England 32 Barbarians 38

GAVIN HENSON’S ill-fated Toulon career hangs on tenterhooks after the club denied reports that they had sacked the 29-year-old centre, instead saying that no decision would be announced for at least another 48 hours.

MUNSTER coach Tony McGahan has resisted the urge to wield the axe in the wake of Heineken Cup elimination by making just three changes to the squad for tomorrow’s final pool game, at home to London Irish.

AS RUGBY weekends go, this one couldn’t have started much better from an Irish perspective.

THE stars could well be aligning for another great Munster away day in France.

Toulon coach Phillipe Saint Andre has selected Jonny Wilkinson and Felipe Contepomi at fly half and inside centre respectively for Sunday’s Heineken Cup clash with Munster at the Stade Félix Mayol, kick-off 4pm.

TOULON welcome back Carl Hayman to their extended squad for Sunday’s crunch match with Munster but lost Jocelino Suta after the lock was handed a 20-day suspension.

PHILIPPE Saint-Andre believes his Toulon side are under no pressure going into this Sunday’s crucial Heineken Cup clash with Munster.

JONNY WILKINSON lost a battle of the drop kicks as Toulon were beaten in Paris last night but Munster were put on warning ahead of their Heineken Cup showdown in the south of France next Sunday.

London Irish 13 Toulon 19

New Zealand’s new “superman” Sonny Bill Williams revealed today how Jonny Wilkinson inspired his remarkable rise from rookie centre to All Blacks international.

JOE VAN NIEKERK thought he had just about experienced everything in rugby – until he led Toulon onto the pitch at Thomond Park on Saturday.

FROM bottom to top in one fell swoop – what a difference a game makes.

Munster director of coaching Tony McGahan hailed his side’s six-try 45-18 victory over Toulon as a solid performance, after the result moved the two-time Heineken Cup champions top of Pool Three.

Munster 45 Toulon 18

ONE OF the more bizarre yet intriguing aspects of the Heineken Cup over the years has been the ambivalent relationship between the tournament and the French sides.

Munster’s old foe Felipe Contepomi will start at fly-half for Toulon in the Heineken Cup match at Thomond Park on Saturday.

TOULON’S England international fly half Jonny Wilkinson has been included by coach Philippe Saint André in a group of 23 players to travel to Limerick for Saturday’s Heineken Cup showdown with Munster.

AS the London Irish players embarked on a celebratory lap of honour at the magnificent Madejski stadium on Saturday, my mind drifted to a similar moment of exuberance exactly 12 months earlier.

“ALL or nothing” – that’s how Toulon and England star Jonny Wilkinson is viewing Saturday’s showdown at Thomond Park with Munster after helping his side to a Heineken Cup opening round win against the Ospreys.

Swashbuckling captain Joe Van Niekerk tells Ian Moriarty that the French side are determined to put their best foot forward for the Heineken Cup.

SOUTH AFRICA’S conditioning coach Neels Liebel claimed yesterday he had proof to show northern hemisphere rugby was slower than the game played in the southern hemisphere.

THE All Blacks have vowed to repay fans with an entertaining style of rugby against Ireland after they were mobbed for a second straight day in Taranaki.

Cardiff Blues 28 Toulon 21

Former Munster prop Timmy Ryan has made the replacements bench on the Toulon squad to play Cardiff Blues in the Amlin Challenge Cup final in Marseilles tomorrow.

Toulon coach Phillippe Saint-Andre has included a host of star names, like Jonny Wilkinson and Tana Umaga, in his 27-man squad to play Connacht in the Challenge Cup semi-final at The Sportsground on Friday night.

JONNY WILKINSON has been dubbed “the Michael Jackson of rugby” by the man who is trying to lure the England star to France.

WITH LESS than three weeks to go before Ian McGeechan announces the Lions squad to tour South Africa, every amateur pundit in Britain and Ireland is choosing their favourites to don the famous red jersey.

South Africa 63 Argentina 9

SOUTH AFRICA coach Peter De Villiers has made some tough calls ahead of tomorrow night’s Tri-Nations Test in Perth against Australia with the Springboks looking to head home with another win.

New Zealand 28 South Africa 30

New Zealand extended their unbeaten home run to 30 matches with a gutsy victory over South Africa.

South Africa coach Peter de Villiers sprang several surprises when naming his 30-man squad for the Tests against Wales and Italy next month.

WHEN new Welsh captain Stephen Jones kicked off against Australia at the Millennium Stadium last Saturday he set in motion a 20 game autumn series featuring all the major countries on the world stage.

Former South African captain Corne Krige believes that Luke Watson is the ideal captain for the Springbok team, not incumbent John Smit.

South Africa coach Jake White will make a late decision over his fly-half for the Tri-Nations clash against New Zealand at the Westpac Trust stadium in Wellington on Saturday.

FORMER New Zealand winger Stu Wilson has hailed the performances of the Australia backline ahead of the Bledisloe Cup triple header, claiming the Wallabies are favourites.

SOUTH AFRICA coach Jake White believes his side will struggle to cover the loss of flanker Schalk Burger in Saturday’s one-off Test against France at Newlands.

South Africa coach Jake White could back down from his threat to exclude several Springboks from the November tour if they play in the Currie Cup competition this year.

AUSTRALIA have made four changes for Saturday’s Tri Nations opener against South Africa in Pretoria, with Matt Dunning, John Roe, Morgan Turinui and Daniel Vickerman coming into the starting line-up.

THE IRFU yesterday confirmed its 2006 summer tour schedule which will comprise of three test matches in the Southern Hemisphere.

Springbok coach Jake White made history on Wednesday by naming an unprecedented six black players in his line-up for Saturday's second leg of the Mandela Challenge against Australia.

South Africa coach Jake White has sprung a major surprise by including prop Lawrence Sephaka for Saturday’s second Test against France in Port Elizabeth.