ONE more injury or one more call-up to the Wales squad this week and Cardiff Blues would have found themselves travelling to Dublin for this evening’s RaboDirect Pro12 encounter without the services of a full starting 15.

WALES captain Sam Warburton will return to action when the Cardiff Blues launch their Heineken Cup campaign in Paris tonight.

ANOTHER frustrating night for Connacht.

MUNSTER maintained their winning start to the season and while they conceded their first try of the season, another superb defensive display was the foundation for victory at Cardiff City Stadium last night.

DANNY BARNES returns for Munster in tonight’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Cardiff Blues at Cardiff City Stadium, but the Reds’ hopes of forward dominance took a hit yesterday with news of illness and injury to key front rowers Marcus Horan and BJ Botha.

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt has admitted that the next fortnight will be crucial to his team’s hopes of reaching the Magners League play-offs.

LEO CULLEN will become only the fifth player in Leinster’s history to reach the 150 cap mark when he leads the side out for tonight’s Magners League clash away to third-placed Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Park Stadium (kick-off 6.30pm).

NORTHAMPTON maintained their perfect Heineken Cup Pool 1 record in a thriller at the Cardiff City Stadium after the Blues were hit by the second-half dismissal of Xavier Rush.

THERE was an element of satisfaction about the end result when a fitful performance but deserved victory at Thomond Park on Saturday night guaranteed Munster will stay top of the Magners League at least until St. Stephen’s Day.

CARDIFF BLUES boss Dai Young is expecting a stern test from Ulster in tomorrow’s Magners League clash at Cardiff City Stadium (3.45pm).

CARDIFF BLUES knocked Munster off their perch at the top of the Magners League table with a comfortable victory over Connacht.

CONNACHT coach Eric Elwood has slammed the “ridiculous” scheduling of their Magners League clash away to Cardiff Blues.

Former Munster prop Timmy Ryan has made the replacements bench on the Toulon squad to play Cardiff Blues in the Amlin Challenge Cup final in Marseilles tomorrow.

FRUSTRATED Ulster skipper Chris Henry is determined to lift his side following a flat performance last week when they lost to the Cardiff Blues.

LEINSTER’S young guns steered them back to the top of the Magners League table and now they have a four-point lead over champions Munster with a game in hand.

Ospreys 26 Cardiff Blues 0

OSPREYS coach Scott Johnson is keen for his side to get into a positive frame of mind ahead of a month that will shape their season.

CONNACHT hope for a swift reversal in fortune when they return to the Galway Sportsground to host Cardiff this evening.

British & Irish Lion centre Jamie Roberts will make his seasonal debut for Cardiff Blues against Connacht at The Sportsground on Friday.

THERE was a time when Munster was the last place a promising young back-row forward would have looked when it came to forging a career as a professional rugby player.

ENGLAND rugby coach Martin Johnson has denied rugby has a drug culture and claimed players are aware of the consequences if they take prohibited substances.

BARBARIANS captain Martin Corry, says Rocky Elsom’s game has undergone rapid transformation since moving to Leinster at the beginning of the season.

Heineken Cup winners Rocky Elsom and Gordon D'Arcy will start for the Barbarians against England in Twickenham on Saturday.

THE lowest point in Leinster’s season came in Castres before Christmas when they lost a game they ought to have won. Coincidence or not, they have won three games since they could just as easily have lost.

LEINSTER’S South African prop Ollie le Roux believes Toulouse will destroy Munster’s dreams of a second Heineken Cup title.

KEITH GLEESON could join a select band tonight by earning his 100th cap for Leinster in their Magners league tie away to the Cardiff Blues — but he will have to come off the bench to do it.

CARDIFF Arms Park has been a graveyard for Leinster’s Magners League ambitions this past two seasons and coach Michael Cheika accepts that they will be up against it again when they return to the Welsh capital this Friday.

New Zealand Maori 27 Ireland A 6