McAlister and Burgess to join Toulouse

New Zealand centre Luke McAlister and Australia scrum-half Luke Burgess will join Toulouse after the World Cup, the European champions have announced.
The pair will move to the big-spending Top 14 club from the Auckland Blues and the Waratahs, respectively.
South Africa loosehead prop Gurthro Steenkamp has also been signed from the Bulls while French fly-half Lionel Beauxis has been recruited from Stade Francais.

A statement on www.stadetoulousain.fr read: 'After the signatures of Nicolas Bez, Jean-Marc Doussain and Russlan Boukerou, who signed their first professional contracts with the club, Stade Toulousain has formalised its recruitment for the 2011-2012 season.

'Lionel Beauxis, Luke McAlister, Luke Burgess and Gurthro Steenkamp are committed to the club for three years, until the end of the 2013-2014 season. Timoci Matanavou has signed for two years until June 2013.'

Ulster Line-Up Announced

Captained by Rory Best, there is just once change in the starting line-up from the side which defeated Llanelli Scarlets at Ravenhill in the Magners League last week, with Chris Henry starting in the openside berth ahead of Willie Faloon who is named on the bench.

The only other change amongst the replacements is the inclusion of prop Bryan Young who comes in with Declan Fitzpatrick unavailable having picked up a wrist injury.

Craig Gilroy, Ulster's top try-scorer in the Magners League with seven tries from nine appearances could make his Heineken Cup debut if he comes off the bench during the game, having been registered for the competition as an additional player. 

The match will be shown live on Sky Sports and there will also be commentary on Radio Ulster 1341 MW from 2pm.

ULSTER: (15-9) Adam D'Arcy; Andrew Trimble, Nevin Spence, Paddy Wallace, Simon Danielli; Ian Humphreys, Ruan Pienaar (1-8) Tom Court, Rory Best (Captain), BJ Botha, Johann Muller, Dan Tuohy, Robbie Diack, Chris Henry, Pedrie Wannenburg

Replacements: (16-23) Andi Kyriacou, Paddy McAllister, Bryan Young, Tim Barker, Willie Faloon, Paul Marshall, Ian Whitten, Craig Gilroy

Leinster Team Named To Face The Tigers

Sean O'Brien will make his 50th Leinster appearance in Saturday's game and he continues in the back-row alongside Jamie Heaslip and Kevin McLaughlin.

Leo Cullen leads the team and partners Nathan Hines at second row, with Cian Healy, Richardt Strauss and Mike Ross completing the pack.

Gordon D'Arcy again links up with Brian O'Driscoll in a backline which features, in all, six Ireland internationals including the competition's top points scorer so far this season Jonathan Sexton (76 points) who partners Eoin Reddan at half back.

Ireland international trio Isaac Boss, Fergus McFadden and Devin Toner are named amongst the replacements.

Rautenbach banned for Wallace incident

London Irish prop Faan Rautenbach has been given a three-week ban for stamping on the head and shoulder of Munster flanker David Wallace.

Rautenbach was yellow-carded following the incident during Munster's victory in the teams' Heineken Cup clash in Limerick last Saturday.

The subsequent citing was upheld with an initial suspension of five weeks reduced by two weeks by an independent disciplinary hearing because of mitigating factors.

Rautenbach is free to play from Friday, 18 February.

Heineken Cup quarter-final details released

Leinster will face Leicester on Saturday, 9 April in the Heineken Cup quarter-final while Ulster face a trip to Milton Keynes to face Northampton the following day.

Dates for the quarter-final round were announced today by ERC and the clash of Leinster, the highest seeded Irish province, and Heineken Cup blue-bloods Leicester has been given the prime Saturday evening spot in the schedule.

In a repeat of the 2009 final won by Leinster, the pair will face off at Aviva Stadium in a 6pm kick-off.

Ulster will face Northampton Saints at stadium:mk in Milton Keynes the following day (Sunday) at 2pm.

The other quarter-finals are all French affairs but both will take place in Northern Spain. Perpignan's clash with Toulon will get the weekend underway on Saturday at the 55,000 capacity Olympic Stadium in Barcelona.

The clash of Toulouse and Biarritz at Estadio Anoeta in San Sebastian, near Biarritz, will round of the weekend's action in the second Sunday match.

The semi-finals will pit the winners of the Leinster v Leicester clash against either Biarritz or Toulouse and the winners of Ulster v Northampton against Perpignan or Toulon.

If Leinster or Ulster win their quarter-final matches, their semi-final will take place in Ireland.

Leinster and Ulster face English opposition

Leinster will host Leicester in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals, while Ulster must travel to top-seeded Northampton.


Pool 2 champions Leinster will host the Tigers at home, potentially at the Aviva Stadium instead of regular home ground, the RDS, in what is a repeat of the 2009 Heineken Cup final - a match Leinster won 19-16 at Murrayfield.


Ulster face a very tough examination as they travel to England to face Northampton Saints. That match is currently fixed for Franklin's Gardens, but there are discussions ongoing to change the match to Stadium:mk. Franklin's Gardens has a capacity of 13,591, while Stadium:mk holds 22,000.


Ulster will consider themselves lucky to have avoided European giants Toulouse. A last-minute David Lemi try gave Wasps a surprise 21-16 win over Toulouse, a result which pushes Guy Noves' charges into an away tie against Biarritz.

Munster 28-14 London Irish

Munster scored three converted tries in the final 10 minutes to break clear of London Irish and earn a confidence-boosting bonus point win.

Irish were just 12 minutes away from becoming only the second team to beat Munster in a Heineken Cup tie at Thomond Park.

Their captain Seilala Mapusua scored a try and set up the second for Sailosi Tagicakibau as the visitors edged into a 14-7 lead, after a scoreless first half.

But Munster, who are Amlin Challenge Cup-bound now, hit back decisively with late tries from Niall Ronan, Keith Earls and replacement Darragh Hurley.

That closing barrage of points put a gloss on the final scoreline, but Munster can take heart from how they raised their game when staring at a possible third pool defeat.

Smarting from their Toulon nightmare, Munster made a sprightly start in heavy underfoot conditions, getting Johne Murphy and Denis Hurley involved early on.

Mapusua, in his final Heineken Cup outing for Irish, announced himself with a typical midfield burst, and Munster were unable to convert their early territory into points.

A solid lineout platform and some clever kicking from Darren Allinson brought the visitors forward, but they were hampered by prop Faan Rautenbach's sin-binning for stamping on David Wallace at a ruck.

Aironi 6-43 Ulster

Ulster secured their place in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time in 12 years with a bonus-point victory over Aironi at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella.

That was not enough to clinch top spot in Pool Four following a bonus-point victory for Biarritz over Bath. Ulster finished level on 22 points with the French club but missed out due to an inferior head-to-head record.

However, this win did secure one of two places in the last eight for best runners-up, the first time Ulster have reached the knock-out stage of the Heineken Cup since they won the trophy back in 1999.

Number eight Pedrie Wannenburg scored twice in a man-of-the-match display while tries from Andrew Trimble and a penalty try wrapped up a bonus point before Chris Henry and Simon Danielli capped the victory with late scores.

Fly-half Ian Humphreys also booted 13 points, including the opening points of the game with a third-minute penalty to help settle Ulster nerves.

Racing Metro 11-36 Leinster

Brian O'Driscoll celebrated his 32nd birthday with a try-scoring contribution in Leinster's bonus-point Heineken Cup victory over Racing Metro, which clinched a home quarter-final for the province.

The Ireland centre crossed in the 69th minute for Leinster's fifth try at a chilly Stade Yves du Manoir, as Joe Schmidt's pool winners turned in another impressive display.

First-half tries from Isa Nacewa, man-of-the-match Sean O'Brien and Jonathan Sexton gave them a 21-11 half-time lead against their understrength French opponents, for whom Heineken Cup debutant Virimi Vakatawa scored a fine individual effort.

Outside-half Sexton, who finished with 21 points, put his name to Leinster's bonus-point score in the second half, before birthday boy O'Driscoll completed a comfortable win.

O'Driscoll and company had booked their place in the last-eight with a six-try demolition of Saracens last Saturday but, needing another victory to be sure of playing at home in the last eight, Schmidt named a strong line-up for this trip to Paris.

Gordon D'Arcy returned from injury at inside centre, while Isaac Boss was preferred to Eoin Reddan at scrum-half. With the inspirational Jamie Heaslip still absent with an ankle injury, the in-form O'Brien moved to number eight.

Racing's interest in the competition ended last week in defeat at Clermont Auvergne and, with a tough Top 14 fixture to come against the same opposition on Wednesday, they fielded a largely second-string team.

Argentina's Juan Martin Hernandez was at fly-half but there was no place in the starting line-up for the likes of Lionel Nallet and Francois Steyn.

O'Leary back in Munster starting XV

Tomás O'Leary has reclaimed the starting scrum-half jersey in a Munster side to face London Irish which also shows several other changes from the team beaten by Toulon (3.30pm).

Munster crashed out of the Heineken Cup thanks to a 32-16 defeat against the well-financed French outfit last week and can now only qualify for the Amlin Challenge Cup.

O'Leary, who was recently left out of Ireland coach Declan Kidney's initial RBS 6 Nations squad, replaces Peter Stringer, who drops to the bench. Ronan O'Gara continues at out-half.

Elsewhere in the backline, full-back Paul Warwick, who suffered a heavy knock against Toulon, and centre Sam Tuitupou, who strained his hamstring during training this week, also miss out on selection.
 Johne Murphy shifts from wing to full-back in place of Warwick with Denis Hurley coming into the starting XV on one wing. Doug Howlett continues on the other wing. Keith Earls and Lifiemi Mafi start together in the centre.

Munster squad shows three changes

The Munster squad shows just three changes in personnel from last week's squad, for the Heineken Cup game with London Irish at Thomond Park Stadium on Saturday.
 Donnacha Ryan misses out having injured a hamstring after coming on as a replacement, while Billy Holland and Tommy O'Donnell are named in Munster's British & Irish starting XV for the game against Esher on Friday (Garryowen FC 7.30pm), with Holland set to skipper the side.

Munster squad to play London Irish in the Heineken Cup at Thomond Park:

Wian Du Preez, Darragh Hurley, Tony Buckley, John Hayes, Mike Sherry, Damien Varley, Donncha O'Callaghan, Paul O'Connell, Mick O'Driscoll, Ian Nagle, Niall Ronan, James Coughlan, David Wallace, Denis Leamy, Tomas O'Leary, Peter Stringer, Scott Deasy, Ronan O'Gara, Johne Murphy, Sam Tuitupou, Tom Gleeson, Keith Earls, Lifeimi Mafi, Denis Hurley, Doug Howlett, Paul Warwick

Leinster name team for Racing trip.

Gordon D'Arcy has been named in the Leinster team to face Racing-Métro 92 in their Heineken Cup clash at Stade Yves du Manoir on Friday night (8pm).

D'Arcy was a fitness doubt after being missing out on last weekend's 43-20 victory over Saracens with a calf-strain suffered during the buildup to the game.

He starts at inside centre alongside Brian O'Driscoll while in the only other change to the back-line, Ireland international Isaac Boss partners Jonathan Sexton at half-back.

Jamie Heaslip has not made the squad. The number eight's ankle injury was being monitored by Leinster's medical team this week and he is not considered fit enough to make the trip.

Openside Shane Jennings will make his 50th Heineken Cup appearance. He will be the 14th Leinster player to have reached the landmark, which he has done by playing for Leinster (32 caps) and Leicester Tigers (17).

Munster call up Nagle for London Irish clash

Ian Nagle has been added to the Munster squad for their final Heineken Cup pool game against London Irish this Saturday.

Munster submitted the additional player documentation to the ERC today.

Second row Nagle, who secured a development contract at the start of the season after spending two years with the Munster Rugby Academy, has made five appearances in the Magners League and put in a Man of the Match performance against Australia last November.

Ian Dowling, who is suffering from an ongoing hip injury, has been submitted as the player to be de-registered.

Botha ruled out for Ulster

BJ Botha has been ruled out of Ulster's final Heineken Cup pool match against Aironi at the Stadio Zaffanella on Saturday.
 Botha sustained an elbow injury during the second half of last Saturday's win over Biarritz.
The province has named a 32-man squad for the tie. Captain Rory Best, who also left the field with a rib injury, is included.

The starting XV and replacements will be named on Friday before noon.

Ulster squad for Heineken Cup match with Aironi on Saturday, kick-off 1:30pm:

Tom Court, Declan Fitzpatrick, Jerry Cronin, Bryan Young, Andi Kyriacou, Rory Best, Nigel Brady, Ryan Caldwell, Tim Barker, Dan Tuohy, Johann Muller, Neil McComb, Willie Faloon, Pedrie Wannenburg, Stephen Ferris, TJ Anderson, Chris Henry, Robbie Diack
 Adam D'Arcy, David McIlwaine, Jamie Smith, Mark McCrea, Andrew Trimble, Simon Danielli, Paddy Wallace, Nevin Spence, Ian Whitten, Ian Humphreys, Niall O'Connor, Ian Porter, Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar.

Leinster monitor D'Arcy and Heaslip

Leinster centre Gordon D'Arcy and number eight Jamie Heaslip could be available for next weekend's clash with Racing Metro in Paris.

D'Arcy picked up a calf injury during the build up to Leinster's 43-20 victory over Saracens at the RDS and was replaced by Fergus McFadden.

Leinster say they hope he will be available for selection.

D'Arcy and Jamie Heaslip - who missed the match with an ankle problem - will be monitored ahead of Thursday's team announcement.There were no other fresh injury concerns for Leinster ahead of the final round encounter with try scorers Dominic Ryan, Sean O'Brien, Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa and Eoin O'Malley all in the frame.
 Jonathan Sexton's 13 point haul in the RDS brought his tally in this year's competition to 55 points, bringing his career tally in Leinster colours in all competitions to 424 points in 66 games.
 Leinster also announced that the number of supporters attending their games had passed the 300,000 mark for the season.

McGahan "Munster paid for indiscipline"

Munster head coach Tony McGahan conceded that a lack of discipline had let his side down as they crashed out of the Heineken Cup at the hands of Toulon.

Donncha O'Callaghan and Ronan O'Gara were both yellow-carded as the Irish province bowed out with an untypical whimper, losing 32-16 in the south of France.

England star Jonny Wilkinson punished almost every infringement by Munster in kicking 22 points, while Christian Loamanu and Paul Sackey helped themselves to tries.

McGahan said: 'I'm absolutely shattered to be out of the Heineken Cup at this point in the term, especially after a very disappointing performance.

'I think the first thing was our discipline. Conceding 13 points with two men off the field and a couple of penalties from scrums certainly added to the scoreline. But I think, most of all, our lack of accuracy in trying to put anything together.

'I thought we were very frantic at times, especially in the first half. We had a bit of a dried up source from our set-piece, so we really needed to make sure that we controlled the ball, played in the right areas of the field and put some pressure on them. But unfortunately we weren't able to do that.'

Toulon 32-16 Munster

Munster failed to qualify for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup for the first time in 13 years after slumping to defeat in Toulon.

Half-backs Jonny Wilkinson and Pierre Mignoni drove Toulon to a 26-9 half-time advantage, with Munster lock Donncha O'Callaghan sin-binned shortly before the break.
 Wingers Christian Loamanu and Paul Sackey scored first-half tries at a partisan Stade Felix Mayol, and any hopes of a Munster comeback evaporated when Ronan O'Gara was yellow carded in the 49th minute.
 

Wilkinson finished with 22 points as the big-spending French outfit reached the knock-out stages in their first season in the competition.
 Lying two points behind leaders Toulon heading into this pivotal Pool Three clash, Tony McGahan's men knew it was win or bust if they wanted to retain their interest in this season's Heineken Cup.

Leinster 43-20 Saracens

Leinster put Saracens to the sword with a ruthless second-half display at the RDS to book their place in the Heineken Cup quarter-finals.

Saracens were only 22-12 adrift at half-time, turning around with the advantage of a blustery wind, but tries from Fergus McFadden, Isa Nacewa and Eoin O'Malley eased Leinster away.
In a free-flowing first half, man-of-the-match Sean O'Brien and Dominic Ryan (two) touched down for the hosts, with James Short and Kelly Brown crossing for Sarries.

But the Aviva Premiership high flyers were taught an attacking lesson after the break, and an injury-time try from Nils Mordt was meaningless in the end.

The bonus-point victory keeps Leinster five points clear of Clermont Auvergne and guarantees them top spot in Pool Two with a better head-to-head record over the French
side.

Ulster 9-6 Biarritz

Ulster coach Brian McLaughlin hailed his side's second-half defensive effort after Ian Humphreys kept their Heineken Cup hopes alive with a last-gasp penalty to secure a 9-6 win over Biarritz at Ravenhill.

Their European fate now hangs on next weekend's final round of games as Ulster and Biarritz, who grabbed a vital losing bonus point, sit joint top of Pool Four with 17 points each. The French side hold the trump card - thanks to a better head-to-head record - should the sides still be level after next weekend's games.

The odds are against Ulster topping the group, although they could still sneak through in one of the two best runners-up slots available.

McLaughlin was delighted with the result, and in particular the way his side stood firm in the final quarter.

It's all or nothing for Munster.

Munster face a must-win Heineken Cup clash away against Toulon on Sunday, a challenge which lock Donncha O'Callaghan is relishing.

Munster are flying high atop of the Magners League but they have yet to find their best form in Europe this season and presently lie second behind Toulon in Pool Three.

The showdown on Sunday at Stade Felix Mayol therefore presents a huge game for both sides in their bid to top the pool and in the process book a quarter-final place. Added pressure for Munster is that they have not missed out on a Heineken Cup quarter-final on their last 12 attempts.

"We're playing for our lives," O'Callaghan told the Irish Independent.

"It's a massive week, cup-final rugby.

"This is where you test yourself, this is where you want to be. People say we're not playing well, but tables reflect what we're doing. There's a huge standard expected with this team."