Sporting Digest: Rugby union

The post mortem performed on Ivan Francescato, the Italy international, has shown that his untimely death was caused by heart failure brought about by a blockage in an artery. The 31-year-old Benetton Treviso player died at his home on Monday night, hours after feeling ill.

Ulster have been allocated 28,000 tickets for their European Cup final tie with Colomiers at Lansdowne Road on Saturday week. The final will be a 49,000 sell-out, the biggest for a European Cup final, beating the 36,500 who watched Bath beat Brive at Bordeaux last year.