Ireland may have got over the line to beat France last time out but forwards coach Simon Easterby believes they will have to make every opportunity count on Sunday against England if they are to continue their RBS 6 Nations campaign unbeaten.

Devin Toner accepts he will be one of those senior players expected to plug the leadership gap in Leinster’s pack created by Leo Cullen’s off-season move upstairs to coaches’ office.

In his former life, working at his father’s engineering company in Ballymena, Ulster front-row forward Andrew Warwick drove two-ton trucks around the country.

Cardiff Blues Number 8 Robin Copeland was yesterday sent off in his side’s victory over Scarlets.

Ulster 28 Scarlets 17

Munster loosehead prop Dave Kilcoyne appears poised for his first Test start for Ireland on February 24 against Scotland after first-choice number one Cian Healy was suspended yesterday for three weeks.

Conor Murray’s emergence as a candidate for the Lions tour next summer has come on the back of a steady stream of improved performances, culminating in his dominance of Mike Phillips in Cardiff last weekend.

Leinster could be set for the perfect new year tonic after head coach Joe Schmidt revealed Brian O’Driscoll, Rob Kearney and Luke Fitzgerald could all return to action on January 4.

Rob Kearney has rolled the clock back on his injury comeback but insists Ian Madigan can withstand another aerial inspection from Clermont this weekend.

Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has added several senior players to his 27-man preliminary squad for their crucial Heineken Cup Pool 4 clash against Northampton Saints at Franklin's Gardens on Friday (8pm).

For the second year in-a-row, Leinster opened the defence of their crown against a side making their Heineken Cup debut.

They may be the kings of Europe but Leinster captain Leo Cullen believes his back-to-back Heineken Cup winners have a tough few weeks ahead of them at the start of the RaboDirect Pro12 campaign.

With a combined total of nine internationals released to them from Six Nations camps this week, both Leinster and Scarlets will be boosted by a plethora of faces keen to make an impression on international coaches at the RDS tonight.

JOHNE MURPHY is backing Simon Zebo to show just how good he can be when Munster return to Thomond Park this weekend for the return Heineken Cup tie with Scarlets.

AS EXPECTED, Stade Francais scrum-half Julien Dupuy will appear before an independent disciplinary hearing of the European Rugby Cup as a result of a citing arising from Saturday’s Heineken Cup match against Ulster at Ravenhill.

SALE SHARKS will enter a Heineken Cup cauldron today without two of their main ingredients — England World Cup stars Mathew Tait and Andrew Sheridan.

Dafydd James will win his first Wales cap in three years on Saturday after head coach Mike Ruddock announced sweeping changes for the Millennium Stadium clash with South Africa.