Okay, so here’s the deal. You choose. A week spent in Cork and Dublin, or a destination anywhere else in the world.

There is never a good time to get injured, but some moments are undoubtedly worse than others. Just ask Dave Kearney.

Hippocrates said sport was the preserver of health, writes Brendan O'Brien.

If the GAA and AFL are serious about re-energising the series, they should up sticks and bring it to New York<

In football, there is an infinite number of reasons why a manager can be asked to pack his bags, but the bottom line when the new man is hired is always the same: do better than the last guy.

It was Matt O’Connor who suggested some weeks ago Ireland needed to beat one of the two southern hemisphere sides this month if they were to be considered a serious World Cup contender in 12 months’ time.

No-one is bigger than the club. It’s a line we hear multiple times every season, even in this post-Bosman era of player power and multi-million pound contracts. It is a line we heard time and again when Roy Keane parted ways with Alex Ferguson and Manchester United back in 2005.

Momentum. Simon Zebo referenced it four times inside three minutes as he dissected Ireland’s defeat of South Africa over the weekend and it is a word that must resonate with many of his colleagues inside the Irish dressing-room, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Looks can be deceiving, which is just as well given the picture Robbie Henshaw’s face painted as the Connacht youngster stood listening to the anthems before the biggest examination in his burgeoning career.

Joe Schmidt must have big sleeves.