The IRFU and Connacht Rugby have confirmed that the Ireland international has signed a three-year extension.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline

Connacht forward Eoghan Masterson, after finally making his Champions Cup debut last weekend, is determined to create more history in France tomorrow when they take on Toulouse.

It would be understandable if Connacht’s Sean O’Brien was feeling sorry for himself this week as he underwent surgery for a shoulder injury suffered within minutes of coming on last weekend against Leinster in his first game in almost a year.

Anyone who has ever over-indulged on a night out knows that the extent of the hangover isn’t always directly related to the number of drinks downed before the head hits the pillow.

Despite the disappointment of last Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final exit to New Zealand, Peter O’Mahony insists Joe Schmidt vacates his role as Ireland head coach with considerable credit in the bank.

Jack Carty turns 27 today. He has spent a long time proving himself but it is an age since he faced a test — with a small ‘t’ — like this.

When Scottish referee Mike Adamson blew the final whistle at the RDS last Saturday, it not only signalled the end of a somewhat underwhelming Guinness PRO14 semi-final, but also brought another Munster

A former club captain back in the 1950s, and with a son (John) involved in a variety of roles from captain to president to chairman, Don’s was a voice entitled to be heard.

He could not have timed his Ulster return any better, but even Luke Marshall is pleasantly surprised by how well he’s played since returning from long-term injury.

Defeats make doubters of us all.

Dig around through the entrails of Leinster’s last ten years of European triumphs and there are surprisingly few threads connecting them all.

There has been a surge in stories lately about who’s going to end up where in 2020 and not all of it has been about your columnist.

Jean Kleyn is convinced Munster can use their European semi-final defeat to Saracens as a springboard to Guinness PRO14 silverware this season.

Munster’s acceptance they were outgunned by Saracens last weekend was an admission of the gulf in class between Johann van Graan’s side and Europe’s elite. But the province is still intent on ruling the roost closer to home.

Connacht's Eoin Griffin and Conor McKeon have announced their retirements from rugby at the end of this season.

Connacht’s focus for the remainder of the season will be trying to claim a knockout spot in the PRO14 and a place in next season’s Champions Cup but they will be disappointed to bow out of the Challenge Cup without firing a decent shot.

Jack Conan has set the bar high for this weekend’s crunch clash with Toulouse, labelling it a tougher assignment than any they faced last season when overcoming all-comers on the way to a fourth European title.

Veterans of the 15 previous clashes which Connacht have hosted against Munster will breathe a sigh of relief that the weather forecast for this evening in Galway is relatively good.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline...

Connacht have only managed to do the double over an Irish province on one occasion, but victory at the Sportsground this evening (7.35pm) against Ulster would help soften the blow of not putting Leinster away last weekend.

It’s a measure of how much things have changed at Connacht since they won the PRO12 title in Murrayfield two years ago that 10 of the 23 players involved that day are no longer at the Sportsground.

Andy Friend is hoping his first pre-season as Connacht head coach has brought the clarity to his players he feels is the key to a successful PRO14 campaign.

Leo Cullen wandered back towards the familial bosom of the Leinster dressing room glad to be able to finally stop thinking about rugby, for a couple of weeks at least.

IT WAS James Lowe who voiced what everyone at Leinster must have been thinking last weekend when, with Munster beaten, he suggested that the stars might be aligning for a fairytale ending with today’s Guinness PRO14 final.

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.

Whether you have been waiting for a trophy for seven years or seven days, hunger is never the differential when it comes to meetings between Leinster and Munster.

Tadhg Beirne hopes back-to-back titles with the Scarlets can help him cement his place in the Ireland squad to tour Australia this summer.

When Leinster saw off Leicester Tigers in Edinburgh to claim a first Heineken Cup, back in 2009, most of the players had little enough to distract them aside from the celebrations on their return to Dublin.

This was the sort of day we feared might be beyond Irish clubs again.

Donnacha Ryan has come a long way in a very short time, from Tipperary across the Pyrenees via Paris for a crack at joining one of rugby’s rarest breeds.

Word was that in-depth medical updates would be a thing of the past.

It’s fair to say that the selection of Kieran Keane over a year ago as successor to Pat Lam was greeted with a level of shock in the west that has only now been matched by his dismissal two days after leading Connacht to a record win over Leinster.

Connacht head coach Kieran Keane is set to depart the province after only one season in charge, according to a report.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

Simon Lewis looks at the shortcomings that led to the province’s defeat by Racing 92.

Gareth Davies insists the Scarlets are relishing the tag of underdogs ahead of today’s Champions Cup semi-final with Leinster.

Irrespective of how pronounced the home advantage may appear in tomorrow’s semi-final, Leinster know the Scarlets have a habit of turning conventional wisdom to dust, writes Peter Jackson