Leinster put an emphatic end to La Rochelle’s European reign. A home semi-final at Croke Park guarantees a towering stage for their excellence.

The Mighty Quins going where they’ve never gone before - into the Champions’ Cup semi-finals. Some match.

Eight Springboks missing from the Bulls XV, all resting ahead of Munster Rugby's visit to Loftus next week. Doesn't say much for the Champions' Cup but asking SA's last contender to go inter-continental at shamefully short notice says still less about its scheduling. Ridiculous.

𝗣𝗘𝗧𝗘𝗥 𝗝𝗔𝗖𝗞𝗦𝗢𝗡
'During the 15 years since, no Welsh team has ever come as close to the final as Cardiff did then' | Peter Jackson looks back on Cardiff and Leicester's iconic penalty shootout in 2009
therugbypaper.co.uk/all/domestic-c…

Treasured memories of a momentous occasion, non-league Merthyr Tydfil succeeding where Liverpool FC failed. Lyn Jones’ team magnificent in the return in Bergamo, the Italians scraping through by the skin of their teeth 3-2 on aggregate. Glory days.

Ryan Fox, son of @allblacks master goalkicker and World Cup winner Grant Fox, goes top of the leaderboard at The Masters.

good people still exist

WRU Cup final, Cardiff Arms Park , April 1977
Newport 16 Cardiff 15. Att: 35,000.
RFU Cup final, Twickenham a fortnight earlier:
Gosforth 27 🟥🟩⬜️WATERLOO RFU 🟥🟩⬜️ 11. Att: 10,000. Many of us there that day thought the ‘crowd’ was nearer 7,500. How times change.

OJ Simpson, ex-NFL star who was acquitted of murder, dies aged 76 theguardian.com/us-news/2024/a…

Lunch time.. 😅

Tommy Vile Newport RFC, still untouchable after all these years.

Average Premiership gates 23-24:
Harlequins 22,076
Leicester 20,933
Bristol 18,911
Saracens 16,361
Northampton 13,933
Gloucester 13,530
Bath 13,250
Exeter 10, 547
Sale 6,781
Newcastle 5,756.
Average URC gates in Wales:
Cardiff 8,466
Scarlets 7,288
Ospreys 5,554
Dragons 5,336.

Just another absurdity in a sport littered with them. Outward-bound journeys taking 28 hours? Never mind. Those running the sport will keep spouting forth about the importance of player welfare.

The Investec Champions Cup is valued so highly that they plan to sacrifice it for a quadrennial World Rugby Club Cup from 2028. The old game is in such a mess as it is that if Webb Ellis had his time at Rugby School over again, he'd think twice about running off with the football.

If they see fit to make one of the most decorated sports writers in the game redundant, the prospects for those still holding jobs are decidedly grim.

Some heroes don’t wear capes.

By the end of the following month, 12,000 miles away in Wellington, Wales settled the score in their first match at the first World Cup.

I wish a blessed Eid al-Fitr to all Muslims celebrating today.

At the start of Ramadan, I had the joy of attending an iftar at Canterbury Mosque. I was met with such hospitality and kindness – things that we so often encounter in Muslim communities across the UK. Our society is…

In successive Champions’ Cup trips to Bordeaux, Saracens have been swamped by 15 tries and 100 points: 55-15 in January, 45-12 tonight. UBB Rugby had five tries disallowed before half-time, scored five in the second when Damian Penaud did everything but score. 👏🏼

Sam Northeast's monumental innings has reached a global scale. By adding a triple century to his 410* at Leicester 2 years ago, the uncapped Glamorgan batsmen puts himself alongside Don Bradman Cricket Australia and Brian Lara Windies Cricket. Phenomenal. And he's not finished...