Dave Kearney returns for defending champions Leinster for their Guinness PRO14 clash with Edinburgh at the RDS tomorrow evening.

Munster claimed a second bonus-point victory in a week as their perfect start to the PRO14 season continued in Port Elizabeth against Southern Kings.

Munster back row Jack O’Donoghue knows there will be a tougher test at altitude next week in Bloemfontein but insists they also have their work cut out to deal with the Southern Kings in Port Elizabeth today.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan knows all there is to know about South Africa’s major domestic competition, the Currie Cup. Given that the Cheetahs — one of his side’s two Guinness PRO14 opponents over the next fortnight — were recently crowned champions of the 130-year-old tournament, he is aware of the challenge awaiting his team.

It mightn’t have been a performance to set the pulses racing but Munster still got the new campaign off to a five-try, bonus point start by hammering the hapless Dragons - even without a dozen of their World Cup-tied players on duty in Japan.

Glasgow Warriors counted the cost of missing World Cup stars as their Guinness PRO14 campaign opened with a 48-14 defeat to the Cheetahs.

Simon Lewis The Munster exit door kept revolving yesterday as exciting young fly-half Bill Johnston left for Ulster in search of more game time and Heineken Cup-winning legend Doug Howlett decided to return to his native New Zealand.

Champions Cup spots were up for grabs today.

This time 12 months ago, Munster and Leinster felt bulletproof as they approached their respective Champions Cup semi-final deciders against Racing 92 and Scarlets, with both squads densely fortified with players from Ireland’s all-conquering Grand Slam team.

Cheetahs fly-half Tian Schoeman scored 18 points as his side claimed a bonus point win over Dragons in Bloemfontein.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said he is relieved they are still in control of their own destiny after escaping from Parma with a 6-5 win in a bruising encounter on Saturday evening.

Bundee Aki has returned to the Connacht starting team for their European Challenge Cup quarter-final against Sale Sharks tomorrow night.

If the Cheetahs thought they might get an easy run out against Leinster during the Six Nations, the South Africans were sadly mistaken.

Munster coach Johann van Graan praised stand-in captain Tyler Bleyendaal and his men for carving out a bonus point win at Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein yesterday.

Returning out-half Tyler Bleyendaal will captain Munster in Sunday’s PRO14 encounter against Cheetahs, head coach Johann van Graan confirmed yesterday.

Dublin-born Eric O’Sullivan is one of a number of promising exponents of the propping dark arts now in an Ireland system that was once low on front-row forwards.

Eddie Jones will enter his meeting with Rugby Football Union (RFU) chief executive Steve Brown this week armed with the conviction England can still win the World Cup.

Schalk Brits was sipping tequila in Ibiza when he first received contact from South Africa boss Rassie Erasmus asking whether he was interested in playing England.

Worcester centre Ben Te'o has been ruled out of England's three-Test South Africa tour.

Conor Murray’s reputation as the leading scrum-half in the Northern Hemisphere, if not the world, will mean the Munster star can expect a lot of attention from Racing 92’s forwards in Bordeaux tomorrow but Johann van Graan says his number nine will not be fazed.

This may be the biggest game of his fledgling career as a head coach but five months into his tenure as Munster boss, Johann van Graan is finally in familiar territory.

The team news ahead of Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final.

Rassie Erasmus is charged with reviving Springbok rugby, but he says part of him will always be in Munster, writes John Fallon

It will be Sunday evening before we know for sure which two of the four sides left standing in this season’s Champions Cup got their preparations spot on for the semi-finals, but at this juncture it would be a surprise, notwithstanding they are playing in France, if Munster isn’t one of them.

There isn’t much that Peter O’Mahony hasn’t experienced at this stage of his career but spending two weeks abroad in a bubble with his Munster teammates ahead of a crunch European game is a new departure.

Scrum-half James Hart believes Munster’s two-match tour to South Africa is the perfect way to build up for the Champions Cup showdown with his former club Racing 92 on Sunday week.

Munster are concentrating on their PRO14 clash with the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein on Friday night, although head coach Johann van Graan admits they are doing research on their Champions Cup semi-final opponents in the background.

Southern Kings 22 Munster 39: There was a carnival atmosphere at Outeniqua Park on Saturday and while it seemed for a time that the Southern Kings were going to spoil CJ Stander’s homecoming, Munster’s superiority shone through in the end as they cantered home.

The instruction leaving the accommodation in Cape Town to get to George was pretty straightforward, ‘turn right on to the N2 and drive’ … all 430 kilometres along the same road.

It will be a special occasion for CJ Stander to play in his hometown George on Saturday, says Munster coach Johann van Graan.

The Munster squad arrived into 25°C heat in South Africa at the start of a two-match tour which will also double up as preparation for their Champions Cup semi-final showdown with Racing 92 in Bordeaux.

Munster’s two-week trip to South Africa will be vital to the province’s preparations for their Champions Cup semi-final in France, captain Peter O’Mahony believes.

Seventy-four minutes in and nerves were frayed in the packed Thomond Park stands. Camped inside the Toulon 22, Munster were going through the phases, six points down and desperately trying to bridge the gap.

Munster Rugby were last night remaining tight-lipped over reports in South Africa that Bulls centre Dries Swanepoel is set to sign a short-term deal with the province.

Connacht backs’ coach Nigel Carolan says Australian international Kyle Godwin is the first of a number of big signings for the province.

Cheetahs 26 Connacht 25: Two weeks ago, as Connacht headed off on a tour to Treviso in Italy and the Highveld in South Africa, they would probably have settled for a return of five points against two sides who have been chalking up the results in their own backyards.

Connacht will hope to put PRO14 victories back-to-back for only the second time this season when they battle the heat and demands of the Highveld against the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein this evening (5.35pm Irish time).

It was not as if Leinster put Ulster to the sword in a lively, if disjointed Guinness PRO14 derby at the weekend, they simply sliced and diced them!

One of the key Castres players hoping to plot a shock win over Munster on Sunday in the opening round of the Champions Cup grew up in South Africa with Rassie Erasmus as one of his childhood heroes.

Munster’s search for a new director of rugby has taken another twist after present incumbent Rassie Erasmus cast doubts on the province’s chances of getting their reported top target.

Munster’s search for a new director of rugby has taken another twist after present incumbent Rassie Erasmus cast doubts on the province’s chances of getting their reported top target.