Conor Murray insists Munster will be in good hands with Tyler Bleyendaal at out-half against Saracens in this month’s European semi-final should Joey Carbery fail to prove his fitness in time.

Brian O'Driscoll has said the manner in which Tadhg Beirne won a penalty for Munster in the Champions Cup quarter-final is "not a good look" for rugby.

Munster have been forced into a late change ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh.

A stranger perusing the team sheets in advance of this afternoon’s opening Champions Cup quarter-final might be forgiven for thinking that a Currie Cup fixture has been transported from Cape Town to Edinburgh.

Rhys Ruddock will captain the Leinster Rugby team taking on Ulster tomorrow, while Johnny Sexton has been ruled out following an injury.

Joey Carbery has been named in the Munster team for tomorrow's Champions Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh at Murrayfield.

Ross Byrne is on stand-by to start Leinster's Champions Cup quarter-final against Ulster at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow.

Question marks may remain over his hamstring ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh but there is no doubting Joey Carbery’s allegiance to Munster with confirmation yesterday that the out-half has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain with the province until June 2022.

Craig Gilroy and Will Addison have been ruled out of Saturday's Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster at the Aviva Stadium.

The province began training for the trip to Murrayfield on Monday, with their full squad reunited at their High Performance Centre in Limerick for the first time following Ireland’s Six Nations campaign

Ulster may have achieved their goal in leapfrogging Benetton in the chase for a Guinness PRO14 knock-out place, but there was mixed news in the aftermath of Saturday’s win over Southern Kings for coach Dan McFarland ahead of next week’s Champions Cup quarter-final with Leinster.

It’s a doozy, as quiz questions go: When did James Ryan last lose a game of rugby?

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

Munster have received a boost ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final against French heavyweights Toulon as injury doubts Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway have been declared fit.

IT is with good reason that Saracens winger Sean Maitland has started calling his captain Brad Barritt ‘The Terminator’.

Owen Farrell will be given until Friday to prove his fitness for Saracens' Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster but Billy Vunipola has been ruled out of the trip to Dublin.

Jonathan Sexton has been eager for a crack at Saracens for a while.

Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway have only 50/50 chances of facing Toulon next Saturday as Munster's injury list continues to rise.

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.

Munster 19 Scarlets 7: Tommy O’Donnell and Rory Scannell were the latest Munster players to check into the province’s treatment room as head coach Johann van Graan admitted both Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway have only 50/50 chances of facing Toulon next Saturday.

Amid all the hoopla about Peter O’Mahony’s captaincy of the Lions is the salient point that in sport, as in life, timing is everything. 

Tens of thousands of rugby fans are expected to line out for tickets following the weekend’s Champions Cup quarter-final victories for Munster and Leinster.

Do not tell Peter O’Mahony that Munster have regained a rightful place in the European quarter-finals this weekend, the Reds captain is adamant his side is fully deserving of their place in the Champion Cup knockout rounds.

Rassie Erasmus has sent a shockwave through Munster Rugby by choosing not to unequivocally shoot down speculation he is in talks with South African Rugby about a return to his previous role as high performance manager in his homeland.

This column was shaped on the flight from Shannon to Paris last Saturday night. There were several moments over the course of a surreal 30 hours in Limerick when I wasn’t sure if I was coming or going.

Munster have a home Champions Cup quarter-final to look forward to in the spring after completing the double over Racing 92 with a 22-10 win at Thomond Park.

Chris Ashton rescued Saracens from disaster as injury-ravaged Northampton's brave attempt at causing a major upset in the fierce rivals' Champions Cup quarter-final at Allianz Park ended in a 29-20 defeat.

Saracens hope to stage their Champions Cup quarter-final at Allianz Park rather than Twickenham after storming into the knockout phase with a 33-17 victory over Ulster.

Eoin Reddan insists the provinces cannot afford to dwell on the growing financial gap between the Celtic clubs and their French and English counterparts as both Leinster and Munster come to terms with their discouraging European situations.

Ronan O’Gara looks forward to what promises to be an exciting weekend of rugby action and warns that Ireland should not underestimate Argentina who, he suggests, are playing better than ever before.

It’s almost ten days on, but the sense of relief has yet to flush fully from Ian Madigan’s system though his attention has long turned towards the Champions Cup quarter-final with Bath.

Sunday’s magnificent win over England ensures Ireland will now have two bites at retaining their Six Nations championship title won in dramatic circumstances in Paris last year.