Connacht’s slim Champions Cup qualification hopes were ended in Swansea as Kieran Keane’s side were beaten 39-10 by the Ospreys.

OSPREYS 32 LEINSTER 18: Leinster limped back into Dublin late on Saturday night having fluffed their lines in their dress-rehearsal for the Champions Cup quarter-final with Saracens and licking their wounds after a mauling by the Ospreys.

If Leinster could be forgiven for straining one eye forward to next week’s appointment with Saracens, then their hosts today will bring a one-track mind to proceedings as they seek to rescue their season.

Sam Whitelock does not want to emulate family history when he captains New Zealand against Wales today.

Wales are determined to begin a two-year World Cup countdown today by ending their dismal run of defeats against Australia.

Munster face their first serious test of the new season when they travel to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium todayto face the Ospreys in the third round of the Guinness PRO14.

Rory Best is set to captain the British & Irish Lions against the Chiefs on Tuesday after Warren Gatland named a matchday squad missing tour skipper Sam Warburton in the final game before Saturday’s first Test with the All Blacks.

Captain Sam Warburton is willing to tell British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland he is not ready to play a Test match if he has not built up sufficient game time to operate to the best of his ability against the All Blacks.

The British and Irish Lions will welcome back tour captain Sam Warburton from injury on Tuesday when they take on the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Just one week after proving to all of Europe how dangerous he is in the No 15 shirt, Joey Carbery is back to orchestrate another Leinster victory, only this time he will be wearing number 10.

Here’s the lowdown on four big games across Europe...

Ulster 9 Ospreys 7: Ulster’s Director of Rugby Les Kiss praised his side’s resilience and character as they clipped the Ospreys wings at the death of an extremely, absorbing Guinness PRO12 top-of-the-table contest at the Kingspan Stadium on Saturday evening.

Leinster 31 Ospreys 19: Watching Leinster sure ain’t dull this season.

Leinster will hope that a seasonal debut for Jonathan Sexton can inspire a more consistent 80-minute performance tonight as they welcome Guinness PRO12 table-toppers Ospreys to the RDS.

Wales prop Tomas Francis has received an eight-week ban for making contact with the “eye or eye area” of England forward Dan Cole in last Saturday’s Six Nations game at Twickenham.

Jonathan Sexton won his fly-half battle with Dan Biggar to help send Leinster to the top of the Guinness Pro12 table with victory over the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.

Previous World Cups, in soccer and in rugby, have demonstrated the dangers of bigging up teams during the pool stages, but Michael Cheika and the Wallabies have certainly earned the praise.

Pool D: Wales v Fiji

Three of Welsh rugby’s biggest names — James Hook, Mike Phillips and Richard Hibbard — face uncertain international futures after seeing their World Cup hopes extinguished.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named nine uncapped players in a 47-man training squad for the Rugby World Cup.

GUINNESS PRO12

In a big day for Irish teams in the Guinness Pro12, Connacht’s needs are probably greater than the rest.

Munster back-row duo CJ Stander and Tommy O’Donnell are among a seven-strong contingent from the Irish provinces to have been voted onto the Guinness Pro12 Dream Team for this season but there is no representation from outgoing champions Leinster.

World Rugby boss Brett Gosper has claimed his tweet was "over-interpreted" into partisanship when posting that hosts England failing to reach the World Cup quarter-finals would be "not the words we want to hear".

Wales 23 Ireland 16: Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions have been ended and their hopes of retaining the Six Nations title severely dented by a seven-point defeat to Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

France 13 Wales 20

Warren Gatland has plunged his long-term future as Wales head coach into doubt after admitting Roger Lewis’s departure as Welsh Rugby Union chief later this year "probably does" have a bearing on his own long-term future.

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre is relishing Saturday’s trial by fire at the Aviva as he aims to keep a special record intact.

Leigh Halfpenny says Wales will carry their Twickenham "hurt" of last season into tomorrow night’s RBS 6 Nations opener against England.

Wales boss Warren Gatland has sprung the first surprise of this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship – by naming his team to face England 48 hours early.

Warren Gatland revealed a glowing recommendation from one of world rugby’s outstanding coaches played its part in New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe making an unlikely journey from Super Rugby to potential Wales Test star.

If there is one person Ulster have missed more than any other during an injury-plagued 2014, it has been their cultured scrum-half Ruan Pienaar.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has backed Owen Farrell to make an impact from the bench against Australia at Twickenham tomorrow after dropping him from his starting XV for the first time since June 2012.

Munster 14 Ospreys 19

The new rugby season could hardly have begun in a more contrasting fashion for Anthony Foley and Steve Tandy, the respective head coaches of Munster and Ospreys who renew their rivalry in the Guinness Pro 12 at Thomond Park this evening, kick-off 6.30pm.

Ospreys 45 Connacht 20

Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips has been relegated to the bench for Friday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against France in Cardiff.

Ospreys 9 Leinster 19