Northampton Saints 21 Connacht 15: He came into the post-match press conference in charge of Connacht for the last time and less than 10 minutes later Pat Lam departed as the new coach of Bristol.

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

CHAMPIONS CUP: YOUR TEAM-BY-TEAM WEEKEND GUIDE

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.

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

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.

AMLIN CHALLENGE CUP FINAL:

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

Captain Sam Warburton will return to the Wales starting line-up for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin.

Warren Gatland has been hailed as “a fantastic coach” as he prepares to re-enter the RBS 6 Nations arena in pursuit of an unprecedented title hat-trick.

Sam Warburton could start Wales’ RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy on Saturday as he prepares to make his comeback from injury.

The teams for Australia versus British and Irish Lions have been decided.

British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland has sprung one of the great surprises in the tourists’ history by dropping Brian O’Driscoll for Saturday’s series decider against Australia.

The British and Irish Lions have named Tommy Bowe, Dan Lydiate and Ben Youngs in their starting XV for Saturday's second Test against Australia at the Etihad Stadium.

At last the hype is over and the British and Irish Lions are back in business.

Combined 0 British & Irish Lions 64

Combined Country 0 British & Irish Lions 64

Ireland centre Brian O’Driscoll will captain the British and Irish Lions in Wednesday’s clash against Western Force in Perth.

British & Irish Lions 59 Barbarians RFC 8

Ireland lock Paul O’Connell will captain the British and Irish Lions in Saturday’s tour opener against the Barbarians at Hong Kong Stadium.

Italy 9 Wales 26

Courtney Lawes is ready to strike fear into the French ‘bully boys’ when he is unleashed from the England back row for the first time.

Sam Warburton has been named on the Wales replacements’ bench for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against Italy in Rome.

France 6 Wales 16

South Africa-born forward Andries Pretorius has been named in the Wales squad for this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship.

Ulster’s South African scrum-half Ruan Pienaar will make his 50th appearance for the province when they tackle Scarlets at Ravenhill this evening.

Jamie Roberts believes it is “hugely important” that Wales make a statement when they tackle the world’s top team on Saturday.

Wales 12 Argentina 26

Scarlets 13 Leinster 20

Connacht 11 Scarlets 24

Connacht have been forced to make a host of changes, including a new backrow, for today’s visit of the Scarlets to the Galway Sportsground.

Scarlets 45 Leinster 20

Leinster captain Leo Cullen is backing fellow lock Devin Toner to make more giant strides in his game over the coming season as the European champions open their RaboDirect Pro12 campaign at Scarlets today (6.30pm).

Gethin Jenkins claims Wales will be a better team for being knocked off “cloud nine” by Australia.

Wales will head into the first of their three Tests against Australia in Brisbane on Saturday with 11 of the starting XV that clinched Grand Slam glory against France in March.

Paul O’Connell is back to boost Munster’s prospects of defeating Llanelli Scarlets in Wales tonight and keep his side ahead of the posse in the race for a RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final place.