Andy Farrell has dismissed Welsh claims Tadhg Furlong is an illegal scrummager, launching a strong defence of the Ireland tighthead prop.

Wales picked out Tadhg Furlong for special criticism.

So much for stormy weather. The clouds may have been gathering around Ireland as they prepared to face Grand Slam champions Wales in Dublin, and not just those being blown in by Storm Ciara. Yet when Johnny Sexton speaks, all becomes calm.

This was a statement win for Ireland, Andy Farrell, and for his senior players, writes Tom Savage.

Tadhg Furlong did not think of himself much as a leader coming into the season.

Wicklow's footballers notched up their first league points with an impressive victory over Waterford at Aughrim.

Ireland were jaggy, a little confused structurally on both sides of the ball and under pressure in the scrum/maul, but they showed up to work in the hard moments in both halves and came out with a win, writes Tom Savage.

Ireland have a number of injury issues as they start preparations today to face Wales in Dublin this Saturday following an attritional 19-12 opening-round Guinness Six Nations win over Scotland.

As shakedown games go, this one ended up being a little more shaky than Ireland might have expected. The final score said 19-12 to Ireland but that didn’t really tell the story of the game so much as gesture vaguely in the direction of the side that took their chances with more efficiency, writes Tom Savage.

Johnny Sexton starred on his first outing as permanent Ireland captain as Andy Farrell’s tenure as head coach began with an unconvincing 19-12 victory over Scotland.

Ireland turn the page from one era to the next this week as the 2020 Guinness Six Nations gets underway with not just a new coaching team but also a fresh player leadership group.

Tadhg Furlong is nominated for the third year in a row.

Rory O’Connor has revealed how he displayed his inter-county credentials to Wexford boss Davy Fitzgerald as an 18-year-old by wrestling Matthew O’Hanlon to the ground in training.

There are three key metrics that Munster can use to measure progress, writes Owen Harrison.

Leinster's bid to claim top seeding for the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup was buttressed by an ultimately convincing win over Lyon in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

The airline industry worldwide needs the grounded Boeing 737 Max airline to start flying again but shares in Ryanair which planned to be a large customer of the plane are unlikely to be damaged any time soon, a leading analyst has said.

Seven tries last week, another seven tonight.

The curtain came down on the Munster club championships with Russell Rovers taking the last piece of silverware in front of 1,610 enthusiastic spectators at the Fraher Field and adding another chapter in a fairytale season for hurling in East Cork.

Leinster were relieved to leave Lyon with their winning record intact in the European Champions Cup after a nervous end to their win in Stade Matmut de Gerland.

Player ratings on a disappointing end to Ireland's Rugby World Cup campaign

Tadhg Furlong has warned that to switch off even for a second against New Zealand will cost Ireland the chance of a maiden World Cup semi-final.

Ireland booked their place in the Rugby World Cup quarter-finals with a comprehensive victory over Samoa.

Tadhg Furlong likes a bowl of ramen or a parcel of gyoza as much as the next man, but there comes a time when this son of Wexford farming stock hankers for a bit of beef, and he sated that appetite in some style in Fukuoka over the weekend.

There may be an ill wind blowing his way this weekend but as far as Andrew Porter is concerned the only storm that matters is the one Ireland can produce against Samoa.

Here’s how the players rated in the aftermath of a hugely disappointing result and performance for Ireland in Shizuoka.

Peter O’Mahony and Bundee Aki face a race against the clock to prove their fitness for Ireland’s meeting with World Cup hosts Japan this Saturday following failed Head Injury Assessments in the win over Scotland.

James Ryan has no doubt but that Ireland's lineout can be a source of real strength for the team as their World Cup opener against Scotland approaches.

Jeremy Guscott has thrown cold water on Ireland's chances of a best-ever World Cup performance.

Having trailed 10-7 at half-time, Ireland started the second period with intent with two tries before the hour mark

Had a thought this morning. If Joe Schmidt was offered a pass on tomorrow’s final World Cup warm-up game against Warren Gatland’s Wales in Dublin, would he take it?

Joe Schmidt has urged his players not to go into their shells when Ireland get their chance to atone for their Twickenham nightmare against Wales tomorrow.

Tadhg Furlong was a rookie prop at the last World Cup, not only a blossoming tighthead but also covering the loosehead side of the front row.

The country’s judiciary claimed more than €1m in expenses for the first six months of this year.

Mountmellick driver Anthony Culleton (Semog Buggy) extended his lead in the 5 Star Catering National Loose Surface Autocross Championship with an impressive victory in yesterday’s Skibbereen and District Car Club’s Loose Surface Autocross at Derryleigh.

New Zealander Hayden Paddon returns to the World Rally Championship at next month’s Neste Rally Finland in an EcoBoost-powered Ford Fiesta WRC.

Tadhg Furlong wouldn’t usually be of a mind to do much the day after a game.

Run the rule over the best imports to have featured for the provinces down the years and it makes for a diverse cast of characters.

Brendan O'Brien It’s eight years since Leinster faced an ‘away’ league final.

The received wisdom for Leinster’s loss was poles apart in the moments after Saturday’s final whistle and in the hours that followed when thousands of post-mortems had been undertaken in the pubs and eateries around Newcastle.

Peter Jackson picks his XV for the Heineken Champions Cup Team of the Tournament.

Leinster’s bid for a record fifth European crown came up short at St James’ Park on Saturday as Saracens reclaimed the Heineken Champions Cup for their third title in four seasons.

A fifth win for Leinster tomorrow will make them the most successful side in the history of the competition.

It is a measure of the quality in play at tomorrow’s Heineken Champions Cup final that there is so much mutual respect between the two teams, respect borne out of the shared experience of a successful British & Irish Lions tour two summers ago.

There will be no quarter-final place for Ireland in the U17 European Championships for a third year in a row after the hosts could only manage a third draw in a row and bowed out of this year’s tournament.

The Republic of Ireland Under-17s have earned another draw in the European Under-17 Championships.

Leinster's prospects for Sunday's Heineken Champions Cup semi-final against Toulouse have been boosted no end with the news that both Jonathan Sexton and Tadhg Furlong are fit and ready to lend their weight to the reigning champions' efforts.

PRO 14 Scoreboard here with this one Leo Cullen said Sunday’s Champions Cup semi-final will be a litmus test for him and his coaching team’s player management system.

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Leinster have brought the curtain down on the Heineken Champions Cup pool stages with the easiest of victories away to Wasps on Sunday afternoon that confirms for them an all-Irish home quarter-final against Ulster at the end of March.