THE British and Irish Lions must stop "monster" centre Sonny Bill Williams to stand any chance of beating New Zealand, according to Rhys Webb.

Rugby Union: Blues v British & Lions (Wednesday, 8.

Alun Wyn Jones has insisted the British and Irish Lions will laugh off all the brickbats over their punishing schedule and Test series chances in New Zealand.

JARED Payne has been ruled out of the British and Irish Lions' opening tour match against the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians due to a calf strain.

IRELAND star Robbie Henshaw will be armed with words of wisdom from former British and Irish Lions captain Brian O’Driscoll when he heads to New Zealand next week.

Guinness PRO12 semi-final: Leinster 15 Scarlets 27 SCARLETS reached their first ever Guinness PRO12 final after defeating much-fancied Leinster 27-15 at the RDS despite having Steff Evans sent off before half-time.

Iain Henderson has no doubt that Ireland's stunning victory over world champions New Zealand six months ago can help the British and Irish Lions this summer.

Ireland were pooled with Scotland and Japan at the draw, which took place in the Kyoto State Guest House, Japan.

IRELAND will be among the 20 nations represented in Japan today to discover their fate for the 2019 Rugby World Cup when the pool stage draw is made.

Leinster were denied top spot in the Guinness PRO12 after suffering their first league defeat since December to Ulster.

Guinness PRO12: Ulster v Leinster (Saturday, 5.

Munster beat Treviso 34-14 at Stadio Monigo to secure a home semi-final in the Guinness PRO12.

Scarlets sauntered into the Guinness PRO12 play-offs with a 30-8 bonus point victory over error-strewn Connacht at the Sportsground.

ULSTER’S hopes of playing knock-out rugby for a seventh consecutive season are all but over following another error-ridden display on Saturday at the Liberty Stadium, where the Ospreys’ 24-10 win secured the Welsh side a PRO12 semi-final place barring a virtually impossible scenario.

Glasgow Warriors head coach Gregor Townsend knows his side will have to excel to deny table-topping Leinster in tonight's Guinness Pro12 clash at the RDS Arena, in Dublin, kick-off 7.

JARED PAYNE (Ulster) Age: 31 Position: Full-back Caps: 20 THE versatile New Zealand-born back was barely included in the conversation prior to the hours before the announcement.

Back in the Day: A look back at sporting events in The Irish News on this date 20 years ago...