Aching limbs and sore muscles mingled with broad smiles at Munster’s high-performance centre in UL yesterday, as all involved with Saturday’s win over Leinster reflected on an occasion that will live long in the memory.

Scrum-half issues further up the chain have impacted on Munster A head coach Peter Malone’s selection for the visit of Dragons A to Cork this afternoon for this Celtic Cup third round game (5:30pm).

Munster hit the new ground running last night as they won their opening pre-season game on Musgrave Park’s freshly installed playing surface to defeat Declan Kidney’s London Irish.

Munster’s preparations for their Guinness PRO14 semi-final at Champions Cup winners Leinster have been hit by the loss of tighthead prop Stephen Archer following surgery on a pectoral muscle.

Johann van Graan is hoping he will be able to call on reinforcements for Munster’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final at Leinster in 12 days with the return of key players from injury.

Munster 24 Ulster 24: Munster will head back to knockout rugby this weekend, their objective to get back on the bike after European disappointment accomplished but this draw reminding everyone in the province there is still plenty of road left to travel if they are to contend for the Guinness PRO14 title next month.

The team news ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final.

Goosen played his last game in December 2016, when he controversially announced his retirement from playing, aged 24, to become a "commercial director".

The Munster squad arrived into 25°C heat in South Africa at the start of a two-match tour which will also double up as preparation for their Champions Cup semi-final showdown with Racing 92 in Bordeaux.

With two man of the match awards to his credit in the RBS Six Nations U20 campaign, Jack O’Sullivan now makes the cut with Munster A for today’s B&I Cup quarter-final against Leinster at Donnybrook.

Munster Rugby and the IRFU have this morning confirmed that Dave O'Callaghan, Brian Scott and Ciaran Parker have all signed contract extensions.

Munster 33 Zebre 5: Munster coach Johann van Graan accurately summed up the view of the majority of Saturday night’s sparse Thomond Park attendance when he commented that “this won’t go down as the greatest game in the history of Munster”.

Michael Bradley, the former Ireland scrum-half and now head coach of Italian side Zebre, was last night casting an envious eye at the strength of the squad announced by his Munster counterpart Johann van Graan ahead of tonight’s Guinness PRO14 tie at Thomond Park.

Familiarity won’t be an issue in tonight’s must-win B&I Cup clash for Munster A at Nottingham’s Ladybay (7.45pm).

As Munster’s on-field coordinator, Billy Holland has to size up the opposition, attack vulnerable areas, and decide where to target, writes Donal Lenihan.

Munster props James Cronin and Brian Scott, Connacht second-row Quinn Roux and Leinster’s Jordi Murphy make their first starts in the famous colours of the Barbarians who face Tonga at Thomond Park tonight (7.30pm).

Meanwhile, Leinster have made nine changes for their trip to Glasgow.

There will be more searching examinations this season of Munster’s Guinness PRO14 title credentials than those posed by Benetton Rugby last Friday in Cork but as opening-night performances go, there was much from which Rassie Erasmus could take pleasure.

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Jacques Nienaber has rejected criticism of Munster’s Champions Cup semi-final performance against Saracens a fortnight ago, insisting the province was beaten simply by “a better plan”.

Benetton Treviso v Munster: We know what Connacht have done to us, while Treviso have been overturning teams like Ospreys and Edinburgh.

This column was shaped on the flight from Shannon to Paris last Saturday night. There were several moments over the course of a surreal 30 hours in Limerick when I wasn’t sure if I was coming or going.

Munster Director of Rugby Rassie Erasmus yesterday paid tribute to Joe Schmidt’s Ireland following their sensational victory over the All Blacks in Chicago on Saturday night.

Simon Lewis compares the sides ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup opener.

Ireland star Keith Earls is a major concern for Munster ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup opener against French champions Racing 92 in Paris but Rassie Erasmus is less concerned about a potential shortage of looseheads following James Cronin’s four-week suspension.

Munster director of rugby Rassie Erasmus still has more questions than answers surrounding the make-up and fitness of his squad as he attempts to prepare his players for Saturday’s Guinness Pro12 opener at Scarlets.

Donncha O’Callaghan is edging ever closer to making 400 top class professional appearances in a remarkable career that shows no signs of coming quickly to an end.

Former Leinster centre Collie O’Shea will partner Cian Bohane in Munster’s midfield tomorrow night as Rassie Erasmus begins his search for willing alternatives to the injured Francis Saili.

Hooker Duncan Casey returns from a lengthy lay-off and starts Munster A’s clash with Ulster Ravens today in Naas (3pm).

Cork Constitution brought Ballynahinch’s two-match winning run to a shuddering halt by hammering the hosts 38-3 at Ballymacarn Park in this Ulster Bank League Division 1A clash.

Brian Scott and Whitney Kay were recently married in Idaho and Brian did something really lovely during the wedding ceremony.

Royal Mail has warned of a threat to the universal postal service because rivals can “cherry-pick” easy-to-serve urban areas.

DIFFERENT motivations but the same end goal sums up today’s Avonmore Milk Munster Senior Schools Cup clash between PBC Cork and Rockwell College at Musgrave Park (3pm).

PRESENTATION Brothers College, Cork made a positive start to the Avonmore Munster Schools Senior Cup campaign with a resounding triumph against Glenstal Abbey at the Cork Institute of Technology grounds yesterday.

A NUMBER of organisations, including Oxfam Ireland, have been successfully selling alternative ethical gifts at Christmas as a way of generating funds for overseas development work.

THIS week’s UN world summit is indeed a missed opportunity. But we in turn must not miss the historic success that has been hidden amidst the overall failure.

Aid agencies have praised the Irish people's ongoing generosity in the wake of the Indian Ocean tsunami disaster, describing it as unprecedented.

AS MANY as 45 million children will die needlessly over the next decade because rich nations are not giving enough money to tackle poverty, a new report claims.

ALMOST half of the extra €544 million in current spending on the education sector will go towards pay increases for teachers.

THE Johannesburg speech given