Greig Laidlaw's last-gasp penalty ensured Scotland avoided a final-day slip-up.

Arsenal survived a major scare to secure their spot in the last 16 of the Europa League despite suffering an embarrassing 2-1 home defeat to Ostersund.

Scotland 32 France 26: A relieved Greig Laidlaw has demanded improvements from Scotland despite seeing them come from behind to see off France in the NatWest 6 Nations.

Arsenal 4 - Crystal Palace 1: An emphatic first win of the New Year does not definitively prove there is a bright future for Arsenal without Alexis Sanchez but manager Arsene Wenger confirmed his players had been destabilised by the uncertainty over the Chilean’s transfer to Manchester United.

Nottingham Forest 4 Arsenal 2: Arsene Wenger admitted he was hurting after Arsenal surrendered their grip on the FA Cup with defeat to Nottingham Forest.

West Ham 0 - Arsenal 0: Arsenal missed an excellent chance to get back into the Premier League top four as they made it three games without a win for the first time since last April.

Ireland flew into Edinburgh last night with what head coach Joe Schmidt described as a “quiet confidence” that the players he will send into the RBS 6 Nations fray at Murrayfield tomorrow can ignore the hype surrounding Scotland and continue their winning ways.

Arsenal 0 Southampton 2: Arsene Wenger’s EFL Cup gamble backfired in spectacular fashion last night as he made 10 changes to an Arsenal side that was comfortably beaten by Southampton, who made it through to the League Cup semi-finals for the first time since 1987.

Scotland 9 England 15: Eddie Jones has urged England to build momentum behind their RBS 6 Nations quest by giving Italy a “good hiding” in Rome.

STAT OF THE DAY

Champions Cup round up: Guy Noves’ Toulouse handed Leinster a home Champions Cup quarter-final after blowing the chance to top Pool 4 by squandering a 20-9 lead yesterday.

Arsenal 2 Hull City 0

AUTUMN INTERNATIONAL:

Glasgow Warriors became the first Scottish team to win away at Munster in six years as they took the scalp of the Heineken Cup semi-finalists with a 22-5 victory at Thomond Park today.

Gordon D’Arcy’s stomach bug is the “sole” reason for in-form Luke Marshall starting Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations opener against Scotland, according to head coach Joe Schmidt.

Scotland head coach Scott Johnson has made four changes to his side for Sunday’s opening RBS 6 Nations match with Ireland.

Melbourne Rebels 0 British & Irish Lions 35

Melbourne Rebels 0 British and Irish Lions 35

It’s close now.

It’s close now. Once the Test 15s were announced, the Lions 23 retreats into its own bubble and prepares for a searching gut check, one of the most forensic of their rugby lives.

Munster wing Simon Zebo will step out for the first time as a British & Irish Lion today having adopted Warren Gatland’s advice to play with a nothing-to-lose attitude with a week to go before the first Test against Australia.

Leinster 17 Glasgow 15

Connacht 3 Glasgow Warriors 20

Head coach Warren Gatland has named nine Irish players in the British and Irish Lions squad for this summer’s tour of Hong Kong and Australia.

RABODIRECT PRO12: Scarlets 29 Glasgow 6

Glasgow 51 Munster 24

Scotland 18 Wales 28

Scotland 34 Italy 10

England 38 Scotland 18

England 38 Scotland 18

Glasgow 23 Edinburgh 14

Glasgow 6 Castres 9

Dan Carter kicked 14 points but it was not enough for Canterbury as the defending champions went down 22-19 to North Harbour in their opening Air New Zealand Cup match.

New Zealand 65 Ireland 10