ULSTER coach Mark McCall has named a squad of 23 for Friday’s Celtic League top-of-the-table clash with Munster at Ravenhill (7.35 kick-off).

NEIL BACK will always be the villain of the piece in Munster for his cheating in the 2002 Heineken European Cup final at the Millennium Stadium.

THIS may well prove a turning point in Connacht’s fortunes.

ULSTER coach Mark McCall has opted to retain Kieran Campbell at scrum-half for Monday’s Celtic League clash against Leinster at Ravenhill (5pm).

ULSTER coach Mark McCall rejected claims the television match official had robbed his side of victory in Saturday’s Heineken Cup clash with Saracens.

Ulster coach Mark McCall rejected claims the television match official had robbed his side of victory in today’s Heineken Cup clash with Saracens.

GUY EASTERBY has been good mates with Kevin Maggs for a few years now, but there is such a thing as getting too close to somebody — as the Leinster scrum-half found out, two months ago, in a painful fashion.

ULSTER and their Ireland centre Kevin Maggs aim to continue their recent good Celtic League form against the Borders at Netherdale (7.30 pm), this evening.

Ulster 36 Connacht 10

Japan 12 Ireland 44

It will be a family affair for talented number eight Roger Wilson when he dons an Ireland shirt for the first time on Sunday.

Charlie Mulqueen

Ulster are one point behind Connacht with one game in hand on The Westerners as bottom club The Borders travel to Ravenhill on for Friday.

THERE they stood, arrayed in a defensive line as the crowd wended its way towards Lansdowne Road.

GORDON D’ARCY is unlikely to play in the potential RBS Six Nations title decider against Wales, according to Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan.

RONAN O’GARA is 80 minutes and nine points away from breaking Ireland’s all-time scoring record.

Ireland may be closing in on a Grand Slam decider against Wales but winger Denis Hickie insists his side have not looked beyond tomorrow’s Dublin showdown with France.

Ireland have fielded a different midfield for each of their 2005 RBS 6 Nations matches, but centre Kevin Maggs insists his side now have the resources to overcome such disruptions.

Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll is an admirer of Wales’ attacking approach but warns their RBS 6 Nations title challenge could be dealt a blow at Murrayfield.

HE may not possess the elan of Gordon D’Arcy, but Irish captain Brian O’Driscoll believes the experience of Kevin Maggs will be just as useful come lunchtime at Lansdowne Road on Saturday.

TIME was when the loss of Gordon D’Arcy and Shane Horgan would precipitate rugby’s version of a national emergency. No more.

Kevin Maggs has been named in the Ireland side to face France in this weekend’s crucial game against France at Lansdowne Road.

Newport Gwent Dragons 13 Ulster 11

ULSTER’S international players Kevin Maggs, David Humphreys and Tommy Bowe will face the Dragons at Newport when the Celtic League gets back to business tomorrow night.

Fresh from international duty, Kevin Maggs will line out for Ulster against Gwent Dragons in the Celtic League at Rodney Parade on Friday.

ULSTER’S international centre Kevin Maggs will face the Dragons when the Celtic League resumes on Friday night.

NOTHING is left to chance in the modern professional era.

Eddie O’Sullivan is fearing a penalty backlash if Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations meeting with Scotland falls foul of the new International Rugby Board breakdown laws tomorrow.

Charlie Mulqueen, Edinburgh

BRIAN O'DRISCOLL and Gordon D'Arcy have a better than 50-50 chance of recovering from their respective hamstring injuries in time to take their places in the Irish midfield against Scotland at Murrayfield on Saturday.

ON this occasion, no news is not necessarily good news. The extent of Brian O’Driscoll and Gordon D’Arcy’s hamstring injuries will not be made public until today’s team announcement for Saturday’s trip to Scotland, but the indications are not positive.

Neath-Sw’sea Ospreys v Ulster teams

Cardiff 16 Ulster 12

A FAT feline who was so large he could not even fit through his cat flap was yesterday named joint winner of Pet Slimmer of the Year.

Leinster: Contepomi, Horgan, D’Arcy, Quinlan, Lewis, Holwell, O’Meara, Corrigan, D. Blaney, Nebbett, Gissing, Cullen, McCullen, Ronan, Costello. Replacements: E. Byrne, S. Byrne, O’Kelly, Miller, O’Riordan, O’Driscoll, D. Hickie.

SQUAD rotation is the name of the game where the Munster team to face Connacht in the Celtic League at the Galway Sportsground on Monday (kick-off 2pm) is concerned.

Stade Francais: Dominici, Bergamasco, Glas, Liebenberg, Poulain, Skrela, Filol, Roncero, Blin, Lemoine, Brouzet, James, Jechoux, Rabadan, Sowerby.

IT seems like only yesterday that Scott Young burst onto the Ulster scene as the bright young thing going places.

Gloucester: Goodridge, Garvey, Fanolua, Paul, Simpson-Daniel, McRae, Gomarsall, Bezuidenhout, Fortey, Vickery, Eustace, Brown, Buxton, Hazell, Forrester.

Heineken Cup Pool 6

Celtic League teams:

Ulster 24 Neath-Swansea 37

Connacht 13 Ulster 19