Stephen Larkham has been labelled a “signature signing” for Munster and one that can help the province’s talented backline to click and the team to reconnect with a style that delivered a pair of Heineken Cups.

For years, the power and impact of Munster’s heroic exploits in Europe haunted Leinster.

Four stunning quarter-finals, three of which were decided by a single score, made for a sensational weekend of Champions Cup rugby.

Jordan Larmour isn’t just blessed with fancy footwork. The man is a safe pair of hands as well.

Having delayed the inevitable longer than anyone could possibly imagine, Peter Stringer last night finally brought down the curtain on his 20-year rugby career.

Joe Schmidt will reach a decision on his future as Ireland head coach over the Christmas period.

Leinster won’t contemplate carrying any passengers for sentimental reasons in this Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 final but signs are that they will welcome back at least three influential leaders from injury for the showdown with Scarlets.

Cian Healy has warned that the momentum built up by Leinster’s unbeaten run through the Champions Cup stages will count for nothing when they embrace the challenge of reigning champions Saracens in Dublin this Sunday.

Fergus McFadden believes Leinster’s current strength-in-depth is such that it trumps even the 2009-2012 era, when the province dominated the European club scene and claimed three Heineken Cups in just four seasons.

Paul O’Connell will be back in a green tracksuit today as he begins the next step on his journey into coaching.

As Munster’s on-field coordinator, Billy Holland has to size up the opposition, attack vulnerable areas, and decide where to target, writes Donal Lenihan.

So, sports fans are outraged that Jermaine Defoe is missing from the BBC’s Sports Personality of the Year award shortlist? (According to click king Mr Google Analytics). Wait til they see this evening what the chainsaw gang in Montrose have done to the array of Ireland’s Greatest Sporting Moments in the 2000s, writes Tony Leen.

Munster Rugby led the tributes last night to their former media manager Pat Geraghty, who has passed away following a long illness.

All the best tens are blessed with great vision so Dan Carter knows a loaded question and its likely consequences when he sees one.

Munster and Irish second row forward, Donncha O'Callaghan has been announced as May’s ‘Cork Person of the Month’.

From boom to bust in the space of 24 hours. 

Not going on a Lions tour is a substantial miss on the CV of any international rugby player, writes Ronan O’Gara. 

Ireland is famous for its traditions, particularly the overwhelming sense of connection and loyalty people still retain for their own community - be that a small village, a city, a county or even a province.

Ireland’s four provinces are facing an almost impossible task in their respective bids to push beyond the pool stages of the Champions Cup, never mind win it.

He’s been forced to call time on his rugby career at 28, but Leinster back Luke Fitzgerald is glad of one thing - to be retiring as a “one-club man”.

He may be on the All Blacks’ watchlist but if Joe Schmidt does decide to return to New Zealand when his contract expires 12 months from now, the Ireland head coach will likely do so for more personal reasons.

Life inside the bubble. There’s a lot to be said for it when you’re a national team coach, writes Simon Lewis

Conor Murray has promised Munster will stick to an attacking game-plan he believes is the most enjoyable he has played as they attempt to get their European campaign back on track at Leicester on Sunday.

During the glory days, Jonathan Sexton stood tall as the living embodiment of all that was good about Leinster.

Asking a player if they are out to avenge a previous defeat is normally the most futile of exercises, but Bath’s Leroy Houston is full of surprises.

So they’re supposed to give up now. Just like any sensible group of Irish sportspeople should. They failed so they’re failures and would be better of failing to even try again, the nation’s sages in their self-appointed wisdom chortling Cleese that haven’t you forgotten, it’s the hope, not the despair, that kills you, old boy.

Cardiff. The very mention of the city’s name has long been enough to bring a broad smile to the faces of Irish rugby fans.

News that Joe Schmidt is to extend his stint as Ireland coach until June 2017 received a predictably positive response yesterday, but the addition of just one year onto the Kiwi’s current deal raises as many questions as it provides answers.

The numbers of people visiting Northern Ireland has mushroomed in the years since ‘The Troubles’ was still a phrase that merited common usage on this island. 

Paul O’Connell believes the return to action of Donnacha Ryan to the Munster pack can reap dividends for his province in the the run-in to the Guinness Pro12 semi- finals and also for Ireland.

Ireland must conquer the “step-up in psychological pressure” to become genuine World Cup contenders, according to Shane Horgan.

The province may have three Heineken Cups under their belt, but if they were to overcome Toulon in the Stade Velodrome on Sunday, Leinster winger Luke Fitzgerald believes it would be their biggest ever win in European competition.

The Top 14’s financial watchdog this week released a report showing France’s top 30 clubs have an accumulated debt of almost €34 million — yet nobody here batted an eyelid, writes Ronan O’Gara.

The future of Ireland coach Joe Schmidt could be resolved ahead of the World Cup with IRFU chief executive Philip Browne confirming that talks about a new deal are underway.

It was clearly said in jest, but it wouldn’t be difficult to imagine a few political parties’ antennae quivering at Rob Kearney’s assessment of the current Ireland coach.