Guinness PRO14 chiefs last night decided to suspend the 2019-20 season indefinitely, with the cross-border league going as far as to cancel its grand final, which had been set to take place in Cardiff on June 20.

Irish rugby players, professional and amateur, will have woken this morning to a very different sporting landscape as their governing bodies called a halt to all playing activity in response to the growing threat of Covid-19 on these shores.

Joey Carbery has not been ruled out of Ireland’s summer tour to Australia.

Connacht overcame an early Peter Robb red card to beat Southern Kings 29-19 in their Guinness PRO14 clash in Port Elizabeth.

Andy Friend says Connacht’s PRO14 play-off hopes are on a knife-edge and only a victory in South Africa will suffice.

JJ Hanrahan admits that Munster’s young guns are keeping the established players on their toes.

Leo Cullen insists Johnny Sexton will prove his worth as Ireland captain, and has backed his out-half to come back stronger after last Sunday’s Six Nations defeat to England.

Connacht flew out to South Africa this afternoon ahead of Sunday’s clash with Southern Kings

An experienced player in both hemispheres, Mathewson has lined out for the Hurricanes, Blues, Western Force and Toulon.

Scarlets solidified their hold on a play-off spot in Conference B of the Guinness PRO14 with a 36-17 bonus-point victory over the Southern Kings.

Cardiff Blues staged a remarkable second-half comeback to beat Benetton 34-24 and keep their Pro 14 play-off hopes alive.

The result keeps Richard Cockerill’s men at the top of Conference B and on track for a play-off spot.

Leinster maintained their unbeaten start to the season with a 21-13 victory over Ospreys at the Gnoll in Neath.

Ireland hooker Dave Heffernan delivered a man-of-the-match performance as Connacht ran out 29-0 bonus-point winners over Cardiff Blues at the Sportsground.

Edinburgh went back to the top of Guinness PRO14 Conference B after putting in a strong defensive effort to stop Scarlets in a hard-fought 14-9 win at Parc-y-Scarlets.

Hooker Scott Otten crossed for two tries as Ospreys celebrated only their second Guinness Pro14 victory of the season as they edged out Ulster 26-24 at a rain-swept Liberty Stadium.

Conference A leaders Leinster continued their unbeaten season with a 36-12 bonus-point win over Cheetahs at a rain-lashed RDS.

THE RDS promises to deliver more than the usual fare tomorrow for a Six Nations down-week.

On the one hand, Andy Friend is delighted that only Bundee Aki is missing on Six Nations duty as Connacht prepare for a real 10-pointer against a Cardiff Blues side who are just below them in the table.

Ulster head coach Dan McFarland accepts it “won’t be the end of the world” if his team slip up and lose a game over the next few weeks.

Further evidence of the influence of West Cork rugby in the Munster team has come with the inclusion of Rosscarbery flanker John Hodnett for his first Guinness Pro 14 start — against South African side Southern Kings — at Musgrave Park this evening, kick-off 7. 35.

The Munster side to take on Southern Kings at Musgrave Park at 7.35pm tomorrow night in the Guinness PRO14 has been named.

As the decibels of La Défense Arena’s eardrum-crushing sound system kicked up another notch to drown out the ‘Fields of Athenry’ on Sunday afternoon, there could not have been a more apt signifier of how the money men are dominating the conversation in European club rugby.

A grim night for the visitors to the RDS. And it could have been much worse.

Darcy Graham scored a sensational double as Edinburgh triumphed 29-19 in a Murrayfield thriller to square up their 1872 Cup series at one win apiece with Glasgow.

Johann van Graan was left to rue Munster’s failure to break down Leinster’s defences as Leo Cullen’s defending champions continued their 100 per cent start to the Guinness PRO14 campaign with a hard-fought victory at Thomond Park.

With the clock ticking and Munster trailing 13-6, the home side won a crucial penalty inside the Leinster 22 after a sustained period of pressure and kicked for the corner.

Hooker Hame Faiva scored a hat-trick of tries as Benetton Treviso overcame the early dismissal of Juan Ignacio Brex to gain a 36-25 win over Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 clash at Stadio Monigo.

Ulster scored five tries to beat Connacht 35-3 in the PRO14 derby at Kingspan Stadium tonight.

Will Addison returns from a four-week suspension for Ulster who are on a mission to avenge last year’s home loss to Connacht.

Quinn Roux knows that Ulster will be gunning for them on Friday night as they are the last team to have defeated them at Kingspan Stadium.

Johann van Graan hopes Joey Carbery will play his first game for Munster this season when they take on Leinster at Thomond Park on Saturday.

Connacht coach Andy Friend admitted he was relieved to leave with a losing bonus point after an error-strewn performance from his side against Munster.

Munster coach said that 20-year old scrum-half Craig Casey has a bright career in front of him after an impressive first start.

Connacht coach Andy Friend said the precision which saw them conjure up a last-gasp winner against Gloucester last week is the standard they aspire to.

Stephen Larkham is still finding his feet in Munster but he could hardly have picked a more difficult time to come on board given the disruption caused by the World Cup.

Connacht produced a frustrating and sloppy performance on their way to a bonus point victory over Southern Kings in the PRO14 on Saturday.

Ulster ran in five tries to claim a bonus-point 29-5 home victory over the Scarlets in the Guinness PRO14.

Munster’s much-changed side grew into this Pro14 game at Musgrave Park but ultimately the experience in the Edinburgh starting XV was too much for Johann van Graan’s men.

Scotland assistant coach Danny Wilson will take charge of Glasgow at the end of the season when current boss Dave Rennie departs for Australia, the Guinness PRO14 side have announced.

Andrew Conway provided a match-winning try of real class as Munster battled past Ulster in a 22-16 Guinness PRO14 derby win at Thomond Park.