IRFU provincial and national age grade coaches - Under-18s, Under-19s and Under-20s - and IRFU elite player development staff from the four provinces gathered recently to review their experiences, discuss challenges and align closer to ensure the development of more effective elite players across the IRFU Elite Player Pathway.

Wilson And Fitzpatrick Added To Ulster Squad

Roger Wilson and Declan Fitzpatrick have been named in the extended Ulster squad for Friday's RaboDirect PRO12 match against the Newport Gwent Dragons at Rodney Parade (kick-off 7.05pm).

It is the first time that Roger Wilson has been named in a preliminary squad since his return to Ulster, having suffered a hamstring tear playing for Northampton Saints at the end of last season.

The Ireland-capped back rower has enjoyed impressive outings for Ulster Ravens in recent weeks and scored two tries in last Sunday's British & Irish Cup loss to Bristol.

Declan Fitzpatrick had suffered a recurrence of a medial ligament injury prior to the Connacht match earlier this month.

However, the Ireland prop has undertaken full training over the past week and will be hopeful of getting some much needed game-time.

Stephen Ferris has been included in the selected squad after missing the last two games with a back injury, while out-half Niall O'Connor has also been added to the panel.

Meanwhile, Johann Muller has been ruled out for eight weeks after sustaining a thumb injury during the Heineken Cup win over Glasgow. Ireland back rower Chris Henry will captain the side in Muller's absence.

ULSTER Squad (v Newport Gwent Dragons) - Backs (11): Paul Marshall, Ruan Pienaar, Niall O'Connor, Paddy Jackson, Paddy Wallace, Luke Marshall, Darren Cave, Andrew Trimble, Tommy Bowe, Craig Gilroy, Jared Payne.

Forwards (15): Rory Best, Nigel Brady, Tom Court, Callum Black, Declan Fitzpatrick, Adam Macklin, John Afoa, Lewis Stevenson, Dan Tuohy, Iain Henderson, Stephen Ferris, Mike McComish, Chris Henry (capt), Nick Williams, Roger Wilson.

Connacht elite player development officer Jimmy Duffy chats about the province's latest programme, 'Grassroots to Green Shirts', which they hope will increase the number of indigenous players coming through the provincial player pathway. In the westerners' current senior squad, there are 19 players who have come through the Connacht system.

Speaking about Connacht's 'Grassroots to Green Shirts' initiative, the province's CEO Tom Sears said: "We like to think we're innovative in our approach, that we're looking at things slightly differently. We've shown that the production line is working with the young players coming through. The system is working, we just need a bit more investment to make sure we can get more players through."

Connacht's head of commercial and marketing Alex Saul talks about some exciting developments off the pitch for the province, including their 'Grassroots to Green Shirts' crowd-funding initiative which gives fans the chance to play their part in growing and developing the future stars of Connacht and Irish rugby.

Speaking after the 30-11 home win over the Dragons, Connacht head coach Eric Elwood said: "We're a little bit disappointed we didn't get the bonus point, but the good thing is we got a good victory at home and we had a great crowd. We're back on the horse and it sets us up for Harlequins (next week)."

Speaking about recovering from the disappointing defeat to the Scarlets, young Leinster centre Noel Reid said: "We went over looking for a result and we didn't perform the way we wanted to. So we need a big week now of training and focusing on the things that didn't go our way - the breakdown in particular."

Speaking after Leinster's 31-30 RaboDirect PRO12 final defeat to the Ospreys, head coach Joe Schmidt said: "They scored a try in each of those instances (when we had a player yellow carded). It obviously has an impact, particularly in the last ten minutes when we felt that we would have a bit of fatigue."