Leo Cullen is the type of special character who can make light of his limited coaching experience and succeed in the daunting task of guiding Leinster back to the summit of the Pro12 and European games, according to Jonathan Sexton.

Another of the early front runners for the Leinster job has withdrawn himself from the race with Jono Gibbes committing himself to Clermont Auvergne until 2018.

Marco Caputo has resigned as Leinster’s scrum coach, following Matt O’Connor’s departure from the province.

The grim reality of Ireland’s Six Nations games being broadcast on subscription television was not ruled out yesterday as the landscape of the professional game in Europe continues to tilt in favour of England and France.

Leinster’s RDS Arena has secured the green light for a €20m redevelopment.

Devin Toner has signed a new contract with the IRFU and Leinster that will keep him at the province until at least June 2017.

The IRFU have announced that veteran prop Mike Ross has signed a new one-year deal to keep him at Leinster until at least June 2016.

Rob Kearney has signed a new three-year contract with the IRFU which will see him remain at Leinster until at least June 2018.

Rob Kearney believes the IRFU have learned their lesson in relation to player contracts with confirmation that Johnny Sexton has been offered a deal to return to Leinster next season.

Leinster Rugby remain tight lipped on a possible return to former playmaker Jonathan Sexton, but their CEO Mick Dawson has confirmed that they have talked to him.

Leinster Rugby have said the door will always be open to Jonathan Sexton if he wanted to return to the province.

Leinster will play at a redeveloped and a rebranded RDS Arena after the announcement yesterday that naming rights will be likely sought for a new 25,000- capacity stadium to be unveiled in the late summer of 2017.

RDS and Leinster Rugby have announced plans to increase capacity of arena.

It may be the Rugby Champions Cup now, but the inaugural pool draw for the new competition will have elicited reactions that are all too familiar from the days when the tournament was known as the Heineken Cup.

Leinster CEO Mick Dawson described the retention yesterday of Jamie Heaslip and that of Sean O’Brien last week as a “huge statement” in the battle to keep the best Irish players at home with the provinces.

IN financing the contract that keeps Sean O’Brien at Leinster and with Ireland for at least two more years, the IRFU has cleverly looked beyond the euro signs and the zeros.

Anecdotal evidence that the IRFU has shown greater urgency in tying its top players up to new contracts was given a concrete footing yesterday with the confirmation that an offer has already been made to Jamie Heaslip.

Jono Gibbes spoke yesterday about his ambitions to become a head coach one day — possibly at Leinster — but not before he furthers his education as an assistant to Matt O’Connor, who will replace Joe Schmidt as top dog in the province this summer.

Joe Schmidt’s elevation to the post of Ireland head coach was lost a little in the inevitable hype that surrounds the announcement of a Lions squad last week.

Leinster chief executive Mick Dawson admitted it was important to get Matt O’Connor in situ as soon as possible as the Australian was revealed as the province’s new coach yesterday.

Matt O'Connor has been appointed Leinster head coach on a three-year deal and will link up with the team on July 1.

Former Ireland international and Leinster player Girvan Dempsey has been appointed to the role of Academy Manager for Leinster.

Over 40,000 tickets have been sold for Leinster’s Heineken Cup clash with Clermont Auvergne at the Aviva Stadium on Dec 15.

Declan Kidney didn’t have to announce his team yesterday to signal Ireland’s changing of the guard.

Jamie Heaslip admitted he was “humbled” at being asked to lead Ireland for the first time as succession planning for the captaincy began.

Luke Fitzgerald is considering his future in Irish rugby after failing to nail down an IRFU national contract yesterday.

Heineken Cup champions Leinster will earn another big pay day when they play French rivals Clermont Auvergne at the Aviva Stadium.

LEINSTER and Munster’s top brass have issued a ‘thanks, but no thanks’ response to the possibility of taking their Heineken Cup home matches overseas in the immediate future.

LEINSTER chief executive Mick Dawson is hopeful Rob Kearney will follow the examples set by Brian O’Driscoll, Jamie Heaslip and Jonathan Sexton and pen a new deal with Leinster and Ireland in the near future.

LEINSTER have secured the services of Ireland hooker Sean Cronin for the next two seasons.

Leinster Rugby have announced today that the forthcoming Heineken Cup quarter-final game with Leicester, set for the weekend of 8-10 April, will be played at the Aviva Stadium.

ULSTER back Andrew Trimble has joined the list of players committing his future to Irish rugby after signing a new Ireland international contract that will keep him at Ravenhill until the end of the 2012-13 season.

THE Leinster branch of the IRFU has told clubs that they will be recompensed for any losses incurred as a result of the ticketing fiasco surrounding the Autumn Guinness Series.

TONY BUCKLEY and Rob Kearney are the chief injury worries for Ireland ahead of Saturday’s autumn international with Samoa at the Aviva Stadium.

Leinster forwards John Fogarty and Ronan McCormack have both announced their retirements from professional rugby, it was confirmed today.

Leinster Rugby have announced that 47,500 tickets have been sold for the Magner's League tie against Munster at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, October 2 (KO: 7.30pm).

Leinster prop Stan Wright is likely to be out of action for the entire season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.

LEINSTER chief executive Mick Dawson is confident the province can buck the trend of falling attendances at sporting events when Joe Schmidt’s side take to the Aviva Stadium.

Leinster are to play two matches in the Aviva Stadium this year, it was announced today.

NEW Leinster coach Joe Schmidt won’t need reminding there is some truth in Mick Dawson’s description of next season’s Heineken Cup draw.

YOU MAY have noticed last week that Minister for Communications, Eamon Ryan, is thinking of designating Heineken Cup games as ‘free-to-air’ events, which means that Irish viewers would be able to watch same without going through Sky and having to pay.

SHANE HORGAN and Alan Gaffney led the tributes yesterday for Girvan Dempsey who is to retire from professional rugby at the end of the month.

LEINSTER RUGBY chief executive, Mick Dawson, has warned there will be catastrophic consequences for the game in Ireland if Minister for Communications Eamon Ryan’s plans to make the Heineken Cup a ‘free-to-air’ event succeed.