as Antrim struck two goals very deep into stoppage time to salvage an unlikely draw with Offaly in Tullamore.

A global pandemic may be the only thing that can stop Leinster this season, if Friday night’s nine-try win over Glasgow at the RDS is anything to go by.

Leo Cullen insists Johnny Sexton will prove his worth as Ireland captain, and has backed his out-half to come back stronger after last Sunday’s Six Nations defeat to England.

THE RDS promises to deliver more than the usual fare tomorrow for a Six Nations down-week.

Another runaway success, but some signs of vulnerability too.

Leinster's bid to claim top seeding for the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup was buttressed by an ultimately convincing win over Lyon in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

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

Seven tries last week, another seven tonight.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

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

The incessant rain continued to make life difficult for both Imokilly and Sarsfields in the second Cork senior hurling championship quarter final at Páirc Uí Rinn tonight. However, it was three-in-a-row seeking Imokilly, and favourites for the title, who are through to meet St Finbarr’s in the last four.

Ireland supporters will have breathed a little easier on Saturday night following this victory at the Principality Stadium.

Jacob Stockdale’s interception of a wayward Aaron Shingler offload on 28 minutes was expertly finished by the Ireland wing to notch his second try of the first-half and establish a 12-point cushion that allowed the Irish to release the pressure valve that had been tightening for the past week.

The 2018 Grand Slam champions suffered a humiliating 57-15 defeat to England in London less than two weeks ago

Munster lock Jean Kleyn has been handed a Test debut for Ireland and a chance to stake his claim for a World Cup squad berth as Joe Schmidt’s side play the first of four warm-up matches against Italy in Dublin on Saturday.

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.

Alan Cadogan will start his first championship game for Cork since August 2017 at Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night.

PRO 14 Scoreboard here with this one Leo Cullen said Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final will be a litmus test for him and his coaching team’s player management system.

Sean O’Brien’s form and fitness have both given cause for concern this season, but the Leinster back row remains confident that he still has plenty to offer as his last days with province and country approach.

Leo Cullen saw this coming.

No Jonathan Sexton, Rob Kearney on the bench and Jack McGrath given the weekend off.

If the Cheetahs thought they might get an easy run out against Leinster during the Six Nations, the South Africans were sadly mistaken.

For those spilling out of Páirc Uí Rinn as the rain closed in on Saturday evening, one question dominated conversations.

Defender David Sherry was the toast of St Thomas' after popping up with a remarkable winning point five minutes into stoppage time at Parnell Park.

Leinster have brought the curtain down on the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages with the easiest of victories away to Wasps on Sunday afternoon that confirms for them an all-Irish home quarter-final against Ulster at the end of March.

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 30 Munster 22

Tonight will tell Stuart Lancaster a lot.

Leinster 17 Newcastle Falcons 42

Sarsfields 1-19 Ballyhea 1-13: There may have been some confusion about the final scoreline in Fermoy yesterday in this first round Cork SHC game with the full-time scoreboard reading 1-18 to 1-14.

OSPREYS 32 LEINSTER 18: Leinster limped back into Dublin late on Saturday night having fluffed their lines in their dress-rehearsal for the Champions Cup quarter-final with Saracens and licking their wounds after a mauling by the Ospreys.

It has been a hard road for Southern Kings, the whipping boys of the Guinness PRO14, and things are unlikely to get easier for the South Africans at the RDS tonight.

Galway 1-19 Antrim 1-16: After an hour of average hurling Micheál Donoghue’s Galway finally showed their class to launch the defence of their league and championship titles with victory over Antrim at Pearse Stadium.

Neal Peden’s Antrim almost landed the first major knock-out blow of the season, but the All-Ireland and league champions Galway finally found their form in the closing minutes to take the points at Pearse Stadium.

Stand tickets will be as low as €20 for this summer’s Munster senior hurling championship round games, the Irish Examiner has learned.

Clare 4-17 Cork 0-18: The Munster Council have brought forward the Munster SHL final between Clare and Limerick by one week to avoid the counties meeting on successive weekends.

Garry Ringrose’s first start of the season and a debut for Kiwi flyer James Lowe give an exciting edge to the Leinster backline for the Guinness PRO14 trip to Treviso’s Benetton Rugby (3:30pm Irish time).

There was some degree of befuddlement in UCD earlier this week when Ross Byrne and Ross Molony found themselves being quizzed on the possibility of featuring in a Rugby World Cup in Ireland in 2023.

It was not as if Leinster put Ulster to the sword in a lively, if disjointed Guinness PRO14 derby at the weekend, they simply sliced and diced them!

Imokilly 1-24 Sarsfields 2-21: Paudie O’Sullivan’s 64^th-minute equaliser for Imokilly ensured that the East Cork division and Sarsfields must meet again to determine Blackrock’s opponents in the Cork SHC final.

LEINSTER 21 - EDINBURGH 13: A late shot of whiskey helped Leinster to a narrow win over Edinburgh with Jamison Gibson-Park’s try coming as last orders were being called at the RDS last night.

Johnny Sexton will skipper Leinster tonight as four of the province’s British & Irish Lions return to action for the first time this season. 

Cheetahs 38 Leinster 19: So much for the failed experiment, the useless additions, the pointless expansion.

Robbie Henshaw is only a week away from a return to competitive rugby with Leinster but the Irish international is allowing himself a sneaky peek at a possible reunion with Bundee Aki come November.

The great sporting occasions have always seen their attendances inflated over time, with fans falsely claiming presence at an historic event with the vigour of great grandfathers discussing their role in the GPO.

Just one week after proving to all of Europe how dangerous he is in the No 15 shirt, Joey Carbery is back to orchestrate another Leinster victory, only this time he will be wearing number 10.

Kerry, who travel to Dr Hyde Park to face Roscommon in Division 1 of the Allianz FL tomorrow (2pm), have two changes in personnel, as well as a number of positional switches, following their loss to Monaghan.