Saracens have named an almost totally different side to face Munster at Allianz Park tomorrow, while the Reds make one change from their 10-3 home win.

Captain Peter O’Mahony claimed a crucial lone try as Munster overcame Saracens 10-3 in a scrappy Heineken Champions Cup contest at a weather-beaten Thomond Park.

Ask any Munster supporter their thoughts on the Saracens personnel coming to Thomond Park this evening and they will take the matchday squad named by Mark McCall yesterday in a heartbeat. Ask the Munster coaching group the same question and they will not be taking anything for granted.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

It is not just the levels of professionalism in the Saracens squad coming to Thomond Park that impress Peter O’Mahony but the quality of the individuals that give the Munster skipper pause for thought

Sean O’Brien was among a handful of former Leinster stars who returned to the team HQ this week to set the scene for the province’s ‘drive for five’ ahead of today’s Heineken Champions Cup opener against Benetton.

There was something cathartic about the way Japan hosted the Rugby World Cup. It made you feel good about the sport. The interaction of fans from all over the world, without rancour or fear, the manner with which visitors to the country were welcomed and embraced, the dignity around the tragic fallout from Typhoon Hagibis.

English and European champions Saracens have been docked 35 points and fined more than £5m, pending appeal, over breaches of salary cap rules.

Move over Dean Richards, Harlequins, and ‘Bloodgate’, there is an even bigger bad news story to overtake you in the annals of English club rugby history, writes Rob Cole.

Kyle Sinckler admitted “sport is cruel” after he was knocked out in the opening moments of England’s 32-12 World Cup final defeat by South Africa.

The panel who drew up the shortlist were all-time greats Brian O’Driscoll, Richie McCaw, John Smit, and George Gregan.

The four tries were selected by a panel of former players, including former Try of the Year winners Jamie Heaslip and Bryan Habana.

This is a contest fit for the final itself with the winner fancied to go all the way.

Joe Schmidt makes his final trip to the Aviva Stadium this afternoon as he takes charge of Ireland on home soil for the 34th and last time.

It is a well-balanced Ireland squad, assembled by Joe Schmidt in forensic detail, with the intention of negotiating a successful seven-week World Cup campaign.

In the same way that we shouldn’t have been too crestfallen by the heavy defeat in Twickenham, Ireland’s confidence-boosting win against Wales in Cardiff last weekend also needs to be put into context.

England have beaten Ireland 57-15 in their World Cup warm-up Test at Twickenham.

Fly-half Byrne gets the chance of a lifetime in the absence of both Johnny Sexton and Joey Carbery with a first Ireland start in just his third Test.

There will be a strange dynamic surrounding Saturday’s Guinness PRO14 semi-final between Leinster and Munster at the RDS. It’s been a difficult ten days for both Irish provinces but for different reasons.

An absorbing Heineken Cup final that lived up to its billing in every way. The Leinster players must have woken up yesterday wondering what hit them.

Nothing has typified the indomitable will of both Leinster and Ireland in recent years so much as their habit of sticking the knife into opponents in the moments and minutes approaching half-time.

Donal Lenihan on the players and performances that could shade today’s meeting of the European superpowers in Newcastle.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen named an unchanged starting line-up from the semi-final win over Toulouse for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final showdown with Saracens but insisted it was a far from straightforward selection process.

A fifth win for Leinster tomorrow will make them the most successful side in the history of the competition.

Stuart Lancaster has no doubt but that Leinster will shed their recent inconsistencies and producing a monster performance against Saracens in a heavyweight European decider this Saturday.

Three Leinster players are in the running for the European player of the year award.

Leo Cullen is not convinced that Ireland’s Six Nations defeat to England last February will have any effect on next month’s Champions Cup final.

Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, handed Munster a crumb of comfort in the aftermath of his team’s 32-16 Champions Cup semi-final win in Coventry.

Saracens continued their recent dominance of Munster as they subjected the Irish province to another mauling and consigned the Reds to a third straight European semi-final defeat.

Owen Farrell might have been a leading candidate for a few sleepless nights recently but he is determined not to lose out on his eight hours of shut-eye over the challenge facing Saracens this afternoon

Donal Lenihan runs the rule over the Heineken Cup semi-finalists

Milestones and long-awaited comebacks feature aplenty in the Saracens team picked by Mark McCall, who makes 10 changes from the side which lost at Bristol Bears last week.

This time 12 months ago, Munster and Leinster felt bulletproof as they approached their respective Champions Cup semi-final deciders against Racing 92 and Scarlets, with both squads densely fortified with players from Ireland’s all-conquering Grand Slam team.

Saracens would have hoped for a quieter week than the one just gone but Maro Itoje, for one, is aiming to block out the outside noise against old foes Munster in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday in Coventry.

Peter Jackson gets over the gain line, behind the headline...

Keith Earls took his turn in front of the media and made two declarations — one a whole lot more difficult than the other, but both of huge benefit to the Ireland cause ahead of this Saturday’s Murrayfield showdown with Scotland.

Looking back at Ireland's defeat, what are the lessons to be learned?

Eddie Jones insists England have the resources to cover for the loss of Maro Itoje as a cloud hangs over the Saracens lock’s participation in the rest of the Guinness Six Nations.

When Ireland last fielded their front line troops at the Aviva Stadium, against New Zealand in November, the rapturous response from players and fans alike at the final whistle could not have been more exuberant. Unbridled joy. Kings of the world.

Elliot Daly has held off the challenge of Mike Brown at full-back for England's Guinness Six Nations clash with Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.

The scrum, the lineout, and the gainline are areas Ireland must dominate to beat England this Saturday, but where are England most vulnerable? The space between Owen Farrell’s ears.

Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign against England in Dublin on February 2.

They led 24-3 early on in a thrilling Test.

The agent, who represents England star Maro Itoje, will be unable to work in the sport until February 2020.