Leinster's bid to claim top seeding for the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup was buttressed by an ultimately convincing win over Lyon in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

With the clock ticking and Munster trailing 13-6, the home side won a crucial penalty inside the Leinster 22 after a sustained period of pressure and kicked for the corner.

Seven tries last week, another seven tonight.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

Leinster were relieved to leave Lyon with their winning record intact in the European Champions Cup after a nervous end to their win in Stade Matmut de Gerland.

Keith Earls will make his first Munster appearance of the season in tomorrow's Champions Cup opener against the Ospreys.

Darkhorses Ballaghderreen upset the odds yesterday to book their place in a first Mayo SFC final since 2012 when they beat Castlebar Mitchels at MacHale Park.

Leinster are calling this block of Guinness PRO14 games ‘Own the Jersey’ – and Caelan Doris intends to do so with the No 8 shirt.

Rowing Ireland’s representation at the Tokyo Olympics swelled again yesterday with Sanita Puspure, Philip Doyle and Ronan Byrne qualifying for the 2020 Games.

England have beaten Ireland 57-15 in their World Cup warm-up Test at Twickenham.

The Ireland team to play England on Saturday has been announced and Ross Byrne is set to win his third cap.

Leinster’s bid for a record fifth European crown came up short at St James’ Park on Saturday as Saracens reclaimed the Heineken Champions Cup for their third title in four seasons.

PRO 14 Scoreboard here with this one Leo Cullen said Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final will be a litmus test for him and his coaching team’s player management system.

Sean O’Brien’s form and fitness have both given cause for concern this season, but the Leinster back row remains confident that he still has plenty to offer as his last days with province and country approach.

Leo Cullen saw this coming.

No Jonathan Sexton, Rob Kearney on the bench and Jack McGrath given the weekend off.

Munster fans may watch tonight’s PRO14 clash between Edinburgh and Leinster with more intensity than supporters of the visiting side at Murrayfield.

Mattie Kenny's Dubin side have booked themselves a Division One league semi-final spot with a richly-deserved victory over Tipperary in Thurles this evening.

Edinburgh gave themselves a confidence boost ahead of their crucial European Cup quarter-final match against Munster next Saturday at BT Murrayfield with a forward orientated bonus point win over Leinster last night.

If the Cheetahs thought they might get an easy run out against Leinster during the Six Nations, the South Africans were sadly mistaken.

Leinster have brought the curtain down on the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages with the easiest of victories away to Wasps on Sunday afternoon that confirms for them an all-Irish home quarter-final against Ulster at the end of March.

Simon Lewis Dragons coach Bernard Jackman is under no illusions about the size of the task his side face when they welcome Guinness PRO14 champions Leinster to Rodney Parade this evening.

Leinster 30 Munster 22

Tonight will tell Stuart Lancaster a lot.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

Leinster 41 Zebre 6: Leo Cullen expects to his Leinster side to be a tougher proposition next weekend – despite hammering Zebre 41-6.

OSPREYS 32 LEINSTER 18: Leinster limped back into Dublin late on Saturday night having fluffed their lines in their dress-rehearsal for the Champions Cup quarter-final with Saracens and licking their wounds after a mauling by the Ospreys.

If Leinster could be forgiven for straining one eye forward to next week’s appointment with Saracens, then their hosts today will bring a one-track mind to proceedings as they seek to rescue their season.

A game badly compromised by the absence of almost two dozen Six Nations stars was rescued by another star turn from Leinster’s James Lowe who continued to entertain long after the final whistle on Saturday afternoon.

Today seemed to be tailor-made for Joey Carbery.

Leinster 38 Ulster 7: The numbers look good for Leinster, regardless of how you add them up.

Leinster 22 Exeter Chiefs 17: There are any number of arbitrary ways to measure a team’s progress, but it seemed the obvious thing to think back to Leinster’s semi-final loss to Clermont Auvergne last April as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat on Saturday evening.

Leinster overcame the reigning English champions and league leaders for the second time in six days this evening.

Garry Ringrose’s first start of the season and a debut for Kiwi flyer James Lowe give an exciting edge to the Leinster backline for the Guinness PRO14 trip to Treviso’s Benetton Rugby (3:30pm Irish time).

Leinster Head Coach Leo Cullen has handed a first start to Josh Murphy in tonight’s Guinness PRO14 clash with the Dragons at the RDS Arena (7.35pm).

There was some degree of befuddlement in UCD earlier this week when Ross Byrne and Ross Molony found themselves being quizzed on the possibility of featuring in a Rugby World Cup in Ireland in 2023.

It was not as if Leinster put Ulster to the sword in a lively, if disjointed Guinness PRO14 derby at the weekend, they simply sliced and diced them!

History was made in today’s Mayo SFC Final as Castlebar Mitchels retained their title and claimed the Moclair Cup for the third season in a row.

Munster boss Rassie Erasmus admitted his side only had themselves to blame after poor discipline allowed man of the match Johnny Sexton to secure derby victory for Leinster at Aviva Stadium today.

LEINSTER 21 - EDINBURGH 13: A late shot of whiskey helped Leinster to a narrow win over Edinburgh with Jamison Gibson-Park’s try coming as last orders were being called at the RDS last night.

Johnny Sexton will skipper Leinster tonight as four of the province’s British & Irish Lions return to action for the first time this season. 

Cheetahs 38 Leinster 19: So much for the failed experiment, the useless additions, the pointless expansion.

Robbie Henshaw is only a week away from a return to competitive rugby with Leinster but the Irish international is allowing himself a sneaky peek at a possible reunion with Bundee Aki come November.