JONATHAN SEXTON has had to be patient in his pursuit of the Leinster number ten jersey, but he recognises that experience cannot be usurped by ambition.

Ireland have blundered in appointing Declan Kidney and not an overseas candidate as boss, according to former Leinster backs coach David Knox.

Leinster Rugby has moved to distance itself from controversial comments made by former backs coach David Knox concerning the state of Irish rugby.

MICHAEL Cheika last night insisted he is “committed” to Leinster despite strong speculation in Australia linking him with the position of New South Wales Waratahs head coach from next season.

EDDIE O’SULLIVAN may well feel he has more to offer Ireland after eight years with the international set-up but Michael Cheika clearly believes coaches have a much shorter shelf-life with any one team.

ALAN GAFFNEY has effectively ruled himself out of the running to replace Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan after confirming he will return to Leinster next season.

Alan Gaffney’s name was today withdrawn from the running to replace Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan when it was confirmed he will return to Leinster next season.

ALAN GAFFNEY is likely to return to Ireland as assistant to Leinster coach Michael Cheika — and not as backs coach with Ireland.

LEINSTER are on the lookout for two new coaches with the confirmation from Michael Cheika that assistants David Knox and Mike Brewer will be leaving the province at the end of the season.

IF there was one obvious downside to Leinster’s defeat of Munster last Friday evening it was the sight of Brian O’Driscoll hobbling off the pitch after half an hour but it seems the Irish captain is recovering and on track to return for Friday’s Heineken Cup encounter with Edinburgh.

LEINSTER have reappointed Brian O’Driscoll as captain for the third consecutive year.

YOU never expect to come away disappointed from an interview with the unfailingly friendly Girvan Dempsey, but it happened.

IT’S a measure of the new-found strength in Irish rugby that on the week he’s called up to the Irish Six Nations squad, Rob Kearney may find himself on the bench for Leinster’s Heineken Cup clash against Gloucester.

LIKE most Australians who surrender to their wanderlust and head north of the equator, Chris Whitaker hasn’t taken long to settle into his new surroundings since arriving in Dublin last summer.

AS a regular with a hugely successful Wasps side in the war of attrition that is the English Premiership, Will Green was well used to being flogged like a horse but he found that he missed the whip when he first moved to Ireland.

LAST weekend, Stanley Wright’s Leinster debut ended half way through the Heineken Cup tie against Agen.

IRELAND skipper Brian O’Driscoll admitted he was close to leaving Leinster before the arrival of the new coaching team at Donnybrook helped convince him to stay.

GIRVAN DEMPSEY is aware of the irony.

THE Leinster Branch said last night they are “flabbergasted” by the leak of the referee’s report from the Magners League clash between Leinster and Munster at Lansdowne Road on October 6.

FIVE-THIRTY yesterday evening in the bowels of the West Stand and, despite the best efforts of her doting mum Paula, two-month old Catalina Contepomi is bawling her eyes out.

TO the brave and faithful, nothing is impossible.

Munster coach Declan Kidney denies Leinster can be targeted up front in tomorrow’s Heineken Cup semi-final at Lansdowne Road.

GIRVAN DEMPSEY hopes Leinster’s amazing Heineken Cup progress will help re-launch his international career.

Leinster have arranged a fixture against Italian Super 10 outfit Petrarca Padova in Donnybrook on St. Patrick's Day (KO: 6pm) in the build-up to their Heineken Cup quarter-final with Toulouse.

MICHAEL CHEIKA has dismissed two recent sideline incidents involving himself and assistant coach David Knox as storms in a teacup and claims the Australian pair will not be altering their style of management.

LEINSTER’S performance against Munster silenced many doubters.

THEIR hopes of securing a quarter-final Heineken Cup berth may be somewhere between slim and none but, with talent like Robert Kearney in tow, Leinster remain committed to playing the type of expansive rugby rarely seen before in this part of the world.

DECLAN Kidney didn’t believe Munster’s clinical 33-9 demolition of Leinster at Musgrave Park yesterday was the ideal dress rehearsal for the first outing in the Heineken European Cup at Sale on Saturday week.

BRIAN O’DRISCOLL has revealed that a chat with Ireland football captain Roy Keane was the perfect send-off for the Lions tour to New Zealand.