WALES coach Warren Gatland has paid a glowing tribute to Ireland cap centurion Brian O’Driscoll ahead of Saturday’s RBS Six Nations clash in Dublin.

FRANCE coach Marc Lièvremont expects Ireland to arrive with “the appetite of ogres” for Saturday’s mouth-watering Six Nations clash in Paris.

France coach Marc Lievremont has revealed it was Alexis Palisson's versatility that saw the Brive wing given the nod ahead of Julien Malzieu for Les Bleus' RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland.

The draw for the Heineken Cup semi-finals will take place at the completion of the Round 6 Pool matches on Sunday.

FRANCE forwards coach Didier Retiere says his team honestly believe Australia will be harder to beat than New Zealand when the teams clash at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.

French rugby chief Pierre Camou has given his backing to Les Bleus’ under-fire coaching set-up following the team’s 34-10 thrashing by England in the RBS 6 Nations at the weekend.

FREDERIC Michalak’s omission from the 30-strong France training squad for the Six Nations is neither a surprise nor a shock as the French rugby establishment opt once again to shun his mercurial talents for more predictable playmakers.

Toulouse full-back Maxime Medard will win his first international cap after being named in the France team to face Argentina in Marseille on Saturday.

THE newly installed triumvirate of youthful coaches at the helm of the French rugby team are displaying a united front that was missing from Bernard Laporte’s days.

The influence of Munster rugby on the Heineken Cup has been given further exposure by the selection of Munster captain Anthony Foley as the Heineken Cup Player of the Century.

FRENCH GIANTS Stade Francais are determined to try to increase the pressure on Heineken Cup rivals Ulster and Gloucester tonight.

TOULOUSE talisman Emile Ntamack has played down his sides tag of favourites ahead of Saturday’s semi-final showdown, claiming “Biarritz will be ready for us”.

A 19-0 interval lead handed Toulouse the advantage in today’s Heineken Cup final as they roared to a 22-17 win against French rivals Perpignan at Lansdowne Road.

STADE TOULOUSAIN captain Fabien Pelous believes his side has too much all-round strength to succumb to a fired-up Perpignan in tomorrow’s all-French European Cup final in Dublin.

Ronan O’Gara gave Munster a 6-3 lead against French giants Toulouse as they targeted a third Heineken Cup final appearance in four seasons today.

HE may be close on 33 but he is still presents a clear and present threat to Munster’s prospects of making it into a third Heineken Cup final.

MUNSTER fly-half Ronan O’Gara is happy to take on Toulouse at their own game of running rugby tomorrow.

WHEN the final whistle sounded on Munster’s pulsating 25-31 semi-final victory over Toulouse in Bordeaux, little did we think that it would take the aristocrats of French rugby three years to reach the penultimate stage of the competition again. The fall-out from that defeat was massive.

THE injury problems at Toulouse appeared to ease yesterday ahead of their Heineken Cup semi-final against Munster in France on Saturday.

PAUL GRAYSON last night assessed Northampton’s make-or-break Heineken Cup clash against Ulster in Belfast and admitted: “It is going to be incredibly difficult.”

Leinster coach Matt Williams blamed a draining travel schedule for the 43-7 Heineken Cup defeat away to Toulouse.

Leinster lost their undefeated tag spectacularly to a Toulouse onslaught of six second-half tries in today’s Heineken Cup Pool 6 tie.