Niall will lead a team that includes his younger brother Rory and their cousin, Jack O'Sullivan.

Ireland hooker Dave Heffernan delivered a man-of-the-match performance as Connacht ran out 29-0 bonus-point winners over Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground.

On the one hand, Andy Friend is delighted that only Bundee Aki is missing on Six Nations duty as Connacht prepare for a real 10-pointer against a Cardiff Blues side who are just below them in the table.

Chris Farrell and Jack O’Donoghue return to Munster.

Cork's Eoghan Barrett is set for his European rugby debut with French club Pau.

Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan will remain central to Racing 92’s bid to strengthen their grip on Pool 4 when they start for the Parisians at home to Ospreys tonight.

The chief executives of the Six Nations renewed talks in London yesterday aimed at finalising an offer designed to change the face of the game. Having already forked out some €400m to buy stakes in the English Premiership and PRO14, the private equity firm CVC Partners are willing to pay the Six Nations almost as much again for a share of the tournament’s commercial rights.

Cardiff Blues ended their four-game winless run in the Guinness PRO14 with a 30-17 victory over the 14-man Cheetahs.

Head Coaches Johann van Graan and Dan McFarland has named his side for Satuday's Guinness PRO14 Interpro derby this Saturday at Thomand Park.

Munster were ruthless and clinical as they ended a two-year wait for a win at the Arms Park by putting Cardiff Blues to the sword to leave the Welsh capital with a priceless bonus-point.

The host will be without a sizeable number of internationals including record try-scoring wing Josh Adams along with fellow Welsh stars, Owen Lane and Hallam Amos.

Jack O’Donoghue, the only forward to be retained from the victory over the Ospreys, captains the side for the second time in his career.

Nick McCarthy knew he would have a battle on his hands for game-time when he left Leinster for Munster during the season, but it’s a task he is fired-up for as he becomes the latest to make the journey south from the arch-rivals.

Munster may be without out-half Joey Carbery for the opening two rounds of the Champions Cup against Ospreys and Racing 92. Defence coach JP Ferreira said the priority was to get him and all the Irish internationals right for the season on their return from the World Cup.

Those newcomers are among five changes by Johann van Graan to the side which lost their last Pro14 game 40-16 to the Cheetahs.

Jared Payne has insisted Joe Schmidt’s record as Ireland head coach is beyond reproach and feels sorry his fellow New Zealander and Rory Best are not leaving on the high they deserved.

Munster received a tough draw against reigning champions Saracens in next season's Champions Cup pool stages.

Finalists Leinster have three players nominated.

After a scarcely believable few nights of footballing drama, Europe’s two best rugby teams are this evening faced with the unenviable task of delivering a Heineken Champions Cup final to rival the beautiful game’s capacity to exhilarate.

Johann van Graan has repeated his desire to bring in additional staff to the Munster coaching ticket but refused to comment on media reports linking the province to Wales and Lions attack coach Rob Howley.

Conor Murray, Keith Earls and Joe Carbery are all set to return to training to give Munster a massive boost to their Guinness PRO14 play-off hopes.

Champions Cup spots were up for grabs today.

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 coach Andy Friend is using today’s clash at Thomond Park to blood more players as they keep an eye on next weekend’s PRO14 quarter-final showdown with Ulster.

Sammy Arnold is wary of a Connacht team with nothing to lose at Thomond Park tomorrow night as Munster bid to rebound from their European semi-final defeat to Saracens.

Irish lock Quinn Roux is a doubt for Connacht’s PRO14 quarter-final with Ulster on Saturday week.

Munster will not rush back injured trio Joey Carbery, Keith Earls and Dave Kilcoyne for Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 clash at home to Connacht unless they are 100% fit, coach Johann van Graan has insisted.

Johann van Graan is confident Darren Sweetnam has what it takes to fill the breach left by an injury to Keith Earls ahead of a European semi-final with Saracens that Peter O’Mahony believes will be Munster’s biggest challenge of the last three years.

Milestones and long-awaited comebacks feature aplenty in the Saracens team picked by Mark McCall, who makes 10 changes from the side which lost at Bristol Bears last week.

Johann van Graan is confident Darren Sweetnam has what it takes to fill the breach left by an injury to Keith Earls ahead of a European semi-final with Saracens that Peter O’Mahony believes will be Munster’s biggest challenge of the last three years.

Tyler Bleyendaal remains on course to start as Munster’s fly-half in this Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Saracens after Johann van Graan revealed that Joey Carbery remains highly unlikely of playing.

Connacht are back in the Heineken Champions Cup for the first time in three years after man-of-the-match Jack Carty inspired their 29-22 Guinness PRO14 bonus point win over Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground.

Michael Bradley spent most of his seven years at the Sportsground not just wondering if he would be in a job at the end of the season, but rather whether the Connacht team he was coaching would still be in existence.

Munster boss Johann van Graan has backed Tyler Bleyendaal to step up to the challenge of facing Saracens in Europe in 11 days if his downbeat assessment of Joey Carbery’s fitness proves correct.

There was good news and bad from the Munster camp today as the province announced Johann van Graan had signed a contract extension to June 2022 before the head coach himself rated Joey Carbery as “highly unlikely” to face Saracens in the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final in 12 days.

Johann van Graan is under no illusions about the size of the task facing Munster in Treviso on Friday night, but he will nevertheless dig deep into his squad as the Reds bid to keep pace in the race for a Guinness PRO14 home semi final.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said he is relieved they are still in control of their own destiny after escaping from Parma with a 6-5 win in a bruising encounter on Saturday evening.

Connacht consolidated third place in Conference A of the Guinness PRO14 with a hard-fought 6-5 win over Zebre in Parma.

Johann van Graan believes some of his frontline stars have earned a well-earned break after helping Munster secure a Guinness PRO14 play-off berth with a thumping 45-21 win over Cardiff Blues in Cork on Friday.

Munster kept the pressure on Guinness PRO14 conference leaders Glasgow Warriors as they racked up a bonus-point victory over play-off rivals Cardiff Blues in Cork last night.

Three games to go in the shake-up for the Guinness PRO14 play-offs and still all to play for as far as Munster and Cardiff Blues are concerned, going into what promises to be an intriguing clash in Cork this evening (7.35pm).

Munster resume their mission to secure a home Guinness PRO14 semi-final against Cardiff Blues tomorrow night with Niall Scannell admitting all the province can do is keep the pressure on the conference leaders and hope they slip up.

Saracens have loomed large on Keith Earls’s horizon since he first broke into Munster’s professional ranks more than a decade ago.

Johann van Graan has admitted Joey Carbery’s latest hamstring injury is “a big concern” as he failed to give a timeframe on his first-choice fly-half’s recovery with a European semi-final date less than three weeks away.