Here are your rugby evening headlines for Friday, 3 June.
Welsh stars set for Gallagher Premiership finale
A host of Welsh stars are set for the final weekend of Gallagher Premiership action, with plenty to play for.
Tommy Reffell is on the bench for Leicester Tigers as they face Wasps knowing victory will see them finish the season on top of the table. Just behind them are Saracens, although they'll be without Welsh duo Aled Davies and Nick Tompkins - with the pair rested for the clash with Gloucester.
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Louis Rees-Zammit starts on the wing for Gloucester, with the Kingsholm club sitting two points behind Northampton in the race for the final semi-final spot. Wales captain Dan Biggar will be crucial for the Saints as they look to stay ahead of Gloucester, with Biggar starting against Newcastle.
For Bristol, Callum Sheedy and Dan Thomas start against Sale Sharks, with Ioan Lloyd on the bench.
Further down the table, Taulupe Faletau makes his 72nd and final appearance for Bath before his move to Cardiff, while Welsh youngster Dafydd Jenkins and Iestyn Harris involved for Exeter against Harlequins.
No downside to South African sides in Champions Cup - Goode
Former England fly-half Andy Goode insists there's "no downside" to the South African sides joining the Champions Cup.
Tournament organisers European Professional Club Rugby confirmed this week that three South African qualifiers from the United Rugby Championship will participate. They are the Pretoria-based Bulls, the Sharks from Durban and Cape Town-based Stormers.
That trio will be joined by fellow URC Champions Cup representatives Leinster, Munster, Ulster, Edinburgh and Ospreys. A fourth URC South African side - the Johannesburg-based Lions - will take part in the second-tier European Challenge Cup next term, while the Cheetahs from Bloemfontein have also been invited.
And Goode, who has plied his trade in South Africa during his playing career, believes it is a good move for the competition.
"Of course, the fact that Cape Town, Durban and Johannesburg will present a few scheduling and travel-related difficulties but the URC seem to have overcome those and EPCR will do the same," wrote Goode in his RugbyPass column.
"I don’t see a downside, though, and there’s no doubt that the quality of the competitions will improve as a result of the South African influence. The Stormers, Sharks and Bulls finished second, fourth and fifth in the URC this season.
"That trio will be in the top tier of European competition on merit next season and to hold them back now they’re mixing it with the likes of Leinster and Ulster and finishing above Edinburgh, Munster and all the Welsh regions in the league would be wrong in sporting terms.
"To be honest, it was inevitable that this would come to pass and just because it is doesn’t mean that South Africa are going to join the Six Nations as many people are saying."
LRZ named in former England star's team of the season
Wales winger Louis Rees-Zammit has been named in Will Greenwood's Premiership team of the season.
Having already been named in the RPA's U23s team of the year, the Gloucester flyer has now been included in the former England centre's pick of the campaign's best performers. Rees-Zammit, who has shone for Gloucester despite some setbacks for Wales, was the only Welsh pick - even if Greenwood wasn't totally convinced.
"Hard to pick - but for all the wrong reasons," wrote Greenwood in the Telegraph. "No one really grabbed this slot this year.
"Louis Lynagh, Adam Radwan, Kyle Rowe and Sean Maitland all put good shifts in but no one demanded selection. Max Malins unlucky not to get in the back three in this team but moving about playing 11, 14 and 15 hurt him for my selection.
"Tough to leave out a bloke with 15 tries. But LRZ’s blistering pace and finishing ability rattled defences."
Drive still there for Leinster after European heartbreak
Leo Cullen says Leinster remain as driven as ever to bring a United Rugby Championship title back to the province as his squad look to pick themselves up from last weekend’s Heineken Champions Cup final defeat to La Rochelle.
The Irish province failed in their quest for a fifth European crown last weekend, but attention now turns to winning a fifth consecutive league title - starting with this weekend's quarter-final against Glasgow Warriors.
“Well that’s the internal motivation, that’s the individual motivation, the group motivation,” Cullen said. “There’s a real privilege to be involved with this team, I think, and from the player’s point of view there are some great bonds and friendships, and some guys haven’t experienced a huge amount of success and they are desperate for it.
“Like a Joe McCarthy for example, a young player who has come into the team, only made his debut during the Six Nations window and there he is coming off the bench in a Champions Cup final, and here he is starting in a quarter-final. There’s lots of those sub-plots within a team.
"The drive is there, strong as ever, and if anything after the weekend it’s stronger than ever. But this week has been about trying to learn some harsh enough lessons from the game and improve as a group and move forward.
“We’re all keen to get going now at this point and just get back into that routine of playing. But it’s going to be a tough challenge, Glasgow are a good team, a niggly type of team as well, and we need to make sure we’re in the right headspace for the game because it’s a great challenge and hopefully we have a big crowd to cheer the guys on as well.
“It’s onto the next challenge, isn’t it? You try your best to park the (La Rochelle) game, I think it’ll be there in the back of our minds for the future, but great to be back here at the RDS, we haven’t played here in a long time.”
