Connacht 19 Dragons 14

Coach Alan Gaffney “gleefully accepted” Munster’s 15-9 Heineken Cup Pool Four triumph over the Zurich Premiership’s bottom side Harlequins despite a scoreless second half from the Irish province.

Number eight John Muldoon, props Ray Hogan and Stephen Knoop, second-row Christian Short, out-half Paul Warwick and centre James Downey make up a party of six players that will make their European débuts for Connacht at Narbonne in the first round of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup on Saturday (6.30pm Irish time).

Wales will have four teams in the Heineken Cup next season but European rugby chiefs will cut the guaranteed places to three for the next campaign.

being at the helm for the past two years, Connacht rugby manager John Fallon is stepping down.

Harlequins have signed the Irish international Jeremy Staunton on a two-year contract.

Rob Howley swept Wasps to Heineken Cup glory with the match-winning try at Twickenham yesterday and then asked boss Warren Gatland for a new contract.

Harlequins 27 Montferrand 26

NEC Harlequins have won the Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

Former Ireland Schools international Gavin Duffy has been selected at full back on the Harlequins side to meet Montferrand in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup final at Reading on Saturday.

IT may be deemed a touch ironic. As Ronan O’Gara was limping off in Lansdowne Road on Sunday, a pivotal moment in Munster’s Heineken Cup semi-final loss to Wasps, Paul Burke, the man signed up as O’Gara’s back-up next season, was celebrating the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final last-gasp win of Harlequins, over Connacht, and his own pivotal role in that success.

Connacht 23 Harlequins 18 (agg: Harlequins 49 Connacht 45)

Connacht 23 Harlequins 18

Connacht are out of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup, although they did win today, 23-18.

Fly-half Paul Burke hopes to leave Harlequins with a double European legacy before heading back to Ireland to rejoin Munster during the summer.

Bath coach John Connolly was left to rue a disastrous first-half performance as he watched his side get knocked out of Europe at Stade Marcel Michelin today.

Connacht have been forced to make one change ahead of Sunday's Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final second leg against Harlequins.

Harlequins boss Mark Evans expects a fierce challenge from Connacht tomorrow when the London club target their second European final appearance in four seasons.

LIFE can be difficult enough for any young Irish emigrant, what with trying to adapt to a new environment, new culture, new friends. Even for the most adventurous there will always be the tug of home, the yearning for the familiar, for old faces, old friends.

The Connacht team to play Harlequins in the second leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final at the Sportsground on Sunday has been named.

Harlequins hooker Tani Fuga has been found guilty of stamping on an opponent in the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final first leg.

Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan will be one of several personalities who will feature at a rugby extravaganza which will be hosted by Connacht Rugby next Saturday night.

AN independent Disciplinary Committee has been appointed by ERC to hear a citing complaint lodged by Connacht following the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final first leg match against Harlequins last Sunday.

Connacht have cited Harlequins player Tani Fuga for an alleged stamp during last weekend's Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final.

The Connacht team to play Ulster in the Celtic League on Friday night at Ravenhill (K/O 7.35 pm), in a game which will be televised live by TG4, shows a number of changes from that which started against Harlequins in Sunday¹s Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final.

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney is taking no chances with most of his star players in advance of the Heineken Cup semi final with Wasps.

Connacht are 1,500 tickets short of a sell-out for their Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final return leg against Harlequins at the Sportsground on Sunday week.

Less than 1,500 tickets are left to sell for the second leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final tie between Connacht and Harlequins at the Sportsground in Galway.

Harlequins 31 Connacht 22

Parker Pen Challenge Cup

Parker Pen Challenge Cup

Parker Pen Challenge Cup

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Parker Pen Challenge Cup

WASPS will make history if they beat Gloucester in tomorrow’s all-English European showdown — and finally discard their status as Heineken Cup under-achievers.

ENGLAND’S most capped full-back Matt Perry is primed to make his Bath comeback in today’s Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final clash with Montferrand — just five weeks after undergoing pioneering back surgery.

NEC Harlequins have gone with Irish international Paul Burke, Roy Winters and George Harder as their three changes from the Zurich Premiership draw with London Irish to play Connacht in the first leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final at the Stoop on Sunday.

The Connacht team to play Harlequins in the first leg of the Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final at The Stoop on Sunday has been announced.

Barry Coughlan

THE IRFU is faced with the unpalatable prospect of excluding one of the remaining three provinces from the Heineken Cup if Connacht win the Parker Pen Challenge Cup.

Connacht will be hoping for the perfect send-off for their Parker Pen Challenge Cup semi-final against Harlequins on Sunday week when they take on Neath/Swansea Ospreys in the Celtic league at the Sportsground on Saturday (2.30pm).