Earlier in the week, new head coach Andy Farrell made the point that he wanted his Irish team to stand for something.

Shaun Edwards played his only game of Rugby Union for England so long ago that Ollie Campbell’s goals had just made Ireland joint champions of the Five Nations.

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.

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.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen hailed his returning international contingent after their 33-19 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby in their Heineken Champions Cup Pool One opener.

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.

There are six uncapped players in Adam Griggs's Ireland women's squad to face Wales in a test match on Sunday.

Director of rugby Declan Kidney praised London Irish's 'heroic defence' as they just clung on to mark their Premiership return with a superb 29-26 win at Wasps.

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.

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

Rob Kearney has agreed a “nine-month extension” to his IRFU contract and will play with Leinster next season.

Stuart Lancaster has no doubt but that Leinster will shed their recent inconsistencies and producing a monster performance against Saracens in a heavyweight European decider this Saturday.

Leinster remain optimistic that Sean Cronin will be passed fit for Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup final against Saracens in Newcastle.

Even with a 747 at his disposal, Marco Polo would probably have thought twice about rushing to map out Rory Best’s last rugby journey, from Armagh to Yokohama.

The northern province confirmed that Moore will miss the rest of the season and will see a specialist later in the week.

The consensus is that Leinster have not been the same ruthlessly efficient machine in Europe this season as last.

The sound of Irishmen baying for blood isn’t going to bother Saracens in the slightest this weekend.

Shaun Edwards is irreplaceable in the Wales set-up after another master class from the defence guru put Warren Gatland’s side on the brink of a Six Nations Grand Slam.

Mercifully, England’s attempts to scrap the fallow weeks of the Six Nations and shrink the tournament into five consecutive weekends have fallen on deaf ears. It shows scant regard for the fans and does nothing for player welfare.

Looking back at Ireland's defeat, what are the lessons to be learned?

Eddie Jones insists England have the resources to cover for the loss of Maro Itoje as a cloud hangs over the Saracens lock’s participation in the rest of the Guinness Six Nations.

Leinster have brought the curtain down on the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages with the easiest of victories away to Wasps on Sunday afternoon that confirms for them an all-Irish home quarter-final against Ulster at the end of March.

It was a performance riddled with mistakes, so many of them elementary, but the side's reaction to adversity in the second-half, when coming from 13-0 down to claim the lead and hold out in the face of considerable pressure, was impressive.

There will come a point soon, after the Six Nations is done for another 12 months and Leinster’s elite return to the day job for another battle on two fronts, that the question of hunger will surface.

Richard Cockerill found out a long time ago that when one door opened another was always liable to smash him in the face.

Leinster fans - for one match at least - may not agree, but one of the great joys of European rugby this season has been the resurgence of Toulouse as a major force.

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

It’s hard to know quite where to begin with Jordan Larmour when it comes to dissecting the calendar year just ended.

Simon Lewis Dragons coach Bernard Jackman is under no illusions about the size of the task his side face when they welcome Guinness PRO14 champions Leinster to Rodney Parade this evening.

Toulouse have held on to secure a one point one against reigning Champions Cup holders Leinster.

Leinster fly out for Toulouse this morning fuelled by a stunning declaration of intent against Wasps eight days ago and, you would imagine, in the hope that they can jettison some of the hyperbole that has enveloped them along the way.

Joe Tomane will make his first European start for Leinster against Toulouse in Sunday's Heineken Champions Cup clash.

Jordan Larmour isn’t just blessed with fancy footwork. The man is a safe pair of hands as well.

The challenge for Leo Cullen and Stuart Lancaster is to keep players firmly focused on the task at hand in the face of the inevitable plaudits that will accompany last weekend’s incredible performance, says Donal Lenihan.

Leo Cullen has warned that Leinster face a stiff challenge from a familiar foe when they travel to fellow European blue bloods Toulouse for the second round of the Heineken Champions Cup next weekend.

The drain of southern hemisphere stars to lucrative European contracts may be keeping the game’s administrators awake at night but Felipe Contepomi believes those taking the coin can sleep easy with their decisions.

Former captain Jamie Heaslip believes Leinster are “even more dangerous” than last season as they begin their Champions Cup title defence against Wasps on Friday night.

It’s all too easy to take James Ryan’s youth for granted. An instant success in the unforgiving world of professional club and international rugby, he had Guinness PRO14, Champions Cup and Grand Slam successes to his credit before the age of 22 in his first season in the senior ranks.

Five years on from the acrimonious restructuring of the European Champions Cup, the tournament’s new organisers, European Professional Club Rugby (EPCR) have finally stumbled across what appears to be the best balance between the old Heineken Cup, as driven by the Dublin based European Rugby Cup (ERC), and the new entity.

Luke McGrath knew the score before the first question was delivered.

Munster 64 Ulster 7

Leicester’s interim head coach Geordan Murphy has rowed back on comments he made about rugby becoming “too PC”.

"Rugby has changed and for the better. It could well be a watershed moment."