Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus were both celebrating at full time when England and South Africa last contested a World Cup final, at the Stade de France 12 years ago.

Connacht’s focus for the remainder of the season will be trying to claim a knockout spot in the PRO14 and a place in next season’s Champions Cup but they will be disappointed to bow out of the Challenge Cup without firing a decent shot.

Sale Sharks 20 Connacht 10

It’s almost four years to the day since Connacht last lost a European pool game at home, and they need to maintain that impressive record against Sale Sharks this afternoon to claim top spot in Pool Three.

There are many examples that can be given to demonstrate just how talented a player Franco Mostert is.

Mike Haley has a debt of gratitude to Danny Cipriani for the mentoring he provided the full-back as a young professional in the Sale Sharks academy. Now on opposing teams, the Munster full-back knows just how dangerous he will be for Gloucester at Kingsholm tomorrow night, should the fly-half pass a fitness test today.

Connacht supporters won’t get to see Bordeaux-Begles’s world stars Semi Radradra, Brock James, Seta Tamanivalu, or Jean-Baptiste Serin today, as once again the Challenge Cup has failed to ignite French passions.

Beauden, Jordie, and Scott Barrett will become the first trio of brothers to start a Test together for the All Blacks when they line up in the series-opener against France at Auckland’s Eden Park on Saturday.

Brive are set to play in the second tier next season following relegation from the Top 14.

Taking and giving a five or 10-metre pass is a fundamental part of the game yet the skills required to deliver under pressure are often overlooked, writes Donal Lenihan.

Sale last night announced they will not be signing Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding.

Munster props James Cronin and Brian Scott, Connacht second-row Quinn Roux and Leinster’s Jordi Murphy make their first starts in the famous colours of the Barbarians who face Tonga at Thomond Park tonight (7.30pm).

Former Sale player Tom Arscott has received a written warning over the passing of inside information to his brother Luke before the Sharks’ Aviva Premiership match at Bristol.

Ten days since Tomás O’Leary first landed in the Languedoc region for a four-month tour of duty with Montpellier and the 33-year-old scrum-half must feel as if his feet are yet to really find terra firma.

PETER STRINGER is tackling social media in a bid to connect directly with fans during the Rugby World Cup. 

Ireland squad manager Mick Kearney insists Cian Healy’s recovery from neck surgery is “coming on fine”.

The significance of Paul O’Connell’s final game for Munster this evening is lost on no-one who has shared his remarkable career in red.

Stuart Lancaster has urged Twickenham to will England to victory tomorrow evening as he prepares to order his RBS 6 Nations title hopefuls to carry the game to France.

With Jonny Sexton forced to miss at least the first game of the Six Nations completing a 12 week concussion protocol, the competition has become a key opportunity for his understudies to make their cases for inclusion in the squad for this autumn’s World Cup.

Conor Murray and Jamie Heaslip remain in contention for Ireland ahead of their RBS Six Nations opener in Rome this Saturday.

Keith Earls has more reason than most to feel that opportunity will knock for him in an Irish Wolfhounds jersey tonight, writes Simon Lewis.

Notwithstanding the record-breaking points tally in the slaughter of Sale Sharks on Sunday, John "Paco" Fitzgerald has warned that Munster must seriously consider a cash injection to keep pace with increased European investment in playing resources.

Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt’s options at scrum-half for the RBS 6 Nations are still no clearer after Conor Murray and Eoin Reddan received their first medical assessments from the national team’s medical staff.

There were different agendas at play for Leinster, Munster and Ulster approaching their final pool games in the inaugural Champions Cup over the weekend, writes Donal Lenihan.

Conor Murray’s fitness for Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations title defence will be assessed by national team medics this week after he was forced to miss Munster’s Champions Cup defeat of Sale Sharks at Thomond Park.

Munster 65 Sale 10: European Champions Cup Pool 1: We are used to seeing Munster inflict a round-six rout in Europe but usually it is borne of necessity.

Simon Zebo and Andrew Conway both crossed twice as Munster dominated their Champions Cup dead rubber against a young Sale outfit at Thomond Park.

Clermont Auvergne 26 Munster 19

They now call it the Champions Cup and if the title sounds a touch grandiose, well the vast majority have been champions of something at some stage or other.

CJ Stander wants to stay at Munster well beyond his current contract in a bid to make a similar impact on the province as Doug Howlett.

The praise, for once, is valid, as Simon Zebo anticipates the head-to-head contests between the wings of Munster and Saracens in their Champions Cup Pool 1 clash at Thomond Park tonight.

Now comes the hard part.

The bangs and knocks of last Saturday’s encounter with Sale Sharks are clear as Munster captain Peter O’Mahony sits down 48 hours later to discuss his team’s next Champions Cup mission.

Joe Schmidt believes he can help make Ian Keatley a better player by bringing the Munster fly-half into the Ireland squad for next month’s Guinness Series.

It seems a little early to be manning the barricades and demanding your comrades go once more into the breach but with Saracens coming to Thomond Park on Friday night, that is exactly what Munster need to do to keep their Champions Cup campaign on track.

WHEN reviewing the performances of the three Irish provinces on the opening weekend of Europe’s new Champions Cup, one word springs to mind for Donal Lenihan: character.

European Champions Cup Pool 1

Saracens flanker Will Fraser admits he will be fulfilling a childhood dream against Munster at Thomond Park on Friday night.

The Leinster-Munster rivalry is alive and well, as Cian Healy discovered when he sent this tweet after Munster’s

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The more things change, the more they stay the same. Different tournament, same drama. Munster are simply incapable of doing things the easy way.

Ian Keatley had a shot at glory. The clock showed 79:47 as Conor Murray flung the ball towards the Munster fly-half, deep in the pocket, his side trailing 26-24 in the dying seconds.

The last-ditch heroics may have become a staple of Munster’s European campaigns but for Andrew Conway, the dramatic Champions Cup victory over Sale Sharks was a whole new experience.