IT was the Italian hoodoo all over again as Connacht slumped to a 25-13 defeat away to Aironi on Saturday evening for their third Magners League defeat on Italian soil.

ERIC ELWOOD has kept faith with the squad that has racked up five wins on the trot at home as Connacht look to record an away victory over Aironi this afternoon.

CONNACHT are targeting five home wins in a row for the first time since 2005 against Aironi in the Sportsgrounds tonight (7.45pm).

ULSTER struggled to put away Italian visitors Aironi at Ravenhill last night despite racing into a 15-point lead in as many minutes.

MUNSTER maintained their stranglehold on top spot in the Magners League with a scrappy victory at the Stadio Luigi Zaffanella yesterday but the win was tainted by the loss of Denis Hurley to a knee injury.

MUNSTER yesterday confirmed the worst-kept secret in Irish rugby by announcing the signing of Ulster tight-head prop BJ Botha.

LIKE Ireland in Rome last Saturday, Leinster found out last night that it is one thing being expected to beat Italian opposition but quite another to actually do it.

ENGLAND rugby coach Martin Johnson has denied rugby has a drug culture and claimed players are aware of the consequences if they take prohibited substances.

BARBARIANS captain Martin Corry, says Rocky Elsom’s game has undergone rapid transformation since moving to Leinster at the beginning of the season.

Heineken Cup winners Rocky Elsom and Gordon D'Arcy will start for the Barbarians against England in Twickenham on Saturday.

Ulster 8-16 Ospreys

CARETAKER coach Steve Williams has made six changes and one positional switch as Ulster attempt to gain some respectability from a wretched season in tonight’s Heineken Cup clash against the Ospreys at Ravenhill (8pm).

ANOTHER long, hard night at the office for Ulster and another defeat.

ULSTER’S Andrew Trimble links up again with Kiwi Paul Steinmetz for tonight’s Heineken Cup trip to the Liberty Stadium as caretaker coach Steve Williams makes two changes and a positional switch to face the big-spending Ospreys.

JAKE WHITE ends his reign as South Africa coach ready to consider a host of job offers — including from Guinness Premiership clubs and a fourth division Welsh side.

England hooker Mark Regan has been included in the Barbarians team to face South Africa at Twickenham on Saturday.

ROB ANDREW has hailed “an English solution for the English game” after the Twickenham unveiling of a new detailed agreement governing professional rugby in England.

BRIAN CARNEY gave another glimpse of his rugby union promise with a second try-scoring appearance though it was too late to save Munster’s season from freefall.

MUNSTER coach Declan Kidney intends using today’s Magners League game against Ospreys to freshen up his side after their exit from the Heineken Cup last weekend.

FORMER Ireland prop Justin Fitzpatrick believes today’s Magners League game against the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium could be the turning point in Ulster’s season.

OSPREYS boss Lyn Jones has predicted “an encounter to remember” when his star-studded Welsh challengers tackle English champions Sale Sharks in a mouth-watering Heineken Cup clash this evening.

Ulster 43 Ospreys 7

The Barbarians will field a team selected from seven countries, including Ireland's David Humphreys and Bob Casey, when they tackle an England XV in Sunday’s Gartmore Challenge match at Twickenham.

Luke McAlister is undaunted by the challenge of stepping into New Zealand hero Dan Carter’s boots for the final Test against the British and Irish Lions on Saturday.

LIONS captain Brian O’Driscoll is relishing the chance to quickly atone for his side’s defeat to the New Zealand Maori against Wellington on Wednesday.

New Zealand 91 Fiji 0

A SLIGHTLY experimental All Blacks will face Fiji in their first test of the year tomorrow as coach Graham Henry fine-tunes the side ahead of the three-test Lions series.

BARBARIANS coach Bob Dwyer yesterday gave an interesting glimpse into the future of Australian rugby by selecting Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri at outside centre and Matt Giteau at fly-half for tomorrow’s Gartmore Challenge against New Zealand at Twickenham.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was true to his word today when he named his team to face England in Dunedin on Saturday.

Hosts and defending champions Australia take on the mighty All Blacks in the first of the World Cup semi-finals today in Sydney.

New Zealand’s coaching team John Mitchell and Robbie Deans today warned the All Blacks will need to up their game or be sent packing by Australia in Saturday’s World Cup semi-final.

New Zealand coach John Mitchell today named an unchanged starting line-up for Saturday’s World Cup semi-final against Australia.

Hard-hitting number eight Jerry Collins returned to the New Zealand starting line-up today as All Blacks coach John Mitchell named his strongest available side to face Wales on Sunday.

Lock Ali Williams has returned to the New Zealand camp and will face Tonga on Friday after recovering from a fractured foot suffered in the build-up to the World Cup.

Italy’s coach John Kirwan has insisted his illustrious All Blacks career will count for little on Saturday when the Azzurri open their World Cup campaign against New Zealand in Melbourne.

The continuing misfortunes of Andrew Mehrtens and Jonah Lomu continue to dominate the build-up to New Zealand’s Tri-Nations clash with Australia on Saturday.

John Mitchell returned to his strongest possible line-up for New Zealand’s twin assault on the Bledisloe Cup and the world number one ranking this weekend.

Brad Thorn will make his first Test start in New Zealand’s Tri-Nations clash with South Africa on Saturday in a line-up that features five changes from that which thumped Australia 10 days ago.

JOHN MITCHELL has dropped captain Anton Oliver from the All Black side to contest the annual Tri-Nations Series with Australia and South Africa.

Matt Dawson is out of England’s Test match against New Zealand in Wellington after failing to overcome a thigh injury.

England will be unchanged when they take on New Zealand this Saturday after head coach Clive Woodward today named the same starting line-up that defeated Ireland in the Six Nations Grand Slam decider.

THE Super 12 final tomorrow is a lineup of the great constellations for rugby fans — a dream-like test of brawn and brilliance under Eden Park’s bright lights.