LEINSTER will battle to retain the services of prop forward Mike Ross next season with increased speculation the Cork native is set for a return to his Munster roots following the departure of Tony Buckley to Sale Sharks.

SCOTLAND struck late in each half to compound Ireland’s woes at the World Cup qualifiers in Santiago, Chile as a lack of killer instinct either end put paid to any remote chance of reaching the second biggest competition in the game.

Ireland U-20 44 Scotland U-20 15

HAVING made their home in Athlone’s Dubarry Park, Ireland will be expected to step up to the mark and beat Scotland to clinch the Six Nations U20 title this evening (7.35pm).

IN-FORM Bulls’ centre Wynand Olivier will be back to give the Waikato Chiefs an even harder time in the New Zealanders’ first Super 14 final in Pretoria tomorrow (Sky Sports Xtra, 4pm)

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika admitted his team still has a way to go before it can successfully compete on two fronts after their Magners League campaign ended with defeat at Newport Gwent Dragons.

THE week long Six Nations Under-18 rugby tournament, which gets underway in Cork tomorrow, is estimated to be worth in excess of €500,000 to the economy of the city.

IN THE fall-out from Munster’s Heineken Cup defeat to Llanelli Scarlets, it was felt coach Declan Kidney would begin the process of rebuilding for next season by fielding emerging talent from the provincial academy in the remaining Magners Celtic League games.

ULSTER managed to hang on to a 14-7 interval lead and keep their Magners League hopes very much alive with a curate’s egg performance against the Newport Gwent Dragons at Ravenhill last night.

LIFIEMI MAFI makes his first start for Munster in tomorrow’s Magners League clash with Llanelli Scarlets in Stradey Park (Setanta Sports, 5.35pm).

Ireland 31 Australia 7

Australia have lost two key players for Saturday's deciding third Test against the Lions at Stadium Australia in Sydney.

Teams for Australia versus the Lions, second Test, Colonial Stadium, Melbourne, tomorrow, kick-off 10am (Irish time).

Australia have made three changes for the second Test against the Lions at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium on Saturday following last weekend’s 29-13 loss in Brisbane.

Coach Rod Macqueen today named uncapped props Nick Stiles and Ben Darwin in a 22-man Wallabies squad for Saturday’s first Test against the Lions.