ONE more injury or one more call-up to the Wales squad this week and Cardiff Blues would have found themselves travelling to Dublin for this evening’s RaboDirect Pro12 encounter without the services of a full starting 15.

WALES captain Sam Warburton will return to action when the Cardiff Blues launch their Heineken Cup campaign in Paris tonight.

ANOTHER frustrating night for Connacht.

MUNSTER maintained their winning start to the season and while they conceded their first try of the season, another superb defensive display was the foundation for victory at Cardiff City Stadium last night.

DANNY BARNES returns for Munster in tonight’s RaboDirect PRO12 clash with Cardiff Blues at Cardiff City Stadium, but the Reds’ hopes of forward dominance took a hit yesterday with news of illness and injury to key front rowers Marcus Horan and BJ Botha.

JAMES COUGHLAN scored the game’s only try but it was Munster’s defence that saw them put one foot in the Magners League play-offs in Cardiff last night.

LEINSTER coach Joe Schmidt has admitted that the next fortnight will be crucial to his team’s hopes of reaching the Magners League play-offs.

LEO CULLEN will become only the fifth player in Leinster’s history to reach the 150 cap mark when he leads the side out for tonight’s Magners League clash away to third-placed Cardiff Blues at the Cardiff Park Stadium (kick-off 6.30pm).

NORTHAMPTON maintained their perfect Heineken Cup Pool 1 record in a thriller at the Cardiff City Stadium after the Blues were hit by the second-half dismissal of Xavier Rush.

THERE was an element of satisfaction about the end result when a fitful performance but deserved victory at Thomond Park on Saturday night guaranteed Munster will stay top of the Magners League at least until St. Stephen’s Day.

CARDIFF BLUES boss Dai Young is expecting a stern test from Ulster in tomorrow’s Magners League clash at Cardiff City Stadium (3.45pm).

CARDIFF BLUES knocked Munster off their perch at the top of the Magners League table with a comfortable victory over Connacht.

CONNACHT coach Eric Elwood has slammed the “ridiculous” scheduling of their Magners League clash away to Cardiff Blues.

Former Munster prop Timmy Ryan has made the replacements bench on the Toulon squad to play Cardiff Blues in the Amlin Challenge Cup final in Marseilles tomorrow.

FRUSTRATED Ulster skipper Chris Henry is determined to lift his side following a flat performance last week when they lost to the Cardiff Blues.

LEINSTER’S young guns steered them back to the top of the Magners League table and now they have a four-point lead over champions Munster with a game in hand.

Ospreys 26 Cardiff Blues 0

OSPREYS coach Scott Johnson is keen for his side to get into a positive frame of mind ahead of a month that will shape their season.

CONNACHT hope for a swift reversal in fortune when they return to the Galway Sportsground to host Cardiff this evening.

THERE was a time when Munster was the last place a promising young back-row forward would have looked when it came to forging a career as a professional rugby player.

AS THE gap widens between Connacht and those above them in the Magners League, every game is becoming more critical, and few more so than a home fixture against the Welsh team immediately above them.

IRELAND hooker Rory Best will lead Ulster’s Magners League challenge against Glasgow at Ravenhill on Saturday night although Stephen Ferris and Paddy Wallace are still unavailable.

CARDIFF BLUES will complete a triumphant march into the Heineken Cup quarter-finals tonight, but head coach David Young insists: “There is still work to be done.”

LEINSTER’S South African prop Ollie le Roux believes Toulouse will destroy Munster’s dreams of a second Heineken Cup title.

THERE will be a reunion of sorts for Munster centre Rua Tipoki at Musgrave Park tonight.

KEITH GLEESON could join a select band tonight by earning his 100th cap for Leinster in their Magners league tie away to the Cardiff Blues — but he will have to come off the bench to do it.

CARDIFF Arms Park has been a graveyard for Leinster’s Magners League ambitions this past two seasons and coach Michael Cheika accepts that they will be up against it again when they return to the Welsh capital this Friday.

MUNSTER have been given a huge boost with the news that John Kelly and Trevor Halstead have been restored to full fitness.

Munster coach Declan Kidney makes four changes, from the side that started against Border Reivers, for Friday's Magners League clash with Cardiff Blues.

LEICESTER are hurtling towards a Pool Four decider against European champions Munster in Limerick tomorrow week, but they cannot allow such an enticing prospect to overshadow their Welford Road appointment with Cardiff Blues this afternoon (3pm, Sky Sports).

DENIS HICKIE will make his first competitive start of the season in tonight’s Magners League against Cardiff Blues at Donnybrook.

JOHN KELLY has no fears of leading inexperienced troops into battle against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park tonight (7.10).

MUNSTER may be Heineken Cup champions but they won’t get anything soft in the Celtic League opener against Cardiff Blues at the Arms Park tomorrow night.

The Barbarians will field a team selected from seven countries, including Ireland's David Humphreys and Bob Casey, when they tackle an England XV in Sunday’s Gartmore Challenge match at Twickenham.

LEINSTER will be aiming to rediscover their winning touch against Cardiff Blues at the RDS today (5.30pm), just a week before they open another Heineken Cup campaign at the same venue.

BARBARIANS coach Bob Dwyer yesterday gave an interesting glimpse into the future of Australian rugby by selecting Wallabies winger Lote Tuqiri at outside centre and Matt Giteau at fly-half for tomorrow’s Gartmore Challenge against New Zealand at Twickenham.

New Zealand coach Graham Henry was true to his word today when he named his team to face England in Dunedin on Saturday.

THE Super 12 final tomorrow is a lineup of the great constellations for rugby fans — a dream-like test of brawn and brilliance under Eden Park’s bright lights.