Leinster

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Leinster flanker Will Connors will join Connacht on a two-year deal next summer, the provinces have confirmed.

The 29-year-old has won 62 caps for Leinster having made his debut in February 2018 and started the 2024 Investec Champions Cup final loss to Toulouse.

He has nine caps for Ireland, the last of which came in the 2021 Six Nations.

Connors is the second Ireland international to swap Leinster for Connacht in recent weeks after the western province confirmed a deal to bring Ciaran Frawley in ahead of the 2026-27 season.

"I've had a fantastic nine seasons with Leinster, and am very grateful for all that was achieved in that time," said Connors.

"I look forward to finishing the season strongly before making the move West in the summer and joining up with a really exciting and talented group.

"After chatting to Stuart and the team, it's clear there's enormous ambition in the club to be successful in the years ahead."

Connacht head coach Stuart Lancaster said Connors will be a "big asset" having previously worked with him at Leinster.

"His tackling ability and defensive work rate is well known, but he has real attacking strengths too which I am looking forward to developing," said Lancaster.

"He also has a positive personality who brings great energy to the group and real potential as a leader."

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Cian Prendergast will captain a Connacht side which shows three changes to their starting team from that which beat Montauban in the Challenge Cup last week for Saturday's United Rugby Championship clash with a Leinster at a sold-out Dexcom Stadium (17:30 GMT).

There are two changes in the half-backs as fit-again Caolin Blade links up with Josh Ioane at nine and 10, while Dylan Tierney-Martin comes in at hooker following Dave Heffernan's injury.

Cian Prendergast captains the side from blindside flanker in a strong back row with Paul Boyle and Sean Jansen. Josh Murphy and Darragh Murray continue in the second row, while Academy prop Billy Bohan starts in a front row with Dylan Tierney-Martin and Sam Illo.

Forde and West keep their places in midfield after impressive Challenge Cup outings, with Treacy, Jennings and Gilbert making up the back three. Buckley, Carty and Aki add experience from the bench.

Connacht currently sit 12th in the URC table and have lost their last three league outings.

Connacht: S Gilbert; S Jennings; H West, C Forde; F Treacy, J Ioane; C Blade; B Bohan, D Tierney-Martin, S Illo; J Murphy, D Murray; C Prendergast (capt), P Boyle, S Jansen.

Replacements: E de Buitléar, D Buckley, J Aungier, Joe Joyce, S O'Brien, B Murphy, J Carty, B Aki.

Doris set to captain Leinster on his 100th appearence

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Caelan Doris will captain Leinster as he is set to make his 100th appearence in blue during Saturday's visit to Connacht.

Niall Smyth is set to make his debut for the province and will be joined in the front row by Gus McCarthy and Jack Boyle.

James Lowe returns for his first appearance since last month's win over Munster and lines out on the wing, one try shy of equalling Shane Horgan's Leinster record of 69, with Joshua Kenny on the opposite flank and Ciaran Frawley named at full-back.

South African RG Snyman and James Ryan combine in the second row, with centurion Caelan Doris joined by Will Connors and Alex Soroka.

Harry Byrne and Fintan Gunne start in the half-backs, with Charlie Tector partnering Garry Ringrose in midfield.

Leinster sit fifth in the URC table, Leo Cullen's side have won nine games in a row in all competitions, their last defeat coming against Munster in October last year.

Leinster: C Frawley; J Kenny, G Ringrose, C Tector, J Lowe; H Byrne, F Gunne; J Boyle, G McCarthy, N Smyth; RG Snyman, J Ryan; A Soroka, W Connors, C Doris (capt).

Replacements: R Kelleher, J Cahir, A Sparrow, B Deeny, D Mangan, S Penny, L McGrath, R Moloney.

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Ulster's European Challenge Cup last-16 tie against Ospreys at the Affidea Stadium in Belfast is to take place on Saturday 4 April, with a 20:00 BST kick-off.

Munster will travel to face Exeter Chiefs at Sandy Park in the same competition on the same day, with that match starting at 12:30.

In the last 16 of the Champions Cup, Leinster, the sole remaining Irish province, will be at home to Edinburgh on Sunday 5 April at 17:30.

Connacht will host the Sharks on Friday 3 April in the Challenge Cup, that game starting at 20:00.

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Ulster's Zac Ward is one of eight Ulster players names in Cullie Tucker's Ireland XV squad that will face England 'A' at Thomond Park on Friday, 6 February (19.15 GMT).

Ward, who featured in the Ireland XV against Spain in November, missed out on a place in Andy Farrell's 37-man squad for the Six Nations, but the winger will have the chance to impress in Limerick after a good run of form on the wing for his province.

Joining Ward in the 27-man squad are fellow Ulster backs Jack Murphy, Jude Postlethwaite and the three-time capped James Hume.

In the forwards, Ulster are represented by Sam Crean, Charlie Irvine, Scott Wilson and the in-form Bryn Ward - younger sibling of Zac - who picked up back-to-back man-of-the-match awards in the northern province's recent on-field wins against Munster and Stade Francais.

Leinster's four-time capped back row Max Deegan has been names as captain, with further capped Test internationals selected in the forwards including Leinster's Gus McCarthy, Munster's Oli Jager and Connacht duo Paul Boyle and Darragh Murphy.

Munster's Shane Daly and Connacht's Ben Murphy provide further Test match experience in the backs.

Ireland XV squad

Forwards (16): Diarmuid Barron (Munster), Billy Bohan (Connacht), Paul Boyle (Connacht), Sam Crean (Ulster), Max Deegan (Leinster, captain), Brian Gleeson (Munster), Sam Illo (Connacht), Charlie Irvine (Ulster), Oli Jager (Munster), Sean Jansen (Connacht), Diarmuid Mangan (Leinster), Gus McCarthy (Leinster), Darragh Murray (Connacht), Stephen Smyth (Leinster), Bryn Ward (Ulster), Scott Wilson (Ulster)

Backs (11): Shane Daly (Munster), Matthew Devine (Connacht), Cathal Forde (Connacht), Fintan Gunne (Leinster), James Hume (Ulster), Dan Kelly (Munster), Joshua Kenny (Leinster), Ben Murphy (Connacht), Jack Murphy (Ulster), Jude Postlethwaite (Ulster), Zac Ward (Ulster).

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Full-back Hugo Keenan will not see action for Leinster in their United Rugby Championship game against Connacht in Galway on Saturday [17:30 GMT] but the Ireland international remains in contention for the Six Nations.

Keenan scored the winning try for the British and Irish Lions in their second Test against Australia to seal the series win last summer and underwent hip surgery upon his return home.

The 29-year-old has not featured for club nor country since, but will step up his on-field training with Leinster alongside Jamie Osborne, who has been out with a shoulder injury sustained during Ireland's win over Japan in November.

Both are closing in on returns to action, which will be good news for Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, who is due to announce his squad for the Six Nations on Wednesday ahead of the opening game away to France on 5 February.

Elsewhere, Ciaran Frawley and Jack Conan will be available this week as they return to training, while Jimmy O'Brien (hamstring), Robbie Henshaw (knee), Tommy O'Brien (calf) and Tadhg Furlong (calf) will be assessed later in the week.

There are no further updates on Ryan Baird, Jordan Larmour, Paddy McCarthy, Andrew Porter or Rabah Slimani.

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Ireland scrum-half Craig Casey's shoulder injury will be assessed ahead of Munster's Investec Champions Cup game with Castres.

Casey, 26, was forced off in the second half of the defeat by Toulon on Sunday and head coach Clayton McMillan said post-match that the injury looked "reasonably serious".

However, the injury does not appear to be as bad as first feared and he could feature in Munster's final pool match in Limerick on Saturday (17:30 GMT).

Ireland's Six Nations campaign begins in France on 5 February and the news will be welcome to head coach Andy Farrell after Casey had established himself as deputy to Jamison Gibson-Park.

Meanwhile, Connacht prop Finlay Bealham is expected to be unavailable for "a couple of weeks" after he injured his knee in the United Rugby Championship defeat by Leinster.

There is also concern for Leinster prop Paddy McCarthy, who sustained a "significant foot injury" in the dramatic European win over La Rochelle, and Andrew Porter will be assessed for an ongoing calf concern.

There is better news as prop Tadhg Furlong is set to return in Leinster's final pool match in Bayonne on Saturday (15:15 GMT), and backs Garry Ringrose and Jimmy O'Brien will be available while full-back Hugo Keenan has returned to training but will not play in France.

Versatile back Ciaran Frawley was also forced off in the win over La Rochelle with a foot injury and he will be assessed ahead of the game in Bayonne.

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Leinster match-winner Harry Byrne said he felt confident standing over the last-gasp penalty which snatched a dramatic Investec Champions Cup pool 3 win over La Rochelle in Dublin.

With Leinster trailing 24-22, replacement out-half Byrne stepped up after having earlier missed a conversion attempt to steer the Irish province to a nail-biting bonus-point win.

Byrne took the penalty after a discussion with Sam Prendergast - who missed two conversion attempts earlier in the game - and the 26-year-old said there was "not much" chat before he stepped up.

"I just said to Caelan [Doris, captain] I want to take it," Byrne told Premier Sports.

"I'd taken the one before, hit the post but I hit it well so I felt I wasn't going to miss that one.

"It was a straight kick. To be honest, I probably played for a bit of a draw with the first one and hit the right post. I lined it up dead centre and struck through it."

Leinster won by the slimmest margin after a back-and-forth contest. They raced into a 12-0 lead and fell 17-12 behind before surging 22-17 behind.

But after La Rochelle moved two points clear with a late try, Byrne's penalty capped another compelling entry into the rivalry.

"It was chaotic," added Byrne, whose last Ireland cap came in the 2024 Six Nations.

"We wanted to play and keep the ball on the pitch but probably didn't realise that they wanted to do that too so it turned into a ding-dong battle to see who'd break first really.

"We wanted to keep the ball in play as much as we could and back our fitness, we spoke about it all week. Coming into that environment, with slower bodies, you can inject a bit of tempo."

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Ireland international centre Robbie Henshaw has recovered from a finger injury in time to face La Rochelle this weekend, while the availability of Garry Ringrose, RG Snyman, Rabah Slimani and Harry Byrne will be assessed during the week.

Saturday's Champions Cup pool stage meeting (17:30 GMT) at the Aviva Stadium will be the seventh contest between the two sides in the competition over the past five years with each side winning three apiece, although two of the French side's victories came in finals.

Henshaw was injured against Munster on 27 December and missed Leinster's eight-try win over Connacht on Saturday.

Both prop Slimani and fly-half Byrne were due to be on the bench in that Irish interprovincial derby, but were late scratches from the side.

Second row Snyman and centre Ringrose have both been absent since the Champions Cup opener against Harlequins on 6 December but have returned to training.

Leinster come into the weekend on the back of seven straight victories in all competitions while La Rochelle, despite some struggles this season, beat Toulon 66-0 on Sunday to move into seventh in the Top 14.

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Leinster have made nine changes to their starting team from Saturday's United Rugby Championship win over Munster for the interpro against Connacht at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday (17:30 GMT).

Backs Hugh Cooney, Charlie Tector and Joshua Kenny are drafted in, along with fly-half Sam Prendergast.

Among the forwards, Dan Sheehan is back in to captain the team, Brian Deeny partners Joe McCarthy in the second row and there is an entirely new back row in the form of Diarmuid Mangan, Will Connors and Jack Conan.

Connors returns to the team for the first time since October.

Among those making way are Ireland internationals Robbie Henshaw, James Lowe, Ronan Kelleher and James Ryan, with Max Deegan and Josh van der Flier among the replacements.

Connacht make five changes from the side which lost 29-24 to Ulster last Saturday.

Dave Heffernan and Jack Carty miss out through injury, so Dylan Tierney-Martin starts at hooker and Josh Ioane comes in at fly-half to form a new half-back partnership with Matthew Devine.

David Henshaw is drafted in at outside centre, while Chay Mullins plays on the right wing after returning to full fitness.

Leinster have won six matches in a row, four of those having come in the United Rugby Championship, while Connacht have lost five of their past six URC outings.

Leo Cullen's side sit sixth in the table going into the weekend's action, with Connacht four places worse off in 10th.

Leinster: Frawley;O'Brien, Cooney, Tector, Kenny; Prendergast, Gibson-Park; Porter, Sheehan (capt), Clarkson; McCarthy, Deeny; Mangan, Connors, Conan.

Replacements: McCarthy, Boyle, Slimani, O'Tighearnaigh, Deegan, van der Flier, McGrath, Byrne.

Connacht: Gilbert; Mullins, Hawkshaw, Aki, Treacy; Ioane, Devine; Buckley, Tierney-Martin, Bealham; Joyce, O'Connor; Murphy, Prendergast, Jansen.

Replacements: de Buitlear, Bohan, Barrett, Murray, Boyle, Murphy, West, Forde.

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Leinster have named fit-again Andrew Porter and captain Caelan Doris in their starting team to face Munster in Saturday's United Rugby Championship interprovincial derby at Thomond Park (19:45 GMT).

Prop Porter is included in a Leinster starting XV for the first time since October after recovering from an arm injury.

Ireland internationals Robbie Henshaw, Jamison Gibson-Park, Ronan Kelleher, Joe McCarthy, Max Deegan and Josh van der Flier are among the other players drafted in by Leo Cullen, who makes 11 personnel changes in total.

Leinster began their series of Irish interpros by defeating Ulster 24-20 at the Aviva Stadium on Friday to make it four wins from seven outings in the competition so far.

Munster meanwhile make seven changes from the side that started Saturday's bonus-point win over Ospreys in Wales on Saturday, a result which saw them climb to second in the table.

Captain Tadhg Beirne, Thaakir Abrahams, Craig Casey, Michael Milne, Lee Barron, Edwin Edogbo and Tom Ahern all come into the starting XV.

There are two positional changes as Shane Daly moves to full-back and Jack O'Donoghue switches from blind-side to open-side flanker.

John Ryan is set to make his 250th appearance for Munster off the replacements' bench, becoming only the third player after Donncha O'Callaghan and Stephen Archer to hit the milestone for the province.

He is joined among the replacements by Diarmuid Barron and Dan Kelly who both return from injury.

Munster: Daly; Nash, Farrell, Nankivell, Abrahams; Crowley, Casey; Milne, Barron, Ala'alatoa; Edogbo, Ahern; Beirne, O'Donoghue, Coombes.

Replacements: Barron, Loughman, Ryan, Kleyn, Wycherley, Patterson, Kelly, Hodnett.

Leinster: Frawley; O'Brien, Ioane, Henshaw, Lowe; Byrne, Gibson-Park; Porter, Kelleher, Clarkson; McCarthy, Ryan; Deegan, van der Flier, Doris (capt).

Replacements: McKee, P McCarthy, Furlong, Mangan, Penny, Gunne, Tector, Osborne.

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Australia prop Angus Bell will make his first Ulster start in Friday's United Rugby Championship game against Leinster at Aviva Stadium (19:45 GMT).

Short-term signing Bell, who came off the bench in the Challenge Cup fixtures against Racing 92 and Cardiff, starts at loose-head with Ireland internationals Tom O'Toole and Tom Stewart completing the front row.

Centre Stuart McCloskey returns from the groin injury he sustained on Ireland duty last month. He is joined in midfield by Jude Postlethwaite, who missed last weekend's defeat by Cardiff because of concussion.

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy has recalled several players after rotating his squad for the Cardiff game, with Nick Timoney and Juarno Augustus returning to the back row.

Jacob Stockdale is restored at full-back, while Rob Baloucoune - who has scored five tries this season - returns to the right wing. The first-choice half-back pairing of Nathan Doak and Jack Murphy are also recalled.

Ethan McIlroy is set for his first appearance since January from the bench after recovering from a knee injury.

Ireland forward James Ryan will earn his 100th Leinster cap in Friday's interprovincial derby.

URC holders Leinster will be captained by Jack Conan, who came through graduated return to play protocols, with Caelan Doris not named in the squad.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen has made 11 changes from last weekend's Investec Champions Cup win at Leicester.

New Zealand international Rieko Ioane will play his first URC game after a couple of Champions Cup appearances, while Sam Prendergast is restored at fly-half after Harry Byrne was preferred for the Leicester game.

Ulster have won four out of five URC games this season while Leinster have three wins and three defeats from six. Leinster won both meetings last season, including a comprehensive 41-17 win at Aviva Stadium in April.

Leinster: Frawley; Kenny, Ioane, Tector, Lowe; Prendergast, McGrath; Boyle, G McCarthy, Slimani, Deeny, Ryan, Soroka, Penny, Conan (capt).

Replacements: Sheehan, P McCarthy, Furlong, J McCarthy, Deegan, Gunne, Byrne, Moloney.

Ulster: Stockdale; Baloucoune, Postlethwaite, McCloskey, Kok; Murphy, Doak; Bell, Stewart, O'Toole, Sheridan, Irvine, McCann, Timoney (capt), Augustus.

Replacements: Andrew, Crean, Wilson, Hopes, B Ward, McKee, Flannery, McIlroy.