Irish Rugby

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Munster have made one change to their starting team for Saturday's United Rugby Championship quarter-final with the Bulls in Pretoria.

Alex Nankivell comes in at centre to replace Dan Kelly, who drops to the bench.

Ireland fly-half Jack Crowley remains sidelined with a leg injury that head coach Clayton McMillan described as "obscure".

JJ Hanrahan continues to deputise in the 10 jersey and he will partner captain Craig Casey.

On the bench, lock Fineen Wycherley is set to make his 150th Munster appearance as he returns from injury.

Munster are also without a number of other key players such as Ireland internationals Tadhg Beirne, Edwin Edogbo, Tom Farrell and Calvin Nash.

McMillan's side defeated the Lions on the final day of the URC regular season to secure a play-off place and knock Ulster out of the top eight.

The Bulls finished fourth in the table behind Glasgow Warriors, Leinster and the Stormers.

The sides met at the end of March in Pretoria, with the Bulls winning 34-31 in a thrilling nine-try encounter.

Munster: Haley; Smith, Nankivell, O'Brien, Daly; Hanrahan, Casey (c); Loughman, Scannell, Ala'alatoa; Ahern, O'Connell; O'Donoghue, Hodnett, Gleeson

Replacements: Barron, J Wycherley, Bartley, F Wycherley, Coombes, O'Donovan, Kelly, Kendellen

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Connacht are boosted by the return of forwards Dylan Tierney-Martin and Darragh Murray for Friday's United Rugby Championship [URC] quarter-final away to Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun [19:45 BST].

The pair represent two of five changes made by coach Stuart Lancaster for the last eight clash with Tierney-Martin replacing Eoin de Buitléar at hooker, while Sam Illo sin place of Finlay Bealham at tight-head prop.

In the second row, Joe Joyce drops out to accommodate Murray's return, while Paul Boyle comes in for the injured Sean Jansen at number eight in a back row that also contains team captain Cian Prendergast and Shamus Hurley-Langton.

The sole change in the backs sees John Devine in for the injured Harry West at outside centre and will play alongside Bundee Aki.

The half-back partnership of Ben Murphy and Josh Ioane remains, as does the back three of wingers Shayne Bolton and Shane Jennings, plus full-back Sam Gilbert.

Dave Heffernan is fit again for a place on the bench, while Sean O'Brien is named as the back row replacement Hugh Gavin takes the place of the unavailable Jack Carty on the bench.

"This is exactly where we wanted to be at the start of the season, so credit must go to all the players for what they've displayed in the last few months to get us to this position," Lancaster said.

"Now we have to go out there and seize the opportunity. Glasgow are a formidable opponent especially away from home, with an array of talented players who are very well coached, but we are excited by the challenge ahead of us."

Connacht: Gilbert; Jennings, Devine, Aki, Bolton; Ioane, Murphy; Bohan, Tierney-Marti, Illo, Murphy, Murray, Prendergast (capt.), Hurley-Langton, Boyle.

Replacements: Heffernan, Dooley, Bealham, Joyce, O'Brien, Devine, Gavin, Naughton.

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James Lowe will make his 100th appearance for Leinster in Saturday's United Rugby Championship [URC] quarter-final against the Lions at Aviva Stadium [20:00 BST].

The 33-year-old Ireland international was left out of the squad for last week's European Champions Cup final defeat by Bordeaux Begles but is one of six squad changes made by head coach Leo Cullen for this weekend's URC play-off clash against the South African club.

Lowe equalled Shane Horgan's all-time try-scoring record for Leinster - 69 - in his last outing comes back onto the wing with Rieko Ioane moving to centre where he will partner Jamie Osborne who also missed out on the Bilbao final.

Jimmy O'Brien is a straight replacement for Tommy O'Brien on the opposite wing, with Hugo Keenan retaining his place at full-back.

In a changed half-back pairing, Sam Prendergast comes in at fly-half with Luke McGrath at scrum-half as Harry Byrne and Jamison Gibson-Park drop to the bench.

In the forwards, Tadhg Furlong is the only change in the front row with Tom Clarkson dropping out, while in the second row, Joe McCarthy and James Ryan retain their places.

There are changes at flanker with Max Deegan at blind-side and Scott Penny in at open-side, while Caelan Doris retains his place at number eight where he will captain the side.

Leinster: Keenan; J O'Brien, Ioane, Osborne, Lowe; Prendergast, McGrath; Porter, Sheehan, Furlong, J McCarthy, Ryan, Deegan, Penny, Doris (capt.)

Replacements: G McCarth, Usanov, Clarkson, Mangan, Van der Flier, Gibson-Park, Byrne, Henshaw.

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Leinster have confirmed Ireland prop Paddy McCarthy has been ruled out for the remainder of their season after sustaining a foot injury in last weekend's Champions Cup final defeat by Bordeaux Begles in Bilbao.

McCarthy will be absent for Saturday's United Rugby Championship play-off quarter-final against the Lions at the Aviva Stadium (20:00 BST), as well as any semi-final or final that the Irish province may contest in the competition.

The 22-year-old could also be a doubt for Ireland's Nations Championship campaign this summer, with their opening fixture against Australia in Sydney scheduled for 4 July, just two weeks after the URC final.

The loose-head was forced to retire hurt just six minutes after being introduced as a replacement in the European showpiece and was seen on crutches after the game.

The Ireland forward was making his first appearance since January, having just returned from an unrelated injury to his other foot. McCarthy also missed the entirety of this year's Six Nations.

A squad update published by Leinster on Tuesday indicated Joshua Kenny and Brian Deeny have returned to full training and are available for selection this weekend.

No further updates were provided on the fitness of Ryan Baird, Jack Boyle, Will Connors, Hugh Cooney, RG Snyman and Charlie Tector.

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Ulster's dream of ending a 20-year wait for silverware was crushed in emphatic fashion as Montpellier produced a relentless display to win Friday's Challenge Cup final 59-26 in Bilbao.

The French side ran in nine tries to become the first team to score more than 50 points in a European final, condemning Ulster to another season in Europe's second tier.

When asked about the difference between the teams, Ulster boss Richie Murphy told BBC Sport NI: "A lot of power. I thought we started well going 7-0 up, a little mistake on an exit costs us seven points.

"We needed to get out ahead and we couldn't manage to do that. It was really difficult to play in the heat it cause a lot of slippy ball.

"We didn't want to make it a set piece game against one of the best teams in France and the world. We're a young side, we'll learn from this and move on. I can't fault the effort."

On his post-match message to the players, he added: "I haven't said too much in there really.

"We are two years into the club, we're moving in the right direction but it's tough, we can see areas around our scrum and line-out need to improve to compete at the top level."

Ulster winger Rob Baloucoune, who marked his return from injury with a well-taken try, said: ""Tough conditions coming into that as the first game back and the result is bitterly disappointing. We were looking to come out and come home with the cup and that wasn't the case.

"We knew they would be strong, they're second in the Top 14 and we came out strong, started well but let them into the game through easy mistakes.

"If you let a team like that into the game easily you're always going to be in the bad side of it."

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Centre James Hume says Ulster's players are "embracing" the chance to make history in the Challenge Cup final on Friday.

Richie Murphy's side face Montpellier in Bilbao as they look to end a 20-year trophy drought and also secure their place in next season's Champions Cup, having missed out through the United Rugby Championship [URC] with a ninth-place finish.

With no URC play-offs to look forward to, Friday represents the final act of Ulster's season and the opportunity to bring a first trophy back since the 2006 Celtic League success.

There have been some near misses since, with Hume part of the squad that lost out in the 2019-20 Pro 14 final, so the 27-year-old is keen to make up for that disappointment.

"I'm definitely embracing it," Hume said.

"Richie [Murphy, head coach] said just this morning, 'you have a chance to write your name in history'.

"I think it's my eighth season and there's times where you get really, really close, like the semi-final in 2022 [a last-gasp loss to the Bulls in South Africa]. The Pro 14 final during Covid - stuff just didn't go as we had planned.

"This is a massive opportunity for us to bring some silverware back home to Belfast, where there hasn't been since 2006, so we're buzzing for it."

After Friday's disappointment when a late Glasgow try saw the Scottish club claim a dramatic 26-22 win in Belfast, Ulster's eggs are firmly in Friday's Challenge Cup final basket if they want to play in next season's Champions Cup.

With a cup final to look forward to, Hume insists "you can't let that affect you too much" as they prepare to face the side sitting second in the Top 14.

The three-times capped Ireland international admits away defeats in the league against Scarlets and Ospreys "cost us" but the challenge of European rugby is one in which Ulster have produced some of their best moments this season.

"It seems that when we play in Europe against teams that aren't in our league [URC], we seem to play better rugby or it's like more enjoyable to attack against.

"French defences are a bit more erratic and not as organised as what the northern hemisphere rugby usually is within our league, so sometimes that presents different opportunities and maybe suits us a bit more, but we'll see in the weekend."