Munster head coach Johann Van Graan admitted Racing 92’s late sucker punch was a bitter pill to swallow as his team’s Heineken Champions Cup hopes were all but ended.

“I cannot end with that match cancelled by the typhoon.”

Exeter have revealed receipt of a £350,000 share following the £5.36million fine imposed on Gallagher Premiership rivals Saracens for breaching salary cap regulations.

On a night when personal rivalries were under scrutiny, Ulster won the individual and collective battles against Munster to stretch their unbeaten home record at Kingspan Stadium to 19 games.

Joey Carbery makes his first start of the season at out-half.

Jeremy Loughman ended 2019 on a high after a stellar breakout year with Munster and the front-rower has every intention of continuing his good run of form through 2020.

Munster team doctor Jamie Kearns has been hit with a €2,000 fine after he faced a misconduct complaint for verbally abusing Saracens player Jamie George in a Heineken Champions Cup match on December 14.

Joey Carbery looks set to come to Munster’s rescue in Belfast on Friday night with the fit-again Ireland fly-half covering the possible absence of JJ Hanrahan with a hamstring injury.

Darcy Graham scored a sensational double as Edinburgh triumphed 29-19 in a Murrayfield thriller to square up their 1872 Cup series at one win apiece with Glasgow.

Johann van Graan was left to rue Munster’s failure to break down Leinster’s defences as Leo Cullen’s defending champions continued their 100 per cent start to the Guinness PRO14 campaign with a hard-fought victory at Thomond Park.

With the clock ticking and Munster trailing 13-6, the home side won a crucial penalty inside the Leinster 22 after a sustained period of pressure and kicked for the corner.

Hooker Hame Faiva scored a hat-trick of tries as Benetton Treviso overcame the early dismissal of Juan Ignacio Brex to gain a 36-25 win over Zebre in the Guinness Pro14 clash at Stadio Monigo.

Ulster scored five tries to beat Connacht 35-3 in the PRO14 derby at Kingspan Stadium tonight.

John Cooney was Harlequins’ tormentor-in-chief once again as he kept Ulster’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final prospects firmly on course with a 34-10 bonus-point victory.

The 54-year-old succeeds Steve Hansen in the position after eight years serving as his assistant.

Connacht’s Heineken Champions Cup challenge hangs by the thinnest of threads after a convincing four-try defeat to Gloucester at Kingsholm on Sunday afternoon.

Captain Peter O’Mahony claimed a crucial lone try as Munster overcame Saracens 10-3 in a scrappy Heineken Champions Cup contest at a weather-beaten Thomond Park.