Keith Earls will make his first Munster appearance of the season in tomorrow's Champions Cup opener against the Ospreys.

Simon Lewis reports from Yokohama.

Having trailed 10-7 at half-time, Ireland started the second period with intent with two tries before the hour mark

Ireland supporters will have breathed a little easier on Saturday night following this victory at the Principality Stadium.

The 2018 Grand Slam champions suffered a humiliating 57-15 defeat to England in London less than two weeks ago

England have beaten Ireland 57-15 in their World Cup warm-up Test at Twickenham.

The Ireland team to play England on Saturday has been announced and Ross Byrne is set to win his third cap.

Munster lock Jean Kleyn has been handed a Test debut for Ireland and a chance to stake his claim for a World Cup squad berth as Joe Schmidt’s side play the first of four warm-up matches against Italy in Dublin on Saturday.

Rory Best’s ankle injury has cleared up in time to allow him to have the send-off he hoped for, and the Ireland captain suspects he’ll be an emotional wreck when he says goodbye at the Kingspan Stadium tonight

Dan McFarland says a “mental hangover” from the Champions Cup loss to Leinster cost Ulster in Glasgow last weekend but believes they’ll return to Scotland tonight refreshed and ready to pip Edinburgh to a play-off place.

Dan McFarland has made three changes as Ulster bid to get back to winning ways away to Edinburgh.

No Jonathan Sexton, Rob Kearney on the bench and Jack McGrath given the weekend off.

Rhys Ruddock will captain the Leinster Rugby team taking on Ulster tomorrow, while Johnny Sexton has been ruled out following an injury.

Ulster have been given a boost ahead of their PRO14 encounter against Ospreys with the return of Iain Henderson from injury.

It was a performance riddled with mistakes, so many of them elementary, but the side's reaction to adversity in the second-half, when coming from 13-0 down to claim the lead and hold out in the face of considerable pressure, was impressive.

Iain Henderson bustled and hustled his way to a try in each half as Ulster barnstormed to a bonus-point victory over Scarlets to keep their Heineken Champions Cup qualifying hopes very much alive.

Skipper Rory Best hailed Ulster’s second-half display as they dug in for a vital 24-10 win over Leicester Tigers to kick-start their Heineken Champions Cup campaign.

Ireland’s Jordi Murphy makes his Ulster PRO14 debut tonight when Edinburgh visit the Kingspan Stadium.

Ulster 15 Scarlets 13

Ulster start rookie tight-head Ross Kane against a fired-up Ospreys at the Kingspan Stadium this evening.

Goosen played his last game in December 2016, when he controversially announced his retirement from playing, aged 24, to become a "commercial director".

Iain Henderson says Ulster players have to “fix” the problems of “being a bit lazy and not working hard enough” if they are to beat La Rochelle in Belfast this afternoon in the Champions Cup.

Harlequins’ hopes of progression in the Champions Cup were virtually extinguished as they crashed to a third-consecutive defeat in Europe, a 17-5 loss at home to Ulster.

It was not as if Leinster put Ulster to the sword in a lively, if disjointed Guinness PRO14 derby at the weekend, they simply sliced and diced them!

Rory Best is set to captain the British & Irish Lions against the Chiefs on Tuesday after Warren Gatland named a matchday squad missing tour skipper Sam Warburton in the final game before Saturday’s first Test with the All Blacks.

Peter O'Mahony has been named captain of the British & Irish Lions for Saturday's showdown with the Maori All Blacks at Rotorua International Stadium.

Captain Sam Warburton is willing to tell British and Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland he is not ready to play a Test match if he has not built up sufficient game time to operate to the best of his ability against the All Blacks.

The British and Irish Lions will welcome back tour captain Sam Warburton from injury on Tuesday when they take on the Highlanders in Dunedin.

Ulster 24 Cardiff Blues 24: Cardiff Blues dented Ulster’s hopes of making the Guinness PRO12 play-offs when they carved out a share of the points at the Kingspan Stadium last night.

Ireland skipper Rory Best will lead Ulster for the first time this season when they face a strong Cardiff outfit at the Kingspan Stadium this evening (kick-off 7.35pm).

Ireland centre Luke Marshall is determined to right recent wrongs this evening when a struggling Ulster side travel to Llanelli to face the Guinness PRO12’s in-form side unbeaten in eight games at Parc y Scarlets (7.35pm).

Pat Lam will bid to get rid of one of Connacht’s remaining hoodoos when he hopes to lead them to a first win in Belfast since 1960 this evening.

Iain Henderson and Chris Henry return to the Ulster side for this evening’s Guinness Pro 12 game at Cardiff Blues, a match both teams regard as critical to relaunching their seasons.

The loss of Charles Piutau through injury has been softened by Tommy Bowe’s return to the Ulster side for the first time this season for tonight’s derby with Connacht at the Sportsground.

Ulster will roll out their strongest available line-out when they visit 2015 Guinness Pro12 winners Glasgow tonight.

New Zealander Charles Piutau is anxious to get back into Ulster action for the visit of the winless Scarlets to the Kingspan Stadium this evening (7.05 pm),

Johnny Holland’s fine form for Munster has not gone unnoticed by Ireland coach Joe Schmidt who wants to see the out-half put himself into international contention next season.