Damien Varley, one of the most committed and popular Munster players over the past eight years, has announced his retirement. 

An accidental career path brings John Lacey to the Millennium Stadium today.

Ian Keatley says beating Leinster was the perfect preparation for next week’s Heineken Cup trip to Edinburgh.

It is possible New Zealand legend Brad Thorn could be back in Leinster colours next season.

Veteran Munster second row Mick O’Driscoll, whose career came to an end in the 45-10 defeat to the Ospreys, believes the province still has the potential to compete for trophies.

SO much physical and mental energy goes into preparing for an international test match that to have it called off as you are literally about to leave the dressing room must be emotionally draining.

MUNSTER Rugby chiefs have informed Heineken Cup organisers ERC they would be seeking a Saturday or Sunday date for their Easter weekend quarter-final clash against Ulster.

Ulster Rugby today announced that back row forward Chris Henry has signed a two-year contract extension keeping him at the club until at least June 2014.

OF ALL the rugby mementos Stephen Ferris picks up over the course of his career – and all indications are, on the evidence of the past month, there will be a fair few – nothing is likely to mean less to him than the Rugby World Cup cap that he was presented with at the outset of the tournament in Bordeaux in 2007.

CONOR MURRAY’S selection as Ireland’s starting scrum-half tomorrow against Italy may have come as a surprise to some Irish fans but his captain and teammates have wholeheartedly endorsed the 22-year-old as good and ready for the most important match of his fledgling career.

PAUL O’CONNELL, Tommy Bowe and Gordon D’Arcy’s injuries were under scrutiny this morning as Ireland began their preparations for Sunday’s Pool C finale against Italy.

JOHN HAYES’ retirement party has been put on hold after it emerged he may be required to stay on at Munster due to a series of injuries to the province’s front-rowers.

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is convinced Conor Murray has the temperament to make a success of his full Test debut.

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt has had to weather early-season panic before and has advised Ireland’s fretful supporters and critics alike to reserve their judgments until the business gets underway in New Zealand next month.

FORMER Leinster coach Michael Cheika has been fined €20,000, half of it suspended until June 2013, for his conduct on the night of the Amlin Challenge final when his Stade Francais side was defeated by Harlequins.

FOUR years ago, the Irish rugby team failed to make it past the group stages of the Rugby World Cup for the first time after telling everyone and anyone that they had what it took to win the tournament.

GORDON D’ARCY has undergone surgery on an ankle injury sustained in Leinster’s Heineken Cup victory over Northampton Saints in Cardiff last month.

RaboDirect, the online banking arm of Rabobank, has become the new sponsor of the Magners League which will become the RaboDirect PRO12 from the start of the new rugby season in a four-year contract.

REGRETS, thrills, spills, celebration and contemplation, so much to occupy the minds of players and coaches over the course of the next few weeks as they take a step back from the unrelenting grind of professional rugby and consider the possibilities for next season.

It turned out to be a momentous campaign for Irish rugby, delivering both Magners League and Heineken Cup victories and a huge morale-boosting win for Ireland over England.

HEAD coach Joe Schmidt is deter-mined to use Leinster’s Magners League final defeat to Munster as a motivational tool for next season as he tries to keep his European champions on their toes for his second campaign at the helm.

IF a composite 15 was selected from the two starting line-ups prior to Saturday’s Magners League final, Munster would do well to get more than four in the team. That, in itself, was an accurate reflection of the task Tony McGahan’s men faced in their quest to regain the Celtic League crown they last won two years ago.

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan believes his squad has much more to offer after hailing a new generation of players in the province for their contribution to the Magners League title-winning success.

Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt admitted that fatigue was a factor after his side fell to a 19-9 defeat to Munster in the Magners League grand final today.

Munster 19 Leinster 9

Leinster’s appetite for the battle will be a key issue in today’s Magners League final, believes our rugby analyst

MUNSTER youngsters Conor Murray and Danny Barnes have been given a vote of confidence for today’s Magners League Grand Final against Leinster at Thomond Park.

DAVID WALLACE has been around the block enough times to know nothing is guaranteed for either side in the Magners League grand final at Thomond Park tomorrow.

WITH a Heineken Cup medal in his back pocket, a Magners League Grand final against his native province to come and the likelihood of a starting spot in the World Cup, things couldn’t be a whole better right now for Mike Ross.

Leinster centre Brian O’Driscoll revealed some “inspirational” words from man-of-the-match Jonathan Sexton helped men in blue turn the Heineken Cup final on its head as they beat Northampton 33-22 in Cardiff.

Leinster 33 Northampton 22

Northampton captain Dylan Hartley is braced for a punishing afternoon at the coalface when Saints bid for Heineken Cup glory against Leinster tomorrow.

A MUNSTER fan will become the 1,000,000th visitor to go to a Magners League game this season when Munster take on Leinster in the Grand Final at Thomond Park next week.

NORTHAMPTON captain Dylan Hartley believes Leinster are over-playing the seriousness of Brian O’Driscoll’s knee injury and expects to be lining up opposite the centre in Saturday’s Heineken Cup final.

MUNSTER’S backroom reshuffle for next season continued yesterday with the appointment of Ian Costello as both skills and A team coach.

THERE were mixed messages from the Leinster camp regarding Brian O’Driscoll’s fitness yesterday with the player himself delivering a much less optimistic prognosis than the official line ahead of Saturday’s Heineken Cup final against Northampton.

THE season finale that everyone, with the possible exception of Declan Kidney, wanted has been delivered with Leinster and Munster successfully negotiating their way through their respective Magners League semi-finals over the weekend.

OSPREYS coach Scott Johnson fancies Munster to replace them as Magners League champions — despite Leinster being Europe’s form team.

MARCUS HORAN believes Harlequins could unwittingly have done Munster a favour by winning the Amlin Cup semi-final at Thomond Park a fortnight ago.

LEINSTER chiefs will learn this morning the extent of the injuries sustained by key players in Friday night’s Magners League semi-final win over Ulster as they finalise preparations for Saturday’s Heineken Cup final.

Munster 18 Ospreys 11

LEINSTER face an anxious 48 hours waiting on the medical fallout from a bruising Magners League semi-final win over Ulster in Dublin that saw Brian O’Driscoll hobble out of action at half-time.

Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt admitted that Brian O’Driscoll’s knee injury was a concern heading into Heineken Cup final week as assessed a battered dressing room following the 18-3 Magners League semi-final victory over Ulster last night.

DAMIAN VARLEY insists Munster will put a mini-crisis behind them by defeating Ospreys at Thomond Park tonight and advancing to the Magners League final.