Castres 16 Leinster 21

No Rory Kockott calling the shots at ten. No Remi Lamerat bursting through the centre. And no Ibrahim Diarra causing mayhem from the back row.

Leinster coach Matt O’Connor spoke last weekend about the need to avoid an "ambush" in Castres in their European Rugby Champions Cup encounter this Sunday and Eoin Reddan knows all too well how best-laid plans can go awry in the Stade Pierre Antoine.

Rhys Ruddock has declared that Leinster are going to have to show their nasty side on Sunday away to 2013 Top 14 champions Castres at the Stade Pierre Antoine.

The tournament’s name may have changed but the key to European rugby remains to target four wins in the pool stages. Nothing else matters. Munster face a tough ask but possess players who can think for themselves and get the job done, writes Ronana O'Gara.

Potentially seismic back-to-back clashes with Clermont Auvergne await Munster in December after the fixtures for the new European Rugby Champions Cup were confirmed yesterday.

Jamie Heaslip insists his ongoing contract negotiations with the IRFU will bring no disruption or distraction to Ireland’s RBS 6 Nations campaign over the next eight weeks.

When Nigel Owens called a halt to Leinster’s tussle with Castres on Sunday, it prompted a pitch invasion that, win or lose, is par for the course in a number of the oldest rugby strongholds in the south of France.

Heineken Cup. France. Must-win.

Jimmy Gopperth is confident Leinster’s slugathons of recent weeks will prove to be the ideal preparation for the province’s crucial Heineken Cup trip to France where they will face Top 14 champions Castres.

Connacht 8 Leinster 16

Leinster 9 Northampton 18

The complexities of Cork men remain the same, it’s just the venues that change.

Ulster head coach Mark Anscombe has shuffled his backline for his side’s final Heineken Cup Pool 4 match against Castres Olympique at the Stade Pierre Antoine on Saturday (1.35pm) with Ruan Pienaar favoured over Paddy Jackson at flyhalf.

The injured trio of Paddy Jackson, Jared Payne and Craig Gilroy were named in Ulster’s provisional 26-man squad for the Heineken Cup trip to Castres on Saturday.

THERE are those of us who remember the very first Munster clash with Castres in the inaugural Heineken Cup way back in 1995 under lights in the nearby town of Mazamet because the host club didn’t have the required facilities at Stade Pierre Antoine.

NORTHAMPTON coach Jim Mallinder has questioned the consistency of refereeing in the Heineken Cup after his side suffered a crushing defeat at sunny Stade Pierre Antoine.

MUNSTER’S hopes of continuing their winning start in Heineken Cup Pool 1 received an eve-of-game boost yesterday when Castres Olympique rang the changes to their starting line-up for today’s clash at Stade Ernest Wallon.

THE big games just keep rolling along at this time of year and if Paul O’Connell has done his homework on Castres correctly, there will be no let-up in Toulouse tomorrow after back-to-back battles.

Castres lock forward Matthias Rolland tells Ian Moriarty why the French side are no longer prepared to make up the numbers at Europe’s top table

CASTRES rugby bosses have appealed to their fans to support them in Saturday’s Heineken Cup clash with Munster in Toulouse after it was revealed only 10,000 tickets have been sold for the encounter.

With big names like David Wallace, Keith Earls, Jerry Flannery and Felix Jones still ruled out, Tony McGahan will be relieved by Munster’s clean bill of health from last weekend's action as they begin a busy week's training that culminates with matches in the Heineken and British & Irish Cup campaigns in France and Wales respectively.

Castres 21 Edinburgh 16

OSPREYS star Shane Williams has described tomorrow night’s Heineken Cup showdown against in-form London Irish as “the ultimate test”.

THERE must be hundreds of Irish rugby players, past and present, with bitter memories of France. Paris provides the backdrop for most of them but Jonathan Sexton’s stem from a freezing December night in Castres.

Who will win the Heineken Cup final?

FIVE months ago, an injured Leo Cullen cut an agitated figure in the Stade Pierre Antoine press box as he watched Leinster’s storybook start to the Heineken Cup begin to fray around the edges with defeat against Castres.

Castres 18 Leinster 15

Brian O'Driscoll will have to pass a late fitness test to play on the Leinster team against Castres Olympique in Friday night's Heineken Cup Pool 2 encounter in the Stade Pierre Antoine (8pm Irish time).

Felipe Contepomi (hand), Shane Jennings (knee) and Isa Nacewa (arm) return to the Leinster squad to play Castres Olympique in Friday night's Heineken Cup Pool 2 encounter at the Stade Pierre Antoine (Kick off: 8pm Irish time, 9pm local).

Castres Olympique 9 Munster 46

THE BROAD beam on Anthony Foley’s face told the full story.

Bath will try to put a Headingley horror show behind them tomorrow night by clinching a place in this season’s Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

MUNSTER rugby captain, Anthony Foley yesterday spoke of the nightmare week he and his wife Olive have spent at the bedside of their critically ill baby son.

ANTHONY FOLEY is a veteran of 71 Heineken European Cup matches with Munster, he has scored a record 21 tries and enjoyed some of his happiest moments, as well as some of the most difficult, away to top French sides.

MUNSTER'S walking wounded received favourable reports from their medics yesterday and the expectation is that all will be able to take part in today's squad session at Temple Hill in the build-up to Friday's all-important Heineken European Cup away game against Castres (7.30pm Sky Sports 2).

Castres Olympique 16 Sale Sharks 20

CASTRES captain Kees Meeuws smiles when asked about the powerful Munster rolling mauls, which resulted in two tries for the home side.

Neath-Swansea 20 Castres 11

Castres 58 Harlequins 13

Castres 58 Harlequins 13

NEC Harlequins make seven changes to the side that started against London Wasps in the Zurich Premiership last Sunday for the Heineken Cup tie against Castres Olympique at Stade Pierre Antoine this afternoon.

MUNSTER go into their third successive day of intensive preparation for Saturday’s crucial Heineken Cup tie against Castres Olympique at Thomond Park with coach Alan Gaffney still none the wiser about the composition of his team.

Castres 19 Munster 12