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.

Munster return to Thomond Park tonight in search of the performance that will get them back to winning ways, but with boss Johann van Graan reminding them they cannot afford to assume Zebre will present them with the opportunity to do so.

Munster go in search of their eighth win in a row this evening when they take on Scarlets at Parcy Scarlets on an occasion to be marked by Rory Scannell’s 100th appearance for the province.

Munster booked their place in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-finals for an 18th time as they ground out a dogged victory over English league leaders Exeter at a sold-out Thomond Park on Saturday night.

Munster coach Johann van Graan praised stand-in captain Tyler Bleyendaal and his men for carving out a bonus point win at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein yesterday.

Joey Carbery may not be happy to take the late hits but if it frees up a teammate then he will continue to endure the pain for the Munster cause.

Munster 38 Cheetahs 0

Munster have the best record of the Irish provinces on the opening day of the league and Johann van Graan will be hoping to maintain that when they kick off their PRO14 campaign at home to the Cheetahs today at Thomond Park.

Munster hit the new ground running last night as they won their opening pre-season game on Musgrave Park’s freshly installed playing surface to defeat Declan Kidney’s London Irish.

Southern Kings 22 Munster 39: There was a carnival atmosphere at Outeniqua Park on Saturday and while it seemed for a time that the Southern Kings were going to spoil CJ Stander’s homecoming, Munster’s superiority shone through in the end as they cantered home.

Munster 33 Zebre 5: Munster coach Johann van Graan accurately summed up the view of the majority of Saturday night’s sparse Thomond Park attendance when he commented that “this won’t go down as the greatest game in the history of Munster”.

Michael Bradley, the former Ireland scrum-half and now head coach of Italian side Zebre, was last night casting an envious eye at the strength of the squad announced by his Munster counterpart Johann van Graan ahead of tonight’s Guinness PRO14 tie at Thomond Park.

Zebre 19 Munster 29: Alex Wootton was one of the players that Rassie Erasmus name-checked in his final week with Munster when he was asked what he would miss when he returned to South Africa.

Rassie Erasmus admits that he will experience mixed emotions at Musgrave Park tonight when Munster take on the Dragons in what may be his last game as the team’s head coach.

Munster face their first serious test of the new season when they travel to Swansea’s Liberty Stadium todayto face the Ospreys in the third round of the Guinness PRO14.

Munster 51 - Cheetahs 18: Munster coach Rassie Erasmus has warned against reading too much into the province’s eight try-rout of his native Toyota Cheetahs in a hopelessly one-sided Guinness PRO14 game at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Munster 34 Benetton Rugby 3: New league, new season, same old Italians.

Worcester Warriors 26

Munster can expect the kind of reception they like to dish out to visiting teams when they take on Edinburgh in tonight’s deferred Guinness Pro 12 game at Myreside.

Peter O’Mahony returns to captain Munster in tonight’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Glasgow Warriors on their 4G pitch at Scotstoun and is joined in the back-row by Tommy O’Donnell who makes his 100th appearance for the province.

Munster must plan without Peter O’Mahony for this afternoon’s Guinness PRO12 tie against Treviso at Thomond Park.

Munster 28 Edinburgh 14: “The performance was really, really average”. 

Defeat is painful and Munster have been hurting all week as they prepare to right the wrongs of last weekend’s home stumble to Cardiff Blues in their Guinness Pro12 trip to Newport Gwent Dragons today (5:15pm).

Munster 52 Worcester Warriors 21: It certainly wasn’t a happy return to Cork for former Munster and Ireland hero Donncha O’Callaghan as Munster stormed to a comprehensive pre- season win over Worcester Warriors at Musgrave Park last night.

Donncha O’Callaghan is edging ever closer to making 400 top class professional appearances in a remarkable career that shows no signs of coming quickly to an end.