On an explosive Saturday that saw Saracens relegated from the Gallagher Premiership on the eve of a must-win Champions Cup pool game against Racing 92, Munster took their exit from this season’s competition without firing a shot.

A win for already-qualified Leinster at Benetton on Saturday will see the four-time champions finish the pool stage as the No 1-ranked club.

Dave Kilcoyne may well be playing in a dead rubber at Thomond Park on Sunday if results elsewhere in the Heineken Champions Cup fail to fall Munster’s way but he knows how important a win over Ospreys will be, regardless of their European fate.

Leinster should have centre Joe Tomane available for selection once again, as their pool-defining double-header with Northampton Saints approaches in the next fortnight.

Head coach Dave Rennie will almost certainly leave Glasgow Warriors at the end of this season, most likely to take charge of Australia, although he has also been linked with the New Zealand and Italy jobs. His legacy in Scotland will depend almost entirely on how his team fares in this European Champions Cup campaign, which kicks-off when Sale Sharks visit Scotstoun tomorrow afternoon.

Simon Lewis previews the 20 teams aiming for glory as the Champions Cup kicks off this weekend.

Head coach Dave Rennie will almost certainly leave Glasgow Warriors at the end of this season, most likely to take charge of Australia, although he has also been linked with the New Zealand and Italy jobs. His legacy in Scotland will depend almost entirely on how his team fairs in this European Champions Cup campaign, which kicks-off when Sale Sharks visit Scotstoun Saturday afternoon.

New Zealand Rugby is recruiting for Steve Hansen's replacement and has approached 26 coaches, all New Zealanders, about applying for the role.

The new PRO14 campaign may be in its infancy but for the Cheetahs their clash with Munster this evening kick-off 5.15pm) has a real end-of-season feel to it in Bloemfontein.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan knows all there is to know about South Africa’s major domestic competition, the Currie Cup. Given that the Cheetahs — one of his side’s two Guinness PRO14 opponents over the next fortnight — were recently crowned champions of the 130-year-old tournament, he is aware of the challenge awaiting his team.

Glasgow Warriors counted the cost of missing World Cup stars as their Guinness PRO14 campaign opened with a 48-14 defeat to the Cheetahs.

Those of us with an emotional investment in Scottish rugby have a complex relationship with the concept of hope.

Ireland aren’t the only country to have embraced the residency ruling.

Henshaw, who played only 80 minutes during pre-season, in the final warm-up game against Wales in Dublin on September 7, was set to go for a scan this morning.

La Rochelle have lost on all 16 of their visits to Clermont in the club's history.

Devin Toner's injury problems are behind him with the Ireland lock declaring himself fit and ready to go as Joe Schmidt's squad ramps up its World Cup preparations.

Munster have been left holding the short straw for next season's Heineken Champions Cup with the two-time champions plunged into the clichéd 'Pool of Death' after Wednesday's draw in Lausanne.

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

And before we know it, another season comes to a sudden and dramatic end.

James Lowe described Leinster’s comeback from their Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to Guinness PRO14 champions as “a mourning process” such was the devastation felt after losing to Saracens.

Ireland's Sean O'Brien has been ruled out of the World Cup.

Tadhg Furlong wouldn’t usually be of a mind to do much the day after a game.

Johnny Sexton has been recalled to the Leinster team for tomorrow's Guinness Pro14 final against Glasgow at Celtic Park.

As British parliamentarians are proving with almost daily inefficiency, leaving Europe can be complicated but as far as Stuart Hogg is concerned, the swift and summary elimination of Glasgow Warriors earlier this season has been the best thing that could have happened to his club.

Nothing less than a World Cup semi-final appearance in Japan later this year will constitute a good World Cup for Ireland, said a straight-talking David Nucifora, as the IRFU performance director threw down the gauntlet to Joe Schmidt and his squad yesterday.

Finalists Leinster have three players nominated.

Run the rule over the best imports to have featured for the provinces down the years and it makes for a diverse cast of characters.

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

Glasgow Warriors coach Dave Rennie has refuted the claim that his club’s fans “are all Rangers supporters”.

Leinster are keen to make one thing abundantly clear: Jonathan Sexton was not dropped for their Guinness PRO14 semi-final against Munster at the RDS last Saturday.

Leinster will be without second row Devin Toner for this Saturday's Guinness Pro14 final with the Glasgow Warriors.

It’s not often we get a provincial derby between Leinster and Munster these days with both teams fully locked and loaded. Therefore days such as Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final are occasions to be savoured.

Munster were left to rue their poor discipline after succumbing to another Guinness PRO14 semi-final defeat at the hands of Leinster today.

Leinster made light of their European final disappointment in Newcastle to brush past rivals Munster and ease into next Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 decider.

Peter O’Mahony is certain not only that Munster are going to need their best performance of the season on Saturday but also that the current turmoil behind the scenes will have no bearing on what his team produces in the Guinness PRO14 semi-final at Leinster.

Glasgow Warriors “know what not to do” as they prepare for Friday’s PRO14 semi-final visit of Ulster, says assistant coach Jonathan Humphreys.

It would be lazy to dismiss Leinster as just another PRO14 casualty of the Saracens juggernaut.

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

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.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Dave Rennie knows better than most about the respective merits of this Saturday’s protagonists in the Heineken Champions Cup final.

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.

No-one will be more pleased by the expected return of Joey Carbery, Keith Earls and Conor Murray to the Munster line-up than fellow Ireland back Chris Farrell but he remains frustrated his team is still to unleash its full potential as an attacking threat.

Johann van Graan said Conor Murray could have played against Connacht on Saturday night but was withdrawn from Munster’s matchday squad as a precaution following a pre-game knock at Thomond Park.

Munster saw off interprovincial rivals Connacht in Limerick but still had to settle for second place in Guinness PRO14 Conference A as Glasgow Warriors beat Edinburgh to hold onto top spot and with it a home play-off semi-final tonight.