While a win over Ospreys is well within their compass, the fact that holders Saracens can still advance as a best runner up will suit them just fine.

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

England suffered an injury scare just three weeks before the Six Nations when Anthony Watson limped out of Bath’s 25-19 Heineken Champions Cup defeat against Harlequins.

Toulouse are bracing for hard, streetwise, and direct rugby from Connacht this weekend, their insider-in-the-camp Pita Ahki has said.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said the precision which saw them conjure up a last-gasp winner against Gloucester last week is the standard they aspire to.

Skipper Jarrad Butler has had to deal with contrasting emotions in the Connacht changing room at the Sportsground this week as several members of his squad dealt with mixed news from the Irish camp.

A week which started with a recall to the Irish squad is set to end in further celebration for Quinn Roux when he makes his 100th appearance for Connacht on Saturday against Munster.

Bath’s nightmare Heineken Champions Cup campaign continued as Stuart Hooper’s men were hammered 52-26 by Clermont Auvergne.

Robin Copeland’s last-gasp try rescued a 27-24 win from the jaws of defeat as Connacht pipped Gloucester in a dramatic Heineken Champions Cup clash at the Sportsground.

Connacht’s survival hopes in the Heineken Champions Cup may depend on a superb home record which has seen them lose just one of 14 games at the Sportsground in Europe in the past five years.

Saracens have named an almost totally different side to face Munster at Allianz Park tomorrow, while the Reds make one change from their 10-3 home win.

Conor Fitzgerald says he is eager to repay the faith that Andy Friend has shown in him as Connacht seek a return to winning ways against Gloucester in the Heineken Champions Cup (Saturday, 12.45pm, Sportsgrounds).

Paul Boyle missed the cut for Connacht last week, but he wants to take that frustration out on Gloucester as the province seek to rescue their Champions Cup hopes on Saturday.

One man’s setback appears to be an opportunity for a couple of his team-mates as Johnny Sexton’s likely absence from the start of the Six Nations seems to have opened the door for a pair of Munster stars to take centre-stage with Ireland in the coming weeks.

The ghosts of Christmases past will be circling around the four provinces this weekend as they prepare for the unique demands that come with the traditional back-to-back December rounds in the Heineken Champions Cup.

A knee ligament injury means Connacht will have to plan without their player of the year Colby Fianga’a for this weekend’s Champions Cup clash with Gloucester and next week’s inter-pro derby against Munster.

Connacht, for a team which has won almost 45% of its matches in the Heineken Champions Cup, still has a lot to learn how to compete in Europe’s premier tournament.

Pool 5 looks bleak for Connacht now.

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.

Connacht's Heineken Champions Cup challenge hangs by the thinnest of threads after a convincing four-try defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm on Sunday afternoon.

Andy Friend’s Connacht can knock down another barrier in Gloucester tomorrow and in the process take a big step towards a new milestone as they continue to grow impressively under the Australian.

No team in Europe has played as many matches in the Challenge Cup as Connacht

Friend, who coached Harlequins from 2005-08, said his players fell for the ruse when Gloucester’s lineout and scrum tactics were apparently left on a whiteboard for them to see the day before a game at Kingsholm.

Ulster know what to expect from Harlequins in general and their front-five talisman Joe Marler in particular when the Champions Cup resumes this weekend.

Conor Fitzgerald says he hasn’t looked back since resurrecting his career with Connacht after being let go from the Munster academy 18 months ago.

Connacht produced a frustrating and sloppy performance on their way to a bonus point victory over Southern Kings in the PRO14 on Saturday.

Bundee Aki celebrated his three-year IRFU contract extension with the opening try in Connacht’s 24-12 Guinness PRO14 win over the Isuzu Southern Kings at the Sportsground.

Tom Farrell’s hopes of playing in next year’s Six Nations have been dealt a blow with the Connacht centre set to be sidelined until the New Year with a fractured shoulder.

Stuart Lancaster believes the disappointment felt by Ireland’s World Cup contingent can spur the four provinces to memorable heights in Europe, just as it did their English counterparts four years ago.

Connacht’s stand-in captain Quinn Roux said that while few outside of their squad believed they would win at Stade Ernest-Wallon, the team were bitterly disappointed not to secure victory in Toulouse.

It’s amazing how quickly something can turn for a player and when Conor Fitzgerald was let go from the Munster academy 18 months ago the last thing on his mind would have been lighting up the home of Toulouse with an awesome display in the Heineken Champions Cup.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline

Some revealing facts can be laid bare today about the once symbiotic relationship between Munster and the drop goal, a weapon that never seemed to fail in the hands of Ronan O’Gara.

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.

Since rugby history was made when Romania’s Farul Constanta played eventual winners Toulouse in the first ever pool match, the Heineken Cup has produced some of the most breathtaking moments in the sport. Simon Lewis gives us his top 25

The text message came through on Billy Burns’ phone seconds after the draw was made.

Here's the route Ireland's provinces must navigate to emerge from their Champions Cup pools.

Dragons new head coach Dean Ryan has described this afternoon’s Guinness PRO14 visit to Thomond Park as “a massive challenge”. His forwards coach, Ceri Jones, went a stage further in calling it “the acid test”.

The importance of Munster getting a good start to their Champions Cup campaign was underlined by the release of the pool fixtures this morning.

Former Munster player Mike Sherry has announced his retirement from rugby at the age of 31.

Munster’s new-look brains trust will have little time to brace for their first intensive exam on the back of a Heineken Champions Cup draw in Lausanne yesterday which did the province few favours.

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.

Tom Willis’ last-minute try ruined the Ireland Under-20s’ final quarter fightback as England won a titanic play-off 30-23 in awful underfoot conditions in Rosario.