A week which started with a recall to the Irish squad is set to end in further celebration for Quinn Roux when he makes his 100th appearance for Connacht on Saturday against Munster.

"It’s good but it can be intimidating and if you’re not expecting it, it’s a very challenging place to go."

Connacht coach Andy Friend has told Jack Carty not to panic over his surprise omission from the Irish squad and he’s confident the 27-year old can play his way back on to the international stage.

There's no room for Rob Kearney, Seán Cronin, Jordi Murphy, Jack Carty, John Ryan or Kieran Marmion – with newly eligible Jamison Gibson-Park jumping ahead of the Connacht man at scrum-half.

With the Six Nations kicking off in less than two months, it is the first squad meet-up since the national team returned from Japan.

Connacht’s survival hopes in the Heineken Champions Cup may depend on a superb home record which has seen them lose just one of 14 games at the Sportsground in Europe in the past five years.

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.

Connacht's Heineken Champions Cup challenge hangs by the thinnest of threads after a convincing four-try defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm on Sunday afternoon.

Connacht’s stand-in captain Quinn Roux said that while few outside of their squad believed they would win at Stade Ernest-Wallon, the team were bitterly disappointed not to secure victory in Toulouse.

There are three changes to the team that defeated Ospreys.

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 has warned his side can’t afford to get into an “arm wrestle” against Montpellier in their return to the Heineken Champions Cup this weekend.

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

Ultan Dillane and Kieran Marmion remain as replacement options.

Fifteen minutes after hanging up, Allister Coetzee rings back, eager to share one last thought.

The long road starts here as the race to make Ireland’s World Cup squad for Japan this September ramped up, after Joe Schmidt named a 44-player training squad.

Irish lock Quinn Roux is a doubt for Connacht’s PRO14 quarter-final with Ulster on Saturday week.

A good lock is hard to find.

Sean Cronin doesn’t feel he was scapegoated for Ireland’s poor Six Nations display in Italy last month.

Michael Bradley spent most of his seven years at the Sportsground not just wondering if he would be in a job at the end of the season, but rather whether the Connacht team he was coaching would still be in existence.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said he is relieved they are still in control of their own destiny after escaping from Parma with a 6-5 win in a bruising encounter on Saturday evening.

Connacht’s play-off drive in the PRO14 has been handed a big boost with the return of out-half Jack Carty to training in time for this weekend’s clash with Zebre following an arm injury.

Bundee Aki has returned to the Connacht starting team for their European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Sale Sharks tomorrow night.

Towards the end of last season, Johnny McNicholl asked himself a rhetorical question: “Am I Welsh? It’s a tough question to answer. I don’t know.”

This week represents a step back in time for some of Ireland’s senior players.

Connacht host Benetton Rugby at the Sportsground this evening hoping for a victory to keep their PRO14 play-off ambitions on track.

An injury doubt over Iain Henderson could open the door for Munster lock Tadhg Beirne to make a surprise Guinness Six Nations debut on Saturday when Ireland play Wales in Cardiff.

There was no doubting the satisfaction Joe Schmidt took from the heights Ireland scaled against France last Sunday, and yet the Kiwi coach wasn’t slow in pointing out how the collective performance fell off a cliff towards the end.

Finally, the pieces are falling into place for Ireland, just as their Guinness Six Nations campaign draws to a close.

Even in their darkest days - and there has been far too many lately for a rugby nation like France — the one constant has been the power and efficiency of their set piece, writes Donal Lenihan.

Joe Schmidt has made seven changes to the Ireland team to face France in Sunday's Six Nations clash.

Cronin has been dropped from the 37-man squad just a week after his first Six Nations start in 68 international appearances.

The sight of Jonathan Sexton and Joey Carbery watching from the sidelines while their Ireland colleagues went full throttle with the U20s in Belfast yesterday prompted mixed emotions.

Ireland were offered every incentive in Rome to get their Six Nations title aspirations back on track as they watched Wales beat England from their hotel base on the eve of this game.

Quinn Roux stands 6’ 6” and tips the scales at close to 20 stone, and yet this is a guy who has something of a knack for hiding in plain sight.

Ireland boss Joe Schmidt is hopeful Tadhg Beirne could return to fitness in time to face Italy in Rome when the defending champions resume their Guinness Six Nations campaign in 13 days.

Quite what impact Saturday’s Murrayfield result has on the next time Ireland meet Scotland in September’s key opening World Cup pool game in Yokohama remains to be seen but, right now, Joe Schmidt has more immediate problems to address, writes Donal Lenihan.

Here's how both teams rated as Ireland defeated Scotland 22-13.

Ireland bounced back from their painful home defeat to England as they got their Guinness Six Nations title defence back on track with a much-needed victory at Murrayfield.

Losing may not be a habit for this Ireland team, and certainly not as far as James Ryan is concerned, but pinpointing the reasons for defeat and moving quickly to improve is as much a key to success as knowing how to string together victory after victory.

Keith Earls has been here before, bounding towards a new Six Nations campaign on the back of an uplifting November window and with the kudos of a Grand Slam title in the team’s kitbag from the year before.

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.

Connacht have only managed to do the double over an Irish province on one occasion, but victory at the Sportsground this evening (7.35pm) against Ulster would help soften the blow of not putting Leinster away last weekend.

Connacht have been boosted by the return of Bundee Aki to training ahead of Saturday’s inter-pro clash with Leinster at the RDS.