Now that France stand alone in the Grand Slam scheme of things, Ireland will need a hand from Scotland or Wales to help them win the Six Nations.

Once they finish their forensic dissection of Ireland putting the champions out for the count, the French management will be tempted to call their friends at the Foreign Legion.

Accounting for as much as one-quarter of the qualifiers made it highly unlikely that all four could be kept apart. Success brings its own kind of penalty and from now on, Irish teams will be obliged to bump each other off

They keep saying ad nauseum that there is nothing to touch the Champions’ Cup, the best club competition in the rugby world bar none. Try telling that to those who spent their Sunday lunchtime watching what happens when one champion team makes mincemeat of another.

Most fans, if they are very lucky to be following a team reinforced by an indomitable mentality, see a miracle once in a lifetime. Munster’s are now getting used to seeing them once in a generation, at the very least.

Peter Jackson looks back on a remarkable weekend for northern hemisphere sides

When did New Zealand suffer a beating comprehensive enough to provoke pundits all over the nation into ringing alarm bells at the over-powering nature of Ireland’s triumph?

Sexton is only the sixth fly-half to reach a century of Test appearances for his country

Throughout the pandemic, the Government has been less than clear about what is 'advice' and what is 'law', leaving the public confused and fed-up

For the first time in more than half a century, the Lions completed a Test series without a single try from anyone behind the scrum