Connacht Rugby today announced the immediate retirement of loose-head prop Brett Wilkinson due to a serious neck injury sustained in the last game he played for the club.

Connacht 11 Edinburgh 7

Connacht 9 Toulouse 37

There will be three changes to the starting team facing Toulouse on the return leg for Connacht.

HEINEKEN CUP POOL THREE:

Connacht take on Edinburgh this evening desperate to break a losing run of seven RaboDirect Pro 12 fixtures.

The Connacht team to face Edinburgh in tomorrow's RaboDirect PRO12 clash at Murrayfield welcome Robbie Henshaw and Eoin McKeon back.

Pat Lam has challenged Ireland’s up and coming rugby players to display more ambition — by forgoing life in the background at Leinster, Munster and Ulster for a chance of regular rugby west of the Shannon.

Leinster 16 Connacht 13

Connacht will travel to the capital this weekend to play provincial rivals Leinster in Round 6 of the RaboDirect PRO12.

RABO DIRECT PRO12

Connacht Head Coach Pat Lam has made a number of changes to the team for their second away trip of the season.

Connacht coach Pat Lam has made four changes to his side to face Ospreys tomorrow at the Sportsground, kick-off 5pm.

Dermot Weld celebrated his 65th birthday in style in Galway yesterday by hammering the bookies early on.

Connacht head coach Eric Elwood has rewarded the players who produced an impressive 32-24 win over Edinburgh at Murrayfield last weekend by naming an unchanged team for tomorrow’s league meeting with Ulster the Sportsground (7.45pm).

Connacht 23 Zebre 19

Kyle Tonetti will earn his first start for Connacht this season having been named at inside centre in Eric Elwood’s starting team to face Scarlets in tomorrow night’s RaboDirect PRO12 meeting at Parc Y Scarlets (7.30pm).

Connacht 25 Zebre 20

Failure to manage a bonus point in last weekend’s loss to Harlequins has made it mathematically impossible to catch pool runners-up Biarritz, but pride and a third Heineken Cup win are at stake for Connacht this evening.

Flyhalf Dan Parks returns to the Connacht starting XV for their final Heineken Cup Pool 3 encounter with Zebre at the Sportsground tomorrow night (8pm).

Leinster 17 Connacht 0

Having recovered from a hamstring treatment in Germany, centre Kyle Tonetti has been included in Eric Elwood’s 26-man squad for Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Leinster at the RDS (7.45pm).

Connacht 23 Edinburgh 24

Injuries have robbed Connacht of a host of front-line players for the visit of Edinburgh to the Galway Sportsground today (5pm).

Connacht head coach Eric Elwood has made three personnel changes up front for Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO 12 meeting with Edinburgh at the Sportsground (5pm).

Connacht Rugby have strengthened their long term front row options with the news that prop Denis Buckley has signed a contract extension keeping him at the club until 2015.

Connacht’s Eric Elwood is once again putting his faith in youngsters with Ireland U20 player Darragh Leader making his debut tomorrow against the Ospreys in Liberty Stadium (2.30pm).

Darragh Leader, 19, will earn his first competitive start for Connacht in tomorrow afternoon’s meeting with defending RaboDirect PRO12 champions the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium (2.30pm).

The inclusion of Adrian Flavin at hooker represents the only change for Connacht as they prepare to welcome Harlequins back to the Sportsground for Saturday’s Heineken Cup Round 2 meeting (6pm).

Connacht coach Eric Elwood is expected to shuffle his pack for tomorrow’s Heineken Cup opener against Zebre in Italy.

Ulster 25 Connacht 0

Eric Elwood has a lot of unfinished business before relinquishing the Connacht coaching job at the end of this season and one item on the wishlist is to help his side to victory at Ravenhill tonight, for the first time in 52 years.

Connacht head coach Eric Elwood has made four changes to his starting XV for Connacht’s second instalment of back-to-back interprovincial ties for as they travel to Ravenhill to take on Ulster on tomorrow (7.05pm).

Connacht 34 Leinster 6

Connacht’s big summer signing Dan Parks will make his debut for the province in Friday night’s RaboDirect PRO12 interprovincial clash with Leinster in the Sportsground (8pm).

For the second consecutive week Connacht head coach Eric Elwood has shuffled his team selection, with his starting XV for Friday’s RaboDirect PRO12 game against the Glasgow Warriors in Scotstoun (7.35pm) showing eight changes from the side that lost to the Scarlets last weekend.

Connacht have been forced to make a host of changes, including a new backrow, for today’s visit of the Scarlets to the Galway Sportsground.

Connacht head coach Eric Elwood has made six changes to the starting team for the Scarlets visit to the Sportsground tomorrow afternoon (3pm).

Ireland second row Paul O'Connell has been ruled out of the upcoming tour to New Zealand.

It’s survival of the fittest. That’s the challenge in every park in New Zealand you play in and that’s why they’re called Test matches

The remaining places in the Ireland touring squad to New Zealand have been confirmed. Several spots were left unfilled as players were given further time to prove their fitness in the game against the Barbarians.

A late Felipe Contepomi penalty handed defeat to an Ireland XV at Kingsholm on the eve of their three-Test tour to New Zealand.

Soon to retire, Munster and Ireland stalwart Mick O’Driscoll captains the Barbarians against his countrymen tonight in Gloucester (7.45pm) but all eyes will be on those in the Ireland XV looking to take their last chance to earn a ticket to New Zealand.

Five uncapped players will run out in Kingsholm tomorrow evening when Ireland take on the Barbarians in the build-up to their three-Test series against the All Blacks (kick-off:7.45pm).