Rory Best admits he was tempted by a potential move to Bristol – but put family first.

Connacht forward Eoghan Masterson, after finally making his Champions Cup debut last weekend, is determined to create more history in France tomorrow when they take on Toulouse.

It would be understandable if Connacht’s Sean O’Brien was feeling sorry for himself this week as he underwent surgery for a shoulder injury suffered within minutes of coming on last weekend against Leinster in his first game in almost a year.

Connacht coach Andy Friend is hopeful of Bundee Aki committing his future at the Sportsground as he continues to build his squad.

It was Samoa who provided the opposition for Joe Schmidt’s introduction to Test rugby as Ireland’s head coach, way back when in November 2013.

The sound of song swept through the corridors of the Hakatana mori Stadium as the Samoan players trickled back into their dressing-room after the captain’s run yesterday morning here in Fukuoka.

Rob Kearney has agreed a “nine-month extension” to his IRFU contract and will play with Leinster next season.

There has been a surge in stories lately about who’s going to end up where in 2020 and not all of it has been about your columnist.

Jack Carty knows that being voted on to the four-man shortlist for the Zurich Players’ Player of the Year does not mean he will automatically receive a ticket to Japan later this year.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland has revealed he was “gutted” when he lost out on the Connacht job to Pat Lam in 2013.

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.

As key stakeholders in rugby convene in Dublin tomorrow about a ‘world’ league that seems more concerned with concentrating and increasing the wealth for its bluebloods than spreading the word to the unconverted and the cash to the marginalised, it has probably escaped rather than focused their minds that the deciding game in Europe’s biggest international competition is once again between one nation with a population of just 6.6 million and another with just 3.1 million.

Connacht coach Andy Friend says they must park their European Challenge Cup quarter-final qualification and the call-up of half-a-dozen of his squad for Six Nations duty and concentrate on a crunch PRO14 clash in Cardiff on Saturday.

Bundee Aki says he can see a lot of similarities between this season and Connacht’s glorious march to silverware in 2016 as he prepares for his second Six Nations campaign.

Beating Leinster may have been one hell of a way to end 2018 but Munster have to start the new year with equally pressing obstacles to clear, beginning tonight against Connacht.

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

Connacht’s decline after winning the PRO 12 title in 2016 started immediately in the first game of the defence of the crown when they fell to a record 41-5 loss to Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground.

Munster centre Rory Scannell admits pre-season has been “tough” ahead his side’s PRO14 opener against South African side Cheetahs tomorrow.

Andy Friend is hoping his first pre-season as Connacht head coach has brought the clarity to his players he feels is the key to a successful PRO14 campaign.

Connacht lock Ultan Dillane says that his primary task is performing for the province rather than dwelling on trying to get back into the Irish squad.

If the words of praise from Rugby Australia which greeted Andy Friend’s departure as their men’s sevens head coach ring true during his next venture as Connacht boss, then the Westerners really will have made a serious appointment.

It’s fair to say that the selection of Kieran Keane over a year ago as successor to Pat Lam was greeted with a level of shock in the west that has only now been matched by his dismissal two days after leading Connacht to a record win over Leinster.

Connacht head coach Kieran Keane is set to depart the province after only one season in charge, according to a report.

Peter Bracken, the former Munster, Connacht and Wasps prop, tells a great story about one of his first encounters playing alongside John Muldoon for Galwegians.

“I could see he had the makings of an excellent coach.”

Connacht loosehead prop Denis Buckley has likened the end of this campaign to a fallow period during Pat Lam’s tenure and is confident the province can bounce back.

Connacht coach Kieran Keane is happy with his side’s progression in his first season in charge, but admits they need to beat Gloucester on Saturday to have any hope of Champions Cup rugby next season.

It may have cost him dearly, but Robbie Henshaw has no regrets over the try he scored against Italy last month even if it reduced him to a watching brief for the next five weeks as Ireland completed the Grand Slam.

Whatever the demands in Munster for a return to winning ways after a chastening home defeat to Leinster, it is up in Ulster where the need for atonement is felt much deeper ahead of this evening’s sold-out PRO14 derby clash in Belfast, writes Simon Lewis

Their PRO14 form is dodgy to say the least, but Connacht’s pedigree in the European Challenge Cup is obvious and on Saturday night they took a big step not only towards securing a quarter-final spot, but ensuring that they will enjoy home advantage in the last eight.

Connacht forwards coach Jimmy Duffy says new Irish international Bundee Aki is ready to return to action on the Challenge Cup trail against Brive this weekend.

Connacht prop Denis Buckley knows the westerners will need a massive improvement to avoid a second defeat in a row away to Zebre in Parma tomorrow.

What modern rugby takes away with one hand it gives back with another.

Connacht 15 Worcester Warriors 8: You suspect the more Kieran Keane settles into life in Galway the more he appreciates exactly what his predecessor Pat Lam achieved, not just with limited resources but the manner in which he got them to play in the difficult climatic conditions.

Of all the difficulties about settling into his new life in Galway, new Connacht coach Kieran Keane hardly envisaged he would get a ribbing about hurling, but his disclosure yesterday that he is of Waterford blood should ensure he will hear plenty about the All-Ireland final in the coming weeks.

Ulster have refused to confirm, or deny, that they are poised to sign the talented Wallaby fly-half Christian Leali’ifano on a short-term contract.

From a Munster Schools Senior Cup winning back row to a Waikato Premier A front row, Jack Dineen admits his life in rugby has taken the road less travelled.

Derbies are the order of the day across the country this weekend, and those who choose to make the trip to Wexford, Cavan or Galway will also get to observe at least one All-Ireland title contender in action.

Security will be tight in the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey tomorrow night for the clash between the USA and Ireland but AJ MacGinty is no stranger to being escorted in and out of this fixture.

Robbie Henshaw was going up against childhood hero Sonny Bill Williams when he made his British and Irish Lions debut against the Blues at Eden Park this morning and he was expecting a surreal experience.