Cork made it through to the All-Ireland U20 final with a win over Kilkenny in O’Moore Park, Portlaoise, powered by an outstanding Tommy O’Connell display.

John Fogarty Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy has drafted in Barry Heffernan and Michael Breen to give his team a more physical edge in tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford.

DUBLIN 0-19 ... CARLOW 0-7: Dublin made a sticky start to their Leinster campaign in O’Moore Park even if their margin of victory over Carlow was convincing.

Cuala took the honours in the All-Ireland Club hurling final with surprising ease, easing past Ballyea of Clare in a dour struggle.

Bishopstown 1-9 Clyda Rovers 0-8: This fourth-round Cork SFC game at Páirc Uí Rinn Saturday proved an endurance test for both teams. Similarly for neutrals, with the worst excesses of the modern game in terms of ‘blanket’ covering, body-checking an obsession with hand-passing and, additionally, an undercurrent of bad feeling which saw two of seven players yellow-carded eventually shown a red card, another black-carded and several more escape censure.

St Finbarr’s 1-17 Bishopstown 0-10: Accuracy and class helped St Finbarr’s to a comprehensive win over Bishopstown in yesterday’s Cork SHC Round 3 clash at Pairc Ui Rinn.

Clyda Rovers 0-12 Aghada 0-7: James Murphy gave an exhibition of point scoring for Clyda Rovers as they defeated Aghada in the third round of the Cork senior football championship at Watergrasshill on Saturday night.

Sarsfields 0-15 Bishopstown 1-7: An excellent exhibition of point-scoring by Cian McCarthy powered defending champions Sarsfields to a comfortable victory over Bishopstown in a substandard second-round tie in the county senior hurling championship at Pairc Uí Rinn last night.

Carbery Rangers 1-7 Clyda Rovers 0-8: An opportunist 45th minute goal by Declan Hayes proved the decisive score in this sterile and disappointing Cork SFC second round tie at Coachford yesterday.

Edinburgh 23 Leinster 36

Castlehaven 2-12 Clyda Rovers 0-9: Several factors combined to produce this emphatic victory for Castlehaven in Saturday evening’s Cork SFC first-round game in Carrigadrohid - primarily a significant second-half improvement which yielded two goals inside the opening ten minutes.

Dragons 25 Leinster 22: Leinster’s reign as Guinness Pro12 champions appears all but over after Matt O’Connor’s side surrendered a 22-8 lead at Rodney Parade.

Munster 31 Zebre 5

Midleton 2-18 Bishopstown 0-08

Macroom 0-10 Valley Rovers 0-04

Valley Rovers 0-13 Macroom 0-13

Killeagh 2-11 Courcey Rovers 2-14

Sarsfields 1-15 Town 1-13

Bishopstown 1-13 Ballymartle 0-12

Clyda Rovers 1-8 Kinsale 1-8

Douglas 1-14 Bishopstown 1-20

If Erin’s Own harbour ambitions of challenging for this year’s Cork crown, they will have to do better than this Jekyll and Hyde opening round display against Bride Rovers at Carrigtwohill last night.

Wicklow secured a Christy Ring Cup semi-final spot after a late scoring burst in Arklow on Saturday.

Carlow finished in style to overcome their Westmeath hosts in Saturday’s entertaining Leinster Minor Hurling Championship game at Cusack Park, Mullingar.

THIS time around Carbery Rangers made certain of their place in the semi-final of the Cork SFC for the second consecutive year, with more conviction and ability in Saturday evening’s replay in Clonakilty than they had managed seven days earlier.

WE could have done without the excesses of physical challenges on and off the ball which prevailed for much of the game in Clonakilty’s state-of-the-art complex on Saturday afternoon.

ASTONISHINGLY Mallow plucked a draw from the jaws of defeat in this fourth round Cork Premier IFC tie at the splendid Killavullen venue on Saturday night.

BRIDE ROVERS settled the stalemate between themselves and Bishopstown in emphatic fashion at Riverstown yesterday to claim a place in the fourth round of the Cork SHC.

Newcastlewest (Limerick) 2-4 Newry Shamrocks (Down) 1-5

Ballydesmond 1-9 Glanmire 0-9

THERE’S plenty speculation, but it’s most unlikely Paul O’Connell will return for Saturday’s Amlin Cup semi-final clash with Harlequins at Thomond Park.

Munster travel to the Stade Municipal to take on Brive in the Amlin Challenge Cup looking to book a place in the last four of European rugby’s ‘second tier’ competition.

MUNSTER’S injury crisis has been well documented, but there were no histrionics from coach Tony McGahan yesterday as he announced a 27-man squad to prepare for Saturday’s Magners League derby with Leinster at Thomond Park (7.30).

DAVID WALLACE has been around long enough to know that there are no easy matches these days. At the very least, top teams like Munster can expect to receive increasingly difficult physical challenges.

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan sounded almost like Finance Minister Brian Lenihan when describing the selection of his squad for Sunday’s Heineken Cup clash with Ospreys as his toughest task of the year.

JOY for Newcestown, huge heartbreak for wasteful Clyda Rovers.

MUNSTER don’t expect a definitive report on the calf injury that forced Jerry Flannery out of last week’s Heineken Cup game against Toulon until later in the week.

THE availability of centre Sam Tuitupou hinges on the outcome of today’s ERC disciplinary meeting in Dublin, but Munster have been boosted by the availability of hooker Jerry Flannery for Saturday’s must-win Heineken Cup clash with Toulon at Thomond Park.

A MASSIVE second-half turnaround to this Evening Echo Cork SFC quarter-final at windy Bandon on Saturday saw Carbery Rangers turn a six points interval deficit into a 10-point victory with some swashbuckling football that simply blew Douglas away.

MUNSTER confirmed a triple injury blow yesterday with Denis Fogarty, Felix Jones and Ian Dowling facing lay-offs after Saturday’s Magners League victory over the Ospreys.

AN overnight text from his brother, Freddie, coach to the Munster Branch, proved invaluable as Dwayne Twomey fashioned an unlikely win for Bandon over Co Sligo in yesterday’s semi-final of the Bulmers Irish Senior Cup at Castlebar.

IT WAS a throwback to the old days when Munster bullied the opposition up front. At Musgrave Park last night, this was a pretty awesome performance from the twice Heineken Cup-winning club, who found strength in areas their critics would not have believed impossible a couple of months ago.