FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont has thrown down the gauntlet to his players ahead of Saturday’s World Cup warm-up with Ireland in Bordeaux by declaring that Les Bleus are now in “competition mode”.

MUNSTER’S Amlin Challenge Cup quarter-final opponents, Brive, eased their Top 14 relegation worries with a 26-9 win over La Rochelle at Stade Amédée-Domenech on Saturday.

A WEEKEND pregnant with promise and expectation for Irish rugby was terminated brutally and conclusively in north-eastern Spain yesterday.

Biarritz 19 Munster 10