Leinster 31 Ospreys 19: Watching Leinster sure ain’t dull this season.

Leinster will hope that a seasonal debut for Jonathan Sexton can inspire a more consistent 80-minute performance tonight as they welcome Guinness PRO12 table-toppers Ospreys to the RDS.

Only once before have Connacht lost their opening two league matches at the Sportsground but Pat Lam appreciates they must show significant improvement to prevent that happening again when Ospreys come to Galway this evening (7.35pm).

Wales prop Tomas Francis has received an eight-week ban for making contact with the “eye or eye area” of England forward Dan Cole in last Saturday’s Six Nations game at Twickenham.

Jonathan Sexton won his fly-half battle with Dan Biggar to help send Leinster to the top of the Guinness Pro12 table with victory over the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium.

Previous World Cups, in soccer and in rugby, have demonstrated the dangers of bigging up teams during the pool stages, but Michael Cheika and the Wallabies have certainly earned the praise.

Pool D: Wales v Fiji

Three of Welsh rugby’s biggest names — James Hook, Mike Phillips and Richard Hibbard — face uncertain international futures after seeing their World Cup hopes extinguished.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland has named nine uncapped players in a 47-man training squad for the Rugby World Cup.

GUINNESS PRO12

In a big day for Irish teams in the Guinness Pro12, Connacht’s needs are probably greater than the rest.

World Rugby boss Brett Gosper has claimed his tweet was "over-interpreted" into partisanship when posting that hosts England failing to reach the World Cup quarter-finals would be "not the words we want to hear".

Wales 23 Ireland 16: Ireland’s Grand Slam ambitions have been ended and their hopes of retaining the Six Nations title severely dented by a seven-point defeat to Wales at Cardiff’s Millennium Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

France 13 Wales 20

Warren Gatland has plunged his long-term future as Wales head coach into doubt after admitting Roger Lewis’s departure as Welsh Rugby Union chief later this year "probably does" have a bearing on his own long-term future.

France coach Philippe Saint-Andre is relishing Saturday’s trial by fire at the Aviva as he aims to keep a special record intact.

Wales boss Warren Gatland has sprung the first surprise of this season’s RBS 6 Nations Championship – by naming his team to face England 48 hours early.

Warren Gatland revealed a glowing recommendation from one of world rugby’s outstanding coaches played its part in New Zealand-born Gareth Anscombe making an unlikely journey from Super Rugby to potential Wales Test star.

If there is one person Ulster have missed more than any other during an injury-plagued 2014, it has been their cultured scrum-half Ruan Pienaar.

England head coach Stuart Lancaster has backed Owen Farrell to make an impact from the bench against Australia at Twickenham tomorrow after dropping him from his starting XV for the first time since June 2012.

Munster 14 Ospreys 19

The new rugby season could hardly have begun in a more contrasting fashion for Anthony Foley and Steve Tandy, the respective head coaches of Munster and Ospreys who renew their rivalry in the Guinness Pro 12 at Thomond Park this evening, kick-off 6.30pm.

Ospreys 45 Connacht 20

Munster face a second top-of-the-table clash in as many weeks tonight when they defend their RaboDirect Pro12 lead against second-placed Ospreys at Thomond Park (7:15pm).

It does not get any easier for Connacht as the Ospreys, one of only two unbeaten teams this season, are the visitors to the Galway Sportsground for this evening’s Pro 12 fixture.

Leinster 29 Ospreys 29

RABODIRECT PRO12

Munster head coach Rob Penney will discover whether the blow torch treatment he dispensed to his squad this week had the desired effect this evening.

Flanker John Muldoon (pictured) is thrilled to be finally starting his first match tonight for Connacht since October.

There hasn’t been much talk about it recently, but Munster are still embarrassed about the capitulation to the Ospreys in last season’s RaboDirect semi-final.

Leinster were left to rue a golden opportunity for double glory for the second year in-a-row when they lost the RaboDirect Pro12 plot in sight of the victory podium at the RDS yesterday.

Joe Schmidt: Leinster coach will be in Auckland to watch Ireland take on the All Blacks but only because he’ll be there on a family holiday.

Tony McGahan is banking on youthful enthusiasm to help carry defending champions Munster through their RaboDirect Pro12 semi-final at Ospreys in Swansea tonight (7.35pm).

Ulster laboured to an unconvincing victory over the Ospreys at Ravenhill last night to move back to sixth place in the RaboDirect Pro 12 League.

FLY-HALF Ian Humphreys has been given a further 24 hours to prove his fitness by Ulster ahead of tomorrow’s RaboDirect Pro12 League clash against the Ospreys at the Liberty Stadium (4.30pm).

WHEN sights were set on the highest peak, the substitute Magners League title might be construed as scant consolation after relinquishing a European crown; except somebody forgot to tell the loyal fans of Munster, close to 20,000 of them at Thomond Park last night.

MUNSTER, who roll out the big guns at Thomond Park tonight, will be led by Paul O’Connell as the champions wrap-up their Magners League programme against the Ospreys (7.45pm).

THE Magners League came down to a two-horse race as defending champions Leinster overtook Munster with a gutsy second-half display against the Ospreys.