Ospreys head coach Lyn Jones believes his players are ready for the “extra dimension” of a Heineken Cup showdown with French championship leaders Stade Francais.

Ospreys 13 Stade Francais 8

Stade Francais 20 Biarritz 17

Toulouse know they will have to win the physical battle if they are to overcome Leicester in Sunday's Heineken Cup semi-final.

PIERRE BERBIZIER has been confirmed as the new head coach of the Italian national team.

THE flair factor could prove the deciding factor in the clash of two unbeaten sides in Paris today as Six Nations Grand Slam holders France host a resurgent Welsh outfit.

FRANCE COACH Bernard Laporte has made four changes to the starting line-up from the one that beat England 18-17 for Saturday’s Six Nations clash with Wales in Paris.

FRANCE’S second-half revival to beat England on Sunday has not stopped coach Bernard Laporte making several changes.

France’s second-half revival to beat England on Sunday has not stopped coach Bernard Laporte making several changes.

A combination of injuries and a change in the thinking of coach Bernard Laporte has led to wholesale introductions to the French team to meet Scotland on Saturday in Paris.

FRONT row brothers, Simon and Rory Best have been called into the Ulster panel for Friday’s Celtic League match against Edinburgh at Ravenhill.

Ulster 18 Stade Francais 10

Stade Francais have added Los Pumas Agustin Pichot and Juan Martin Hernandez to their side for the return date with Ulster at Ravenhill on Saturday afternoon.

Stade Francais 30 Ulster 10

Ulster suffered a sixth defeat in seven trips to France to leave themselves with a mountain to climb to try to qualify for the knock-out stages of the Heineken Cup.

Munster 37 Stade Francais 32

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney remains a worried man despite the loss by Stade Francais of key-figure Augustin Pichot for tomorrow's Heineken Cup quarter-final at Thomond Park.

Stade Francais veteran Diego Dominguez and massive centre Brian Liebenberg have been passed fit to play Munster on Saturday.

France coach Bernard Laporte has announced his 22-man squad ahead of the RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland at the Stade de France on February 14.

MUNSTER will resist any attempt to move their Heineken Cup quarter-final against Stade Francais from Thomond Park — despite the lure of a massive pay-day.

IT’S rolling towards five years since Ulster became the first and only Irish side to win the European Cup. They haven’t been back since, in fact they haven’t even managed to negotiate the pool stage of the competition since David Humphreys lifted the trophy at Lansdowne Road in 1999.

Ulster coach Alan Solomons refused to throw in the towel in the Heineken Cup despite his side’s cruel 13-10 defeat against Stade Francais in Paris.

Keith Wood and his team have their chance to secure a place in history as they face France in their eagerly anticipated World Cup quarter-final in Melbourne.

RENOWNED Bondi Beach, a few miles outside of Sydney, was the spectacular setting yesterday for the utterly predictable French selection to face Ireland in the quarter-final of the World Cup in Melbourne on Sunday.

Bernard Laporte reckons the winner of Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final between France and Ireland will be outsiders to win the Webb Ellis Cup – but he does not believe there is much in it.

South African born centre Brian Liebenberg scored a hat-trick to help France to a 41-14 win over the United States in Wollongong and go into the World Cup quarter-finals with four wins from four matches.

HT France 26 USA 0

France have taken the unusual step of naming a player in their World Cup team who had not even arrived in Australia when the announcement was made.

French centre Brian Liebenberg has delivered a World Cup warning to England – do not think you are unbeatable.

France coach Bernard Laporte insists he isn’t worried by the return of England’s star players for the second Test at Twickenham tomorrow.

A strong France team pulled off a convincing win over Romania today to enhance their World Cup credentials.

SOUTH AFRICAN-born centre Brian Liebenberg expressed his astonishment last night at being called up to rugby’s French World Cup squad.