Ulster ready to match the Toulouse way
Injury-ravaged Ulster welcome European giants Toulouse to Ravenhill tonight and Les Kiss's side are sorely in need of a victory to give themselves a fighting chance of making it past the Champions Cup pool stages.
With Dan Tuohy and the mighty Iain Henderson both ruled out 23-year-old Alan O’Connor comes in to make just his 15th appearance for the province at secondrow against a Toulouse side who under new coach Ugo Mola are showing flickers of the attacking verve upon which the club made its name.
Ulster’s defence coach Joe Barakat is under no illusions as to the size of the task facing his charges, he said: “Their first option is to play rugby, their first option is to create a hell of a lot of chaos with offloads to keep the ball alive. It is just the Toulouse way, it’s how they have been brought up and they’re not going to change.”
Old guard back Leinster upset
Meanwhile Leinster are faced with a daunting task of their own on Sunday when they travel to play three-in-a-row champions Toulon, but Victor Costello believes his old side can cause an upset at the Stade Felix Mayol, he said: "If they can dig deep into their own tradition and their own belief, they're good players, I think they can [CAUSE AN]upset.
“Toulon are a mercenary side. You can silence the French crowd, they can turn on themselves.”
Lam turns to young guns
Connacht are another side plagued with injury problems and Pat Lam has put his faith in youth with 18 first team members currently out of action. There are three 21-year-olds in the province's backline for tonight's Challenge Cup clash with Newcastle Falcons - Rory Parata, Peter Robb and Caolin Blade.
Liam Toland column
In his column today Liam Toland looks ahead to Munster's clash against Leicester at Thomond Park on Saturday evening, and he believes Anthony Foley's side can win the latest renewal of their European rivalry, he writes: "Leicester in Thomond Park are readable and beatable."
Platini awaits his fate
Uefa president Michel Platini will find out this morning (9am) if his 90-day ban from all football activity will be lifted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport, thus allowing him to be present at Saturday's draw for Euro 2016 and the announcement of how tournament prize money will be distributed.
Spurs ease past Monaco
In the Europa League Tottenham Hotspur topped Group J after Erik Lamela's first half hattrick saw them ease past AS Monaco 4-1. Elsewhere Celtic drew 1-1 away at Fenerbahce and Liverpool topped their group despite a dull 0-0 draw away at FC Sion.
Leinster Council favour new ground
Meanwhile Leinster council chairJohn Horan has again raised the possibility of building a new 40,000 GAA ground on Dublin's M50 which could potentially form part of Ireland's 2023 Rugby World Cup bid.
Crowley ready to finally pull on green vest
The European Cross Country Championships take place this weekend and ahead of them ian O'Riordan has spoken to Caroline Crowley who is set to wear the green of the Ireland senior women's team for the first time.
National Elite finals
The National Elite boxing finals take place at the National Stadium tonight without Michael Conlan, Paddy Barnes or Joe Ward, who have already qualified for the Olympics, but there is still plenty at stake with the squad for the Rio 2016 qualifiers in Istanbul to be assembled after the weight divisions are decided tonight.
What to watch out for:
Rugby
Ulster welcome the mighty Toulous to Ravenhill tonight (BT Sport Europe, 7.45pm ko)
