Connections of Sole Power have been exonerated of any wrongdoing after the British Horseracing Authority announced the result of its inquiries into an alleged post-race incident following the running of the 2013 Kings Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot on June 18.

Sole Power edged out South African raider Shea Shea to claim a deserved victory in a thrilling climax to the King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.

Zebre 25 Ulster 27

Ulster 24 Newcastle Falcons 20

Trainer Eddie Lynam feels Sole Power has “a good opportunity” of racking up back-to-back wins in the Betfred.com Temple Stakes at Haydock on Saturday.

Undeserving may be, but Connacht’s late steal at the death against Aironi on Saturday provided the Irish province with their first three-in-a-row of victories since 2002.

Scarlets, who play Munster next weekend, kept their hopes of a place in the RaboDirect Pro12 play-offs alive with a hard-fought victory over bottom side Aironi in Viadana yesterday.

LUCIANO ORQUERA kicked all of Aironi’s points as they won their all-Italian meeting with Treviso in the RaboDirect PRO12.

EDINBURGH continued their run of impressive form as they racked up seven tries against RaboDirect Pro12 basement side Aironi at Murrayfield.

Cardiff Blues 38 Aironi 0

CLERMONT AUVERGNE picked up their first win of this season’s Heineken Cup in some style as they put Aironi to the sword in a one-sided clash at Stade Marcel Michelin last night.

Lieutenant Colonel Ollie Ellwood has been riding at Sandown's military meetings for as long as many can remember and he added another winner to his collection in the Annington Amateur Riders' Handicap Hurdle today.

AT first glance, there could be no more difficult a start to life in the Magners League than what lies ahead for Aironi on Saturday.

SOLE POWER can land a blow for the three-year-olds by beating some more mature rivals in the Listed Sprint Stakes at Naas today.

LEE BYRNE has revealed he feared the selection axe for Wales’ successful Italian job after his yellow card calamity at Croke Park.

Ireland are beginning the defence of their RBS 6 Nations crown amid high expectations at Croke Park against wooden spoon favourites Italy.

SCOTLAND prop Allan Jacobsen faces four months on the sidelines after tests showed he will require shoulder surgery.

Ireland are unchanged for Italy at the Stadio Flaminio as they sought to generate further momentum for their RBS 6 Nations title bid.

FRANCE captain Lionel Nallet preferred to dwell on his team’s victory over Italy rather than the prospect of registering a heavy win against Wales next weekend to retain the RBS 6 Nations Championship title.

JONNY WILKINSON clocked up 1,000 points for England as he guided the World Cup finalists through a hazardous Italian job and revived their RBS Six Nations campaign.

BIARRITZ ensured hapless Viadana remained winless in Pool 4 of the Heineken Cup as they ran out 25-16 winners at the Parc des Sports Aguilera last night.

Viadana 26 Saracens 34

Scotland 18 Italy 16

ITALY got their Rugby World Cup campaign back on track last night with a laboured victory over Pool C rivals Romania in Marseille.

FULLBACK Federico Serra scored 19 points as Argentina beat Italy 24-6 in Mendoza on Saturday in their final home test before the World Cup.

Ireland coach Eddie O’Sullivan today rubbished accusations he may have used an alleged choking incident involving Ronan O’Gara as a smokescreen to mask concussion.

Former Scotland captain David Sole has accused Ireland of creating a “smokescreen” after Ronan O’Gara was allegedly choked during Saturday’s RBS 6 Nations clash.

A LOT has been made of Bernard Laporte’s insistence on experimentation for this year’s RBS 6 Nations Championship, but it will be interesting to see if France’s head coach sticks to his word following the comprehensive opening day rout of beleaguered Italy.

CHEROKEE LADY, recent winner of the Tyrur Ted Champion Bitch Stakes at Galway, was turned over in heat 3 of the opening round of the McCarthy Insurance Group Cork Oaks at Curraheen Park on Saturday night.

Former Scotland captain David Sole has heavily criticised coach Matt Williams following his side’s record 46-22 defeat to Wales on Sunday.

SCOTLAND are backing Ireland to give England and company another run for their money in the battle for the Six Nations title — even without Keith Wood.