Sam Whitelock does not want to emulate family history when he captains New Zealand against Wales today.

Wales are determined to begin a two-year World Cup countdown today by ending their dismal run of defeats against Australia.

SCARLETS 36 - CONNACHT 27: No surprise result against the Scarlets, no reversal of fortunes for Connacht yet, but they came ever so close, producing their best attacking performance this season.

Connacht coach Kieran Keane knows his men have an uphill battle if they are to oust champions Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets tonight.

Wallaby fly-half Christian Lealiifano played the most important role since his comeback from a bone marrow transplant after he contacted Leukaemia just over 12 months ago when he helped Ulster to a dramatic victory over defending champions Scarlets.

Ireland’s summer debutant John Cooney will start his third successive game when Ulster tackle a star-studded Scarlets outfit on an emotional night at Ravenhilll (kick-off, 7.35pm).

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.

Connacht 8 Scarlets 30: A defence of their unforgettable PRO12 title win that began with two heavy home defeats, fizzled out with another drubbing at the Sportsground for Connacht.

Connacht v Scarlets: Connacht, having lost only once at home on their way to that memorable Guinness PRO12 crown a year ago, will be bidding to prevent a fifth league defeat at the Sportsground this season when facing a Scarlets side bidding for a semi-final place.

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).

Here’s the lowdown on four big games across Europe...

Scarlets 17 Connacht 8: After a third successive loss, Connacht are in choppy waters, and Edinburgh’s impending visit to the Sportsground has taken on a must-win feeling.

Ulster struggled to defeat a weakened Scarlets side at the Kingspan Stadium last night.

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),

Wales prop Tomas Francis has received an eight-week ban for making contact with the “eye or eye area” of England forward Dan Cole in last Saturday’s Six Nations game at Twickenham.

CHAMPIONS CUP: YOUR TEAM-BY-TEAM WEEKEND GUIDE

Racing 92 sealed a home quarter-final tie in the European Champions Cup with a record victory over Scarlets in Paris.

Change is the order of the day for Leinster head coach Leo Cullen, who has chosen a completely new starting line-up for his side’s latest Guinness Pro12 encounter against Scarlets at the RDS this evening.

Previous World Cups, in soccer and in rugby, have demonstrated the dangers of bigging up teams during the pool stages, but Michael Cheika and the Wallabies have certainly earned the praise.

Three of Welsh rugby’s biggest names — James Hook, Mike Phillips and Richard Hibbard — face uncertain international futures after seeing their World Cup hopes extinguished.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named nine uncapped players in a 47-man training squad for the Rugby World Cup.

World Rugby boss Brett Gosper has claimed his tweet was "over-interpreted" into partisanship when posting that hosts England failing to reach the World Cup quarter-finals would be "not the words we want to hear".

Scarlets 23, Leinster 13: Matt O’Connor is adamant this defeat in west Wales has not done major damage to Leinster’s Guinness Pro12 title aspirations.

Scarletts v Leinster

Scarlets 25 Munster 25: How Anthony Foley judges this result at Scarlets depends on whether he believes the glass is half-full or half-empty.

Guinness Pro12

Guinness Pro12: Scarlets 32 Connacht Rugby 14: Connacht’s top six qualification hopes were give a shake-up when they were outgunned by fellow hopefuls Scarlets in yesterday’s lunchtime Pro12 clash.

Leinster 42 Scarlets 12

GUINNESS PRO12:

Ireland international Craig Gilroy gets a quick opportunity to show his credentials after being named on the left wing for Ulster in tonight’s Guinness Pro12 opener at Parc de Scarlets.

Wales scrum-half Mike Phillips has been relegated to the bench for Friday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against France in Cardiff.

Captain Sam Warburton will return to the Wales starting line-up for Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash against Ireland in Dublin.

Sam Warburton could start Wales’ RBS 6 Nations opener against Italy on Saturday as he prepares to make his comeback from injury.