Daniel Kelly ripped Finn Harps apart at Oriel Park last night with a first hat-trick of his career.

Andy Friend believes his players let themselves down after they missed a golden opportunity to move into the PRO14 play-off places by slipping to a narrow defeat against the Cardiff Blues in Wales.

Connacht 26 Glasgow Warriors 27

Connacht’s decline after winning the PRO 12 title in 2016 started immediately in the first game of the defence of the crown when they fell to a record 41-5 loss to Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground.

Connacht 50 Oyonnax 14: The road to Bilbao has now become clear for Connacht.

Connacht 55 Brive 10: Connacht coach Kieran Keane is relishing facing into three consecutive inter-pro derbies with a squad high on confidence after their latest European masterclass.

Their PRO14 form is dodgy to say the least, but Connacht’s pedigree in the European Challenge Cup is obvious and on Saturday night they took a big step not only towards securing a quarter-final spot, but ensuring that they will enjoy home advantage in the last eight.

Connacht coach Kieran Keane says a resurgent Zebre will pose a huge threat in Parma this afternoon as his side aim to bounce back to winning ways before refocusing next week to the European Challenge Cup campaign.

Connacht 15 Worcester Warriors 8: You suspect the more Kieran Keane settles into life in Galway the more he appreciates exactly what his predecessor Pat Lam achieved, not just with limited resources but the manner in which he got them to play in the difficult climatic conditions.

Italy U20 26 Ireland U20 27: The Ireland U20s withstood a powerful challenge from Italy in Prato last night, before securing their second consecutive one-point victory in this year’s Six Nations Championship.

Ulster Bank League Division 1B

UCC 15 Dolphin 25: Dolphin gave their Ulster Bank League Division 1B survival hopes a huge boost with a victory over UCC at the Mardyke last night.

Ireland 33 New Zealand 24: As winger Malo Tuitama raced in for his second try to cut the gap to six points with as many minutes remaining, up on the press bench we started preparing another hard luck story for Irish rugby against New Zealand.

Ireland 26 Scotland 18: Despite a ragged performance Ireland signed off on their championship campaign with a win over Scotland thanks to a bit of luck and a dominant second-half.

Nigel Carolan insists his Irish U20 side must show the ball “more respect” if they are to finish their Six Nations campaign with a win over Scotland in Donnybrook tonight (7.35pm).

Brett Connon is used to the sound of Callum Chick’s voice. Clubmates at Newcastle Falcons, the pair are housemates as well.

England 20 Ireland 26: Nigel Carolan’s U-20 side staged a remarkable comeback to defeat England in Newcastle last night.

France 34 Ireland 13: First-half tries from Peter Claffey and James Ryan weren’t enough to secure Ireland’s first win in five Six Nations outings, as the French were too good at Narbonne.

If you watched Ireland’s U20s take on Wales in Dublin last Friday evening then chances are that the sheer size of the Leinster loosehead prop Andrew Porter stood out every bit as much as the abandon with which Nigel Carolan’s offloading side played.

98 students from 15 sports have won scholarships from UCC for their sporting and academic excellence.

Niall Loughlin hit 1-4 in Celtic Park last night to help Derry book their place in the Ulster U21 FC quarter-finals.

Donegal 0-12 Fermanagh 2-5

Donegal 2-16 Queen’s 1-08: Rory Gallagher posted his first win as Donegal manager as his side comfortably overcame Queen’s University Belfast in miserable conditions in Ballybofey yesterday.