Challenge Cup Pool 5

Connacht 15 Worcester Warriors 8: You suspect the more Kieran Keane settles into life in Galway the more he appreciates exactly what his predecessor Pat Lam achieved, not just with limited resources but the manner in which he got them to play in the difficult climatic conditions.

Worcester Warriors 26

England 45 Ireland 21: Twenty-one points was enough to win each of the two previous World Rugby U20 Championship finals and only twice has a team scored more than that and lost, but you got the impression at the AJ Bell Stadium on Saturday evening that no matter what Ireland scored, England would nab more.

Coach Nigel Carolan has urged his men to play the game and not the occasion when they take on England this evening (7pm) in the World Rugby U20 Championship at the AJ Bell Stadium in Greater Manchester.

England 20 Ireland 26: Nigel Carolan’s U-20 side staged a remarkable comeback to defeat England in Newcastle last night.

Munster A coach Mick O’Driscoll makes four personnel changes from last weekend’s British & Irish Cup for this afternoon’s clash with Worcester Warriors (Sixways, 3pm).

England 42 Ireland 15

England 33 Ireland 9

While the meetings to try to save the Heineken Cup will continue in Dublin this afternoon, it will probably go unnoticed that 18 years ago, on January 7, 1996, the first final was staged at the National Ground, Cardiff Arms Park.