THE inactivity caused by the big freeze of recent weeks showed in Leinster’s lacklustre performance for much of this Heineken Cup clash against Brive on Saturday night before the champions upped gears to secure a bonus point victory.

JONATHAN SEXTON will return to the Leinster side for Saturday’s Heineken Cup clash with Brive and kickstart a fascinating battle for the No 10 jersey ahead of Ireland’s Six Nations Championship campaign.

JONATHAN SEXTON and Shane Jennings are hoping for a dramatic improvement in weather conditions to allow tomorrow night’s Magners League clash against Glasgow Warriors at the RDS (8pm) to go ahead.

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika is a straight-talking Aussie who would evidently lose it if he suspected even a scintilla of complacency in the camp ahead of Saturday’s final of the Heineken Cup at Murrayfield.

THERE is just one change on the Irish A team to meet Scotland from the team originally named to meet England Saxons in last week’s postponed tie.

LEINSTER coach Michael Cheika has a guilt complex about playing Shane Jennings at number six rather than open side flanker following the latter’s exclusion from Ireland’s Six Nations squad.

THE Leinster sports psychologists and chaplins will be kept busy this week.

IT DIDN’T say much for the quality of the game that Christian Warner, Leinster’s goal kicker, won the man of the match award at the RDS in Dublin last night.

KEITH GLEESON is named in the Leinster team to meet Connacht at the RDS tonight (7.30pm).

SHANE HORGAN will make history when he becomes the first player from a junior club, Boyne, to captain Leinster for tonight’s Magners League clash with Glasgow at Firhill.

Leinster coach Michael Cheika welcomes back skipper Brian O’Driscoll and Malcolm O’Kelly into the extended panel for the first time this season after their return from the Rugby World Cup ahead of the clash with Glasgow Warriors in Friday night’s Magners League clash at Firhill.

THE Leinster squad to face Edinburgh in the opening game of the Magners League season in the RDS on Saturday (5.30pm) has been named.

Michael Cheika has included new signings Juan Francisco Gomez, Chris Keane and Stephen Knoop in the Leinster squad to play Edinburgh in the opening game of the Magners League season in the RDS on Saturday.

DESPITE the inclement weather, a huge crowd turned out for day one of the Ballabuidhe Racing festival yesterday.

HEINEKEN CUP hero Andy Goode has revealed a secret of treble-chasing Leicester’s success – fighting in training.

FRANKIE SHEAHAN is delighted to be back in the front row at Musgrave Park tonight (7pm) as Munster take on Leicester Tigers in a pre-season friendly.

CARDIFF BLUES are to deny Munster fans the potential for a big Heineken Cup show of strength at the Millennium Stadium.

IRELAND A coach Michael Bradley has made six changes to the Ireland A team to take on England Saxons in the Churchill Cup Plate final tomorrow at the Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton, Canada.

IRISH coach Eddie O’Sullivan has opted for youthful promise in the Ireland A team to meet England in Gloucester on Friday night (7.45pm).

WITH Limoges a prohibitive 400km south of Paris, there won’t be too many Irish fans at tonight’s ‘A’ international between France and Ireland (6.30pm).

LEO CULLEN’S life with the Leicester Tigers isn’t much different from the one he left behind in Leinster.

Leinster 17 Munster 23

INTERNATIONAL trio Malcolm O’Kelly, Shane Horgan and Denis Hickie will be sprung from the bench if things go wrong for Leinster against Glasgow in the Celtic Cup quarter-final at Lansdowne Road tonight (7.30).

AS always, Declan Kidney had a phrase to deal with a given situation.

Ireland A 15 France A 9

IRISH coach Eddie O’Sullivan longs for the day when the A International Championship resumes.

DECLAN KIDNEY returns to the scene of some of his greatest triumphs when he brings his exciting Leinster side to Musgrave Park for Saturday’s crucial Celtic League tie against Munster (5.30).

BOURGOIN have responded as the ERC would have hoped to their mauling by Leinster last week by making 10 changes for tonight's return clash at the Stade Pierre Rajon.

Leinster 17 Munster 15

MUNSTER coach Alan Gaffney is indebted to Declan Kidney. When the coaches first met they got on like the proverbial house on fire.

MUNSTER will unveil latest signing Tom Bowman in tonight’s Celtic League clash with Connacht at Musgrave Park (8pm).

JOHN KELLY and Jason Holland are back in action for Munster against Connacht at Musgrave Park on Saturday night.

Leinster 16, Celtic Warriors 37

BRIAN O'MEARA has been excluded from the Leinster team for the Celtic League clash with the Celtic Warriors at Donnybrook this evening (7.30pm).

DECLAN Kidney is now considered "a primary target" to replace Dean Richards as director of rugby at Leicester.

MUNSTER'S Celtic League title is on the line at Musgrave Park this evening (7.30pm). Alan Gaffney's troops have to win to keep their chances of ultimate victory alive as the league moves into the second stage.

Leinster 22 Sale Sharks 23

GLOUCESTER hooker Chris Fortey will miss Saturday’s Heineken Cup Pool Five game against Munster at Kingsholm.

ULSTER apart, these are vital weeks for the Irish provinces in the Celtic League.

Leinster 21 Connacht 6

Leinster 35 Neath-Swansea Ospreys 21

NEATH-SWANSEA Ospreys don’t quite know what to expect when they take on Leinster at Donnybrook this evening in the Celtic Cup quarter-final.