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.

Bowe a doubt for Six Nations opener

Tommy Bowe has given Ireland a major injury scare ahead of this season's RBS 6 Nations Championship after being withdrawn from the Ospreys squad for this weekend.

The British and Irish Lions Test wing and prolific try-scorer will miss the Ospreys' Heineken Cup clash against Toulon tomorrow due to a knee problem.
 And Ireland coach Declan Kidney must now await news over Bowe's availability for the opening Six Nations appointment with Italy in Rome on 5 February.

Ospreys physiotherapist Chris Towers said: 'We've withdrawn Tommy from this weekend's game on medical grounds, pending further investigation and specialist opinion for a knee problem.

'Due to the onset of some recent symptoms, we scanned him this week, which highlighted an issue that could potentially develop into something problematic.

'As such, we felt that it is in Tommy's best interest to take these precautions. We have notified the Irish medical team, and following further investigations next week we should be able to establish the most appropriate course of treatment for the problem and to confirm whether it will interfere with Tommy's involvement in the Six Nations with Ireland.'

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.

Leinster secure home advantage

Leinster head coach Joe Schmidt was delighted to see his side secure the bonus-point win over Racing Metro which ensures a home Heineken Cup quarter-final.

The province had already secured qualification from Pool Two, but needed a victory in Paris to make sure they would host their last-eight clash at either the RDS or Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

Jonathan Sexton finished with two tries and a haul of 21 points, while Isa Nacewa, Sean O'Brien and Brian O'Driscoll also crossed.

Speaking after the 36-11 win, Schmidt said the 2009 champions had wanted to give something back to the 1,000 Leinster fans who made the trip to the French capital.

'I think anyone who was at the game today saw the amount of support that travelled to see us,' he said.

'Our theme was that we owed it to our supporters, with the support they've given us, to give them the opportunity to come and see us at home in a quarter-final.

'I think the players, the way they played today, demonstrated the value we place on the support that we get.'

Schmidt also praised man of the match Sean O'Brien, who continued at number eight in the absence of the injured Jamie Heaslip.

'One of the great advantages with Sean is he can play any of the three loose forward positions equally competently and he is just so dynamic so often,' Schmidt added.

Racing, who were already out of the competition before tonight's game, fielded an understrength team ahead of a crunch Top-14 fixture against Clermont Auvergne on Wednesday.

Virimi Vakatawa scored a superb solo try, but full-back Dan Scarbrough admitted his side were always up against it.

'We had a team that was a little bit experimental today. We were trying different things and we went well initially, but they broke us down very well,' Scarbrough said.

O'Driscoll got the final try of the game on his 32nd birthday and Scarbrough was impressed by the Ireland captain's performance.

'He did as all good players do, he's consistent,' he added. 'He did the basics very well and one thing that really stood out for me was the try near the end.

'He went right past me but he cut an awesome line for that. They're looking strong.'