Remind Leo Cullen he played in the last European final won by an English team, when the then London Wasps saw off Leicester Tigers in 2007, and he will be quick to point out he wasn’t part of the squad that won it.

South Africa 34 Scotland 16: Stand-off Duncan Weir hopes his stunning second-half burst against South Africa on Saturday will help seal his place in coach Vern Cotter’s plans as Scotland look to book their place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

England have selected Brad Barritt and Jonathan Joseph as their centre pairing for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up game against Ireland at Twickenham.

Joe Schmidt has said his Ireland side were "tested on a number of levels" today against Scotland.

Paul O’Connell’s glorious Munster career will end in the next eight days — and he will play his final Thomond Park game tomorrow, sources have revealed to the Irish Examiner.

Conor O’Shea is not interested in succeeding Matt O’Connor as Leinster’s head coach, according to sources close to Harlequins’ Director of Rugby.

Edinburgh 23 Leinster 36

Edinburgh 3 Munster 34: Edinburgh scarcely represented Munster’s biggest hurdle in their march towards the knockout stages of the Guinness Pro12 league but nevertheless the visitors were in ruthless form in Scotland on Saturday afternoon.

Munster closed the gap on Guinness PRO12 leaders Glasgow with a 34-3 victory in a one-sided game against Edinburgh at Murrayfield, gaining a much-needed try bonus point in the process.

Scotland were left facing their fourth wooden spoon in 11 years after a late collapse handed Italy a RBS 6 Nations win at Murrayfield.

Glasgow’s Peter Horne has been given the nod to replace suspended stand-off Finn Russell for Scotland’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy tomorrow.

The dust has settled around the first set of games in the 6 Nations and we know a lot more now than we did last week.

Guinness Pro12

Leinster 33 Edinburgh 8

Former Rugby League star, Ben Te’o, makes his Leinster debut in tonight’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Edinburgh (RDS, 7.35pm), as the champions aim to secure back-to-back league victories for the first time this season.

Ulster 30 Edinburgh 0

Ulster make ten personnel changes and two positional switches to the side beaten by Zebre last weekend as they prepare to welcome Edinburgh on Friday night.

The return of Ireland international Robbie Henshaw is one of three changes to Connacht’s starting XV for this evening’s Guinness Pro 12 fixture with Edinburgh at Murrayfield (7.35pm).

Munster 13 Edinburgh 14

Munster coach Anthony Foley has included three debutants as he named his starting side for their opening PRO12 fixture.

Leinster 15 Edinburgh 13

Leinster 15 Edinburgh 13

Munster have made 11 changes to the side that lost to Toulon in the semi-finals of the Heineken Cup for their penultimate league game against Edinburgh.

Munster skipper Peter O’Mahony has warned that his Edinburgh counterpart Greig Laidlaw must be curtailed in Sunday’s Heineken Cup clash at Thomond Park.

Gloucester 7 Munster 20

Decision-making may be JJ Hanrahan’s vocation as a Munster fly-half, but the 21-year-old Kerryman has become adept at making the right calls off the pitch as he negotiates the pitfalls of a fledgling professional career.

Wales captain Sam Warburton has played down the appointment of Irishman Alain Rolland to referee Saturday’s Millennium Stadium showdown against South Africa.

Perpignan 31 Edinburgh 14

Perpignan 31 Edinburgh 14

The backlash. Gloucester are braced for it, the Thomond Park faithful are expecting it and, now, Munster must deliver it.

Edinburgh 29 Munster 23

Munster head coach Rob Penney believes his players will be embarrassed into a rebound against Gloucester next Saturday following their shock Heineken Cup reversal at Edinburgh.

Tim Visser grabbed a late try for Edinbugh as they registered their first Heineken Cup win in 18 months with a surprise 29-23 victory over Munster.

Munster 34 Edinburgh 23

The fact that Edinburgh will be missing their main play-maker and most lethal finisher tonight will delight Munster as they prepare for the opening round of the RaboDirect Pro 12 at Musgrave Park (7.15pm).

Three reasons to relish the return

Edinburgh 24 Connacht 32

France 23 Scotland 16

IT is not just the senior players who had Australia on their minds when British & Irish Lions head coach Warren Gatland visited the Ireland training camp this week.

Six Nations: Scotland v Ireland

Ireland must start well for so many reasons

Declan Kidney proved once again this week that he isn’t as predictable and conservative as he is often typecast in the media.

Momentum changes so quickly in sport.