Connacht’s Eoghan Masterson is the perfect endorsement of a player who is reaping the rewards for his indefatigable determination to play for Ireland.

Nigel Carolan has asked his Irish U20 side to finish their campaign positively in Netherdale tonight by returning to the full-throttle game which has been suffocated by two defeats in a row.

Ireland’s U20s and Women’s: Both teams enjoyed ultimately comfortable openings to their respective Six Nations campaigns last Friday.

Joe Schmidt’s elevation to the post of Ireland head coach was lost a little in the inevitable hype that surrounds the announcement of a Lions squad last week.

The sight of Glasgow’s players doing a lap of honour in the wake of defeat in Saturday’s RaboDirect PRO12 play-off captured perfectly the fact this was a game where they had everything to gain and Leinster everything to lose.

Leinster 19 Glasgow 15

Already a game that was struggling to escape the shadow of next week’s Heineken Cup final, tonight’s RaboDirect PRO12 play-off has been relegated to the margins yet again by yesterday’s injury news concerning Brian O’Driscoll and Rob Kearney.

Glasgow Warriors have today named the side to face Leinster in the RaboDirect PRO12 semi-final at the RDS on Saturday night (kick-off 7.35pm).

Connacht signed off with a best place finish in this season’s RaboDirect Pro12 League but Eric Elwood won’t be happy with this performance.

Sean Lineen will become the Scottish Rugby Union’s head of player acquisition after leaving his role as Glasgow head coach at the end of the season.

AS weekends go, this one must have been especially tough for Connacht.

Head coach Joe Schmidt insisted his Leinster side have a long way to go in the defence of their Heineken Cup title after qualifying for the knockout stages with a 23-16 win over Glasgow Warriors at Firhill.

THERE is rarely anything ho-hum about the Heineken Cup but Leinster have come close to reducing Pool 3 to a predictable script and they will be expected to wrap up qualification for the last eight in Glasgow tomorrow.

DUNCAN WEIR is sitting in the canteen at Scotstoun when the call comes through from Ireland.

KEEP an extra sharp eye on the breakdown this Sunday when Nigel Owens gets things underway at Firhill.

UNBEATEN in 14 games, nine points clear in the RaboDirect Pro12, six ahead of their nearest rival in Pool 3 of the Heineken Cup.

STAND up BJ Botha, Isa Nacewa and Johann Muller, you and your foreign cohorts all have a point to prove this weekend as you bid to put your Irish provinces a step closer to the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Stephen Donald is hooked on the Heineken Cup after just two appearances in European club rugby’s blue riband competition.

A COUPLE of weeks ago, Joe Schmidt talked about the process of reintegrating his massive World Cup contingent and pointed out that it had taken three games for the kinks to be ironed out when his stars returned from a late summer break the season before.

Relief was the overwhelming emotion for Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt after his side climbed to the top of Heineken Cup Pool Three following a bonus-point victory over Glasgow Warriors.

Leinster 38 Glasgow 13

TWO seasons ago, Leinster travelled to France as reigning Heineken Cup champions for a semi-final against Toulouse, a club that considers itself that bit more regal than every other one with pretensions of royal status in Europe.

FERGUS McFADDEN must be one frustrated guy this week.

THE visit of Glasgow Warriors to the RDS hasn’t usually been a cue to circle the wagons but Joe Schmidt is playing up the challenge of the Scots following their last-gasp win over Bath in the opening round of the Heineken Cup.

Glasgow winger DTH van der Merwe is likely to miss a “significant portion of the season” after being told he needs surgery on his injured shoulder.

Glasgow Warriors 12 Munster 23

Ulster 28 Glasgow 14

Leinster 38 Glasgow Warriors 3

RUARIDH JACKSON, the implausibly fresh-faced out-half set to make his first Scotland start against Ireland on Sunday, has praised the game-management abilities of Ronan O’Gara as he prepares to come face-to-face with the Munster number ten.

WASPS coach Tony Hanks was left “supremely disappointed” after watching his side turned in a poor performance in the 20-10 Heineken Cup defeat in Glasgow.

JOHN HAYES will get a chance to stake his claim to the tighthead berth for Munster’s European date with destiny next weekend after a call-up for the province’s Magners League game with Glasgow Warriors in Cork tonight (7.30pm).

GLASGOW Warriors players have been read the riot act by head coach Sean Lineen ahead of their trip to Cork to play Munster on Saturday.

Glasgow 30 Edinburgh 18

WALES’ record international try-scorer Shane Williams could be fit for the RBS 6 Nations opener against England in Cardiff on February 4.

Toulouse 36 Glasgow Warriors 10

Glasgow 33 Aironi 8

VETERAN Paddy Wallace is wary of Glasgow’s challenge at Ravenhill this evening with Ulster aiming to gain a boost before next week’s European travails.

MUNSTER’S belief that they face a backlash tonight at Firhill is very much on the money if the comments of Glasgow Warriors’ captain Ally Kellock and coach Sean Lineen prove to be well founded.

Glasgow Warriors coach Sean Lineen is forecasting an "awesome" game against unbeaten Magners League leaders Munster at Firhill tomorrow night.

LEINSTER Rugby and Sean O’Brien breathed a sigh of relief last night when the player was found not guilty of any offence during the Magners League game against Treviso at the weekend.

Glasgow Warriors flanker John Barclay will return as captain for the hosting of Connacht in the Magner's League at Firhill tomorrow evening.

Glasgow 23 Leinster 19

LUKE FITZGERALD plays his first competitive match in 10 months when Leinster open their Magners League campaign against Glasgow Warriors at Firhill tonight (7.05pm).

IRELAND trio John Fogarty, Jamie Heaslip and Shane Horgan were named in the Leinster squad to face the Glasgow Warriors in tomorrow night’s Magners League opener at Firhill Stadium (7.05pm).