Leinster forwards coach John Fogarty has described the upcoming interpros as “a defining part of our season.”

Jordi Murphy admits he considered following Simon Zebo and Donncha Ryan out of the country, but picked Ulster instead to keep his World Cup hopes alive.

This time two years ago, Ciara Griffin had yet to be capped by Ireland. Seventeen caps later and the Munster and UL Bohs flanker was this week named Ireland captain.

CJ Stander believes Johann van Graan will have headaches finalising his back-row trio for next Sunday’s all-important European Champions Cup game against Racing 92.

Connacht hooker Tom McCartney says he is ready to leave his injury woes behind and play his part in a busy Christmas period for the westerners.

There are no soft caps to be won in Irish and Munster rugby these days, all the more so if you ply your trade in the back row of the scrum. Few appreciate that better than Waterford’s Jack O’Donoghue, one of the most talented and committed players in the country.

Niall Scannell admits it made for tough viewing.

The clock may be ticking but there is still no definite news on whether South African centre Jaco Taute will be available to Munster in 2017. His temporary contract comes to an end on January 1st so a decision as to whether his stay with Munster can be extended must be made imminently.

Ireland’s hopes of World Cup qualification have been dealt a serious blow after captain Megan Frazer was ruled out for up to nine months.

When the bookmakers rate the home side as 2/5 favourites and their director of rugby regard the visitors as “desperate” after a series of poor results, it seems only sensible to regard the outcome of today’s Ulster-Munster Guinness Pro 12 clash at Kingspan Park as a foregone conclusion.

Connacht coach Pat Lam hopes to finish 2016 on a high with a Guinness Pro 12 victory over Ulster at the Sportsground on St Stephen’s Day.

Tiarnan McLarnon (23) from the Massereeene club in Antrim became the fifth Northern Ireland golfer in a row to capture the AIG Irish Close Championship, beating Alex Gleeson (Castle) 2&1 in Saturday’s final at Tramore.

Lahinch Golf Club and the Munster Branch do fantastic work for Irish golf but while they are grateful to the GUI for rescheduling the Interpros and Irish Close to make it easier for our top players to head to Clare for next month’s South of Ireland Amateur Open, the measures don’t appear to have worked.

Being Ryder Cup captain means showing faith in your big gun and both 2014 skipper Paul McGinley and 2016 European boss Darren Clarke had sympathy for a struggling Rory McIlroy.

The numbers of people visiting Northern Ireland has mushroomed in the years since ‘The Troubles’ was still a phrase that merited common usage on this island. 

Kevin Phelan has packed just about everything into his first 18 months as professional bar a win.

Leinster reaction

Organisers of Ireland’s oldest championship are hoping changes to both format and scheduling will lead to a much improved field for the 114th South of Ireland next summer.

Lahinch Golf Club has taken what it believes will be a giant step towards restoring the prestige of the South of Ireland Amateur Championship by staging a 36-hole stroke play qualifier next year.

Stuart Bleakley, a 19-year-old from Shandon Park, became the third member of the illustrious Belfast club to win the Clare Coast Hotels South of Ireland in extremely difficult weather conditions at Lahinch yesterday when he defeated Darragh Coghlan (Portmarnock) in the final by 3 and 2.

Munster captured the Senior Interprovincial Championship for the second time in three years when they pulled off a magnificent 7-4 victory over hot favourites and holders Ulster in an epic decider at The Island links in North Dublin yesterday.

You can talk about your Brian O’Driscolls or your Paul O’Connells but, in one way at least, Mike Ross is the type of face that best fits the idea of the modern Irish rugby professional.

Munster football boss Ger O’Sullivan says switching the inter-provincial competition to the All-Ireland final weekend would hurt the province’s chances of winning the title.

Bernard Brogan is battling a similar injury to that which ruined his brother Alan’s 2013 campaign but Dublin supporters can rest easy as the younger sibling is adamant his absence will be for weeks rather than months.

Limerick footballers are unlikely to have any representation in Munster’s Interprovincial football panel next month in what is a further protest at the seeded nature of this year’s draw.

A definite whiff of cordite left behind by the announcement of the Irish team for next month’s Home Internationals before a ball was struck in the South of Ireland, combined with electrical storms that caused a suspension of play in both of the opening two rounds, injected a considerable deal of spice into the action at Lahinch over the past two days.

Stuart Grehan and Pat Murray are amongst the big names competing in the South of Ireland, which begins in Lahinch this morning.

Even though they are the defending champions and will be performing on home territory, Munster are regarded as underdogs in the Senior Men’s Interprovincial Championship beginning at Lee Valley this morning.

CONNACHT SFC QUARTER-FINAL:

GAA president, Liam O’Neill confirmed yesterday there has been no indication the debt-burdened Limerick county will require a financial bailout from Croke Park.

Like most sports journalists, this columnist served an apprenticeship that called for a frequent presence at games where press facilities amounted to a spot inside rather than outside the rails and the height of any literary ambition was being able to read your notes as the rain sent the ink trickling down the page.

There are bound to be those who will overlook the excitement of Sunday’s M Donnelly Interprovincial semi-finals and go straight to the admittedly risible attendance figures to claim the competition is dead.

People who feel the interprovincial championships, the old Railway Cup, don’t have a future should have a chat with Jackie Tyrrell.

The 2013 M Donnelly Interprovincial Hurling and Football Championships will be run off next spring, the GAA has confirmed.

Munster interprovincial manager Ger O’Sullivan said it would “a great disappointment” if the series is ended.

Munster Rugby are hoping Cork senior hurler Darren Sweetnam can make as big an impact with the oval ball as he has this summer with a sliotar.

Simon Ward (Co Louth) and Muskerry’s Niall Gorey, a member of the Munster team that won last week’s Interprovincial Championship at Royal Co Down, yesterday came through two testing encounters in the South of Ireland at Lahinch to set up a mouth-watering 5th round clash this morning.

Only one member of the Irish team for next month’s Home International Championship turned up for the South of Ireland at Lahinch over the weekend.

Six members of the triumphant Munster team in this week’s Interprovincial Championship at Royal Co Down are included in the field for the South of Ireland Championship starting at Lahinch this morning. And yet, they will all have to take a back seat behind the remarkable Ennis man, Noel Pyne, who is competing for the 50th successive year.

Connacht, who bridged a 28 year gap when capturing the title at Rosses Point last year, begin their defence of the Interprovincial Championship this morning with a difficult match against Munster at Royal Co Down.