Connacht 16 Newport 11

Connacht 14 Newport Gwent Dragons 11

Ireland captain Paul O’Connell makes his return to Munster colours ahead of schedule tonight having been cleared by the IRFU to face Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.

Leinster will finally get to road test their expensive new flyer tonight when Zane Kirchner makes his first start for the province before checking out again for duty with South Africa.

RABO DIRECT PRO12:

Dragons 15 Ulster 8

Connacht 30 Newport Gwent Dragons 11

Billed as a must-win for both sides, Connacht return to the Galway Sportsground for this evening’s RaboDirect Pro 12 joust with the Newport Gwent Dragons.

Newport Gwent Dragons 14 Connacht 3

Munster 33 Dragons 13

Rob Penney may now have a defeat on his record as Munster head coach, but the New Zealander sends a much-changed team out tonight at Thomond Park (8pm) against Newport Gwent Dragons confident his players are heading in the right direction with a big month coming up in October.

Munster will reunite Peter Stringer and Ronan O’Gara at half-back for the first time in 19 months as head coach Rob Penney shuffles his deck for tomorrow night’s RaboDirect Pro12 clash with Newport Gwent Dragons at Thomond Park (8pm).

Team manager Guy Easterby has played down a historic double and warned Leinster they have won nothing yet.

Munster double centurion Mick O’Driscoll reckons Saturday’s victory over Newport Gwent Dragons was crucial to Red Army’s Pro12 hopes.

A Munster career going back to 1998 will be marked tonight when Mick O’Driscoll captains the RaboDirect Pro12 champions in a crucial fixture against Newport Gwent Dragons for what will be his 200th career for the province.

Ulster have been rocked by the loss of influential skipper Johann Muller ahead of tonight’s RaboDirect Pro12 League clash against the Dragons at Ravenhill.

OSPREYS replacement Dan Biggar held his head in his hands as his last-gasp drop-goal to win an enthralling Welsh derby with Newport Gwent Dragons hit the post.

CONNACHT returned to winning ways last evening, but it took a huge second-half effort to overcome a physical Dragons side at the Galway Sportsground.

THIS was more like it.

IT was more spit than polish at Musgrave Park as a workmanlike Munster kicked off their RaboDirect PRO12 campaign with four winning points on Saturday night.

TOMÁS O’LEARY suffered another blow yesterday when he was forced to withdraw from Munster’s squad for tonight’s opening clash with Newport-Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park.

Things are going from bad to worse for Tomás O'Leary who has been withdrawn from the Munster squad to face Newport-Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park on Saturday (7.45pm) because he is still suffering from lower back trouble.

TOMÁS O’LEARY, John Hayes, James Coughlan and Johne Murphy are named in the 28-man Munster squad for Saturday’s RaboDirect Pro12 opening fixture against Newport Gwent Dragons at Musgrave Park (7.45pm).

Newport-Gwent Dragons 13 Ulster 20

A TRAINING accident has ruled Willie Faloon out of Ulster’s do-or-die Magners League clash against the in-form Dragons tonight.

A POWERFUL front-row proved the game-breakers by earning a penalty-try to ease Leinster to a hard-fought win over the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade.

LEINSTER are in an unfamiliar position. Their success over the past three seasons has come with apparent ease, yet tomorrow they find themselves in a must-win scenario.

A SIXTH win on the trot moved Leinster up into fourth place in the Magners League at the RDS last night as their second string brushed the Dragons aside and picked up a bonus point en route.

CLINT NEWLAND makes his debut for Leinster tonight against the Dragons at the RDS (7.05pm), when the New Zealand Maori prop lines up in a front row which includes Heinke van der Merwe and Richardt Strauss.