Celtic League news: At least the Munster and Leinster players coming off Ireland's World Cup failure return to winning environments. Both provinces broke long-standing losing streaks in Wales last weekend - Munster's stretching back two years - with victories over Cardiff and The Dragons that mean they bring 100 per cent records into round three of the Magners Celtic League.
Leinster coach Michael Cheika was quick to ease any pressure on the five returning internationals - Brian O'Driscoll, Gordon D'Arcy, Girvan Dempsey, Shane Horgan and Malcolm O'Kelly.
"I'll just see how they feel when they come back. It's going to be a tough couple of weeks going forward as they are going to take a fair bit of criticism I imagine.
"We'll hopefully help them deal with that and get them back enjoying their footie. Have a few games of touch and relax a little bit. Just get back to some of the basics of the game," said Cheika.
"They are good guys, good men. They are strong in the mind too. They'll get over it, you know what I mean?
"Teams haven't reached their objectives in many sports before and we'll help them to deal with that when the time is right. There is no rush."
Leinster's primary injury concerns ahead of the visit of the Llanelli Scarlets to the RDS on Friday night (live on Setanta Sports) are Leo Cullen and Fergus McFadden. Mick Berne is a medium-term absentee with a fractured cheekbone. A team is expected tomorrow.
Ulster coach Mark McCall has included Italian lock Carlo Del Fava in the 24-man squad to face The Dragons on Saturday following Italy's elimination the World Cup. Del Fava started against Scotland last Saturday but was part of Ulster's pre-season before being called up to the Italian squad after recovering from injury. Ryan Caldwell is excluded from the squad after receiving a red card during the surprise defeat in Edinburgh last Friday and will attend a disciplinary hearing today to discover his punishment.
"It was a very disappointing display - we didn't wake up for half an hour," said McCall.
"We played better in the second half but kept turning the ball over and we couldn't hold on to the ball long enough to score.
"At this level if you make as many mistakes as we did, especially in crucial areas of the pitch, you don't deserve to win. We lacked composure.
"There was good build-up play to the 22 and then we tried to force passes."
New recruit Kieran Hallett has been named on the squad for the first time. The former Bedford Blues outhalf joins his former Irish under-21 team-mates Darren Cave and David Pollock who will also travel to Rodney Parade.
Despite their lack of game time in France, Stephen Ferris, Neil Best, Isaac Boss and Paddy Wallace have not been included this week.
Connacht coach Michael Bradley will be seeking an immediate recovery from defeat in Llanelli with Friday's trip to Glasgow. "I think Glasgow always would see the Connacht fixture as a must-win game for them and we're going to do the same. I think the scoreline will be tight but the game itself will be quite loose.
"They've some powerful centres and they stick a lot of traffic through the centre of the park and if we can handle that, which we haven't in the past, then it could be a good night for us."
Gavin Duffy is another who may be considered for immediate selection.
Friday
Celtic League
Leinster v Llanelli Scarlets, RDS, 7.10 (Live Setanta Sports); Edinburgh v Ospreys, Murrayfield, 7.30; Glasgow Warriors v Connacht, Firhill, 7.30; Munster v Cardiff Blues, Musgrave Park, 7.30.
Saturday
Celtic League
Dragons v Ulster, Rodney Parade, 5.30 (Live Setanta Sports).
