Kidney adds 12 to Ireland squad

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has added 12 players to his panel for the RBS 6 Nations clash with Wales next Saturday.

Rhys Ruddock, Fergus McFadden, Tony Buckley, Kevin McLaughlin, Mick O'Driscoll, Donnacha Ryan, Gavin Duffy, Andrew Trimble, Johne Murphy, Tomas O'Leary, Devin Toner and Mike McCarthy are added to the panel.

They join the 22 players that made up the squad that beat Scotland last weekend at Murrayfield.
Kidney will name his 22 for the match with Wales on lunchtime on Tuesday.

Munster 38-17 Newport Gwent Dragons

Munster continued their charge towards a home Magners League semi-final as they ran five tries past Newport Gwent Dragons in Cork.
 Penalties from Paul Warwick and Jason Tovey were the only scores until Doug Howlett blitzed through for a brace of tries, handing Munster an 18-9 half-time advantage.
Steve Jones touched down for the Dragons, but tries from man of the match Mick O'Driscoll, Johne Murphy and Alan Quinlan made certain of the bonus point for Munster.
The visitors had to realign their backs division before kick-off. An injury to Will Harries saw Pat Leach move to full-back with Ashley Smith brought into midfield.

Both sides showed an eagerness to attack but early penalties prevented any momentum being built up as Warwick and Tovey traded blows.
 Warwick nudged Munster ahead before Tovey struck an upright with his first penalty. He made amends in the eighth minute before Warwick kicked Munster back in front.
 Tovey then moved the Dragons 9-6 ahead with two well-struck efforts as the likes of Joe Bearman and Toby Faletau made the hard yards.

Leinster 26-15 Scarlets

The Scarlets lost out to one of their Magners League play-off rivals as Leinster took the spoils at the RDS.
 Jonathan Sexton returned to provincial duty to kick four penalties and convert tries in each half from Niall Morris and Isaac Boss.

Rhys Thomas touched down for the Scarlets, who had the final say with a late consolation try from Nic Reynolds.

The game pitted third against fourth and, as such, it was no surprise that the first half was a cagey affair.

With a neck injury ruling Iestyn Thomas out, Gareth Maule captained the Scarlets and he knocked on as the visitors looked to create an early opening on the Leinster 22.

Rhys Priestland dragged a drop goal wide after a turnover from Josh Turnbull, but it was Leinster who managed to open the scoring through winger Morris.

He was invited forward on the right wing and fended off a poor tackle from Priestland to gallop over in the corner. Sexton, benched by Ireland at the weekend, converted for good measure.

The Scarlets were eager to put the ball through the hands and teenager George North saw a good deal of possession, even if Leinster were quick to close him down.

Priestland had two penalty misses either side of a successful 20th minute shot from Sexton, before he redeemed himself near the half-hour mark.

Connacht 31-25 Bennetton Treviso

Connacht had to dig deep to record a narrow home win over Magners League opponents Treviso, who finished strongly to claim a late bonus point.
 With their stand-in captain Johnny O'Connor in the sin-bin, Connacht leaked a penalty try which Willem de Waal converted to get the Italians within a converted score of victory.

But Eric Elwood's men, who had stormed into a handsome early lead, held on to move above the visitors in the Magners League standings.

Troy Nathan and the excellent Frank Murphy scored tries to move Connacht 18-0 ahead, before Michele Sepe and Manoa Vosawai responded for Treviso.

Ian Keatley, who finished with 16 points, kicked the hosts into a 24-12 half-time lead, but Treviso put the hosts under huge pressure late on.

Treviso took their time to settle at the Sportsground and an early sin-binning for Fijian flanker Vosawai, for a dangerous tackle on Ray Ofisa, left them in trouble.

They were already 7-0 down at that point, with a Keatley pass creating an overlap and Brian Tuohy drawing the defender for Nathan to score a converted opener.

Ulster 23-10 Aironi Rugby

Ulster kept their Magners League play-off hopes alive with their third win in a row but they were made to fight hard by a spirited Aironi effort which managed to deny the hosts a bonus point.
 

The result could have been a lot closer had Aironi been more precise with their finishing after a number of chances were blown by the Italians, who tumbled to their 16th defeat in as many outings in the competition.

Ulster, with Ruan Pienaar at outside half for the injured Ian Humphreys, made several errors after initially streaking to an early 15-0 lead.

Tries from Tom Court and Craig Gilroy inside seven minutes helped them to a 15-10 half-time lead before a score from replacement Declan Fitzpatrick plus two Pienaar penalties in a second half which skipper Johann Mueller was yellow carded.

With only three minutes on the clock Court drove over the line after Ulster had kicked to the corner from a penalty.

Pienaar's conversion hit the upright but he made sure with his second attempt which came four minutes later after Ulster had moved the ball at pace for Chris Henry to send Gilroy over for a seventh try in seven appearances.

Ferris to miss rest of Six Nations

Ulster flanker Stephen Ferris has been ruled out for the rest of this year's RBS Six Nations campaign.

Ferris has been struggling with a persistent knee problem, which he aggravated while on Heineken Cup duty for his province against Aironi.

The 26-year-old is to see a consultant in London to examine the true extent of the problem but has been told he will play no part in the remainder of this season's Six Nations.

Ireland head coach Declan Kidney also has concerns over the availability of Tomas O'Leary.

O'Leary is continuing his rehab from his ongoing back problem and at this stage has not been ruled out of the games with Wales and England.