The Six Nations has a penchant for choreographing finales from the sublime to the faintly ridiculous, never more so than when a man called Elvis played the cruellest of tricks on Ireland.

A weekend that promised to be a financial bonanza for Irish rugby ended in disappointment at the Stade Felix Mayol yesterday with Leinster’s defeat by Toulon following on Ulster’s elimination by Saracens at Ravenhill on Saturday.

IT had to end some time, of course.

AS RUGBY weekends go, this one couldn’t have started much better from an Irish perspective.

Toulon 32 Munster 16

Toulon coach Phillipe Saint Andre has selected Jonny Wilkinson and Felipe Contepomi at fly half and inside centre respectively for Sunday’s Heineken Cup clash with Munster at the Stade Félix Mayol, kick-off 4pm.

PHILIPPE Saint-Andre believes his Toulon side are under no pressure going into this Sunday’s crucial Heineken Cup clash with Munster.

MUNSTER have lodged their appeal against the four week ERC ban handed to Paul O’Connell for his Heineken Cup sending off against the Ospreys at Thomond Park.

Toulon 38 London Irish 17

TOULON scrum half Pierre Mignoni admitted the French outfit were ‘too passive’ in their Thomond Park mauling by Munster in October but has warned they are a changed outfit after their sensational weekend defeat of London Irish.

London Irish 13 Toulon 19

WHERE has this Munster been hiding for the past two weeks?

DOUBTING the quality of the players lining out for Toulon in this afternoon’s Heineken Cup game against Munster at Thomond Park would serve no useful purpose.

TONY MCGAHAN made a conscious decision this week not to dwell on the opposition, instead focusing on getting Munster right for today’s must-win Heineken Cup clash against Toulon at Thomond Park (3.30pm).

Munster’s old foe Felipe Contepomi will start at fly-half for Toulon in the Heineken Cup match at Thomond Park on Saturday.

TOULON’S England international fly half Jonny Wilkinson has been included by coach Philippe Saint André in a group of 23 players to travel to Limerick for Saturday’s Heineken Cup showdown with Munster.

Ireland 23 Barbarians 29

Ireland 23 Barbarians 29

IF rugby matches were played on paper, few would give the Irish team much of a chance against the Barbarians in tonight’s game at Thomond Park.

Ireland internationals Alan Quinlan and Malcolm O’Kelly will face their countrymen as part of the Barbarians line-up for Friday’s non-cap international at Thomond Park in Limerick.

INCOMING Toulon head coach Philippe Saint André believes new recruit Timmy Ryan could be playing for Ireland within the next few years.

MUNSTER prop Timmy Ryan looks poised to follow Leinster’s Felipe Contepomi to French Top 14 club, Toulon this summer.

CLERMONT AUVERGNE saw their faint Heineken Cup hopes extinguished despite a comprehensive bonus point victory against Montauban in the all-French Pool One clash at Stade Marcel Michelin last night.

Clermont Auvergne 43 Montauban 10

THIS was the perfect example of a scoreline offering a distorted picture of a game of rugby.

Munster 23 Clermont Auvergne 13

Clermont-Auvergne have made eight changes to their side to take on Munster in the Heineken Cup clash at Thomond Park tomorrow.

FOR the second successive year, Munster have departed France’s Auvergne region with a bonus point they deserved, if only for the sheer grit and determination they displayed when under the fiercest pressure for much of the second half.

Clermont Auvergne 25 Munster 19>br>

Former Leinster openside Niall Ronan will make his Heineken Cup debut for Munster in the number seven jersey on the road at Clermont-Auvergne on Sunday.

THIS time last year Shaun Payne was a key member of the Munster team battling through the qualifying rounds of the Heineken Cup.

THEY’RE back and they’re gunning for revenge.

THE smiles may not have been evident on the Irish players as they trooped off the Stade de France pitch but they were far more prevalent among the Irish supporters who chose to travel to the French capital. While the players have every reason to feel disappointed, aspects of the performance will have countered some of the negativity that has surrounded the team in recent times.

MARC LIEVREMONT didn’t take long to usher in a new dawn in French rugby yesterday by naming six uncapped players in a much-changed squad for the Six Nations Championship opener against Scotland.

New France coach Marc Lievremont has made sweeping changes in his first squad selection ahead of the RBS 6 Nations Championship clash against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 3.

ON A DAY of huge hits and titanic forward battles, it was probably fitting that the man-of-the-match award went to a man who was permanently in the thick of things, Clermont hooker Mario Ledesma.

WHEN Munster fell 17 points behind a rampant Clermont Auvergne team with 25 minutes still to play at the splendid Parc des Sports Marcel Michelin yesterday, there was every reason to fear a defeat of embarrassing proportions.

Munster have secured a bonus point in a 26-19 loss to Clermont Auvergne that almost certainly sends the French side out of the 2007/8 Heineken Cup.

Wasps 25 Clermont Auvergne 24

THE good news is that John Hayes will be fit to line out for Munster against Clermont Auvergne in the Heineken Cup at Thomond Park on Sunday.

France are set to have a fully-fit squad available for their World Cup semi-final against England this weekend.

France 64 Georgia 7

FRANCE have made nine changes to their starting line-up to take on Georgia in their final World Cup Group D match at Marseille on Sunday.

IMAGINE for one moment that Ireland were drawn to open their Pool D campaign against France at Stade de France this evening.