Twickenham is a strange mix of the magnificent and the meh.It’s an oddly unloveable place but maybe that’s just down to experience, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Kingston Mills, professor of experimental immunology at Trinity College Dublin and emergency medicine consultant Dr Chris Luke both said the HSE has the correct measures in place.

The Diamond Princess has been docked in Yokahama for the past two weeks with more than 400 people testing positive for the virus.

Irish passengers on board the quarantined cruise ship docked in Yokohama, Japan, because of coronavirus are expected to be evacuated from the vessel this week.

A cruise ship that has been refused entry by at least three other ports over the coronavirus has now been turned away by Thailand.

What’s motivating Eddie Jones?

It is not necessary to have an over-active, tossing-in-bed imagination to conclude that conditions, and the atmosphere, aboard the cruise liner off Japan where at least 61 of the 3,700 people on board have contacted coronavirus is grim and is likely to become even more so.

Two Irish passengers are confined to their cabins on a cruise ship off the coast of Japan over coronavirus fears.

Ronan O'Gara has tried to put himself in the Ireland boss’s shoes this week and he knows all too well that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to team selection.

Andy Farrell insisted continuity in Ireland team selection would not come at the expense of creativity as he kept changes to a minimum for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations second-round visit of Wales to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Don’t mention the war? It would be nice not to have to but Ireland’s Six Nations opener takes place in the engorging shadow of last autumn’s ill-starred Asian campaign. Yes, we won’t be forgetting the debacle in Vietnam – sorry, I mean Japan – any time soon. The horror, the horror remains fresh in the memory.

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.

It may have been Hogg with the schoolboy error but Ireland's report card is clear: must do better, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Donal Lenihan looks at the recipe for opening day success in the 2020 Six Nations.

Just five training sessions into his tenure as Ireland attack coach, Mike Catt is nevertheless expecting “some good stuff” from Andy Farrell’s team against Scotland in Dublin tomorrow.

Supporting Scotland is tough going at the best of times, but the last four-and-a-bit months — since that abrupt wake-up call delivered by Ireland on the opening weekend of the 2019 World Cup — has been particularly fraught.

"Pete's been absolutely sensational since I gave him the news yesterday."

With his globetrotting Barbarians adventures concluded, and his first week of retirement finally upon him, Rory Best could easily have put on his slippers and emptied his mind of all rugby thoughts.

Johann van Graan said from the outset that when it comes to European pool campaigns every minute of every game is crucial.

When the baseball-capped Nelson Mandela danced his famous jig in the No.6 Springbok jersey, Siya Kolisi would not have paid a blind bit of notice.

An hour's drive north of Yokohama, where tomorrow's Rugby World Cup final will be played, lies the Ajinamoto Stadium.

There is no escaping what the symbolism of Siya Kolisi lifting the Webb Ellis Cup could mean for South Africa, given his well-documented story of poverty to success.

Eddie Jones and Rassie Erasmus were both celebrating at full time when England and South Africa last contested a World Cup final, at the Stade de France 12 years ago.

The team that had supposedly forgotten how to lose suddenly remembered at the worst possible time yesterday and the first all-Six Nations global decider vanished like a mirage.

The second hardest thing for an All Blacks side is to accept they have been dumped out of a World Cup.

Once again the wheat has been separated from the chaff at a World Cup and Ireland have been swept away in the clean-up.

Steve Hansen insists quality and not quantity is the vital factor when it comes to experience after seeing New Zealand’s young guns blast Ireland out of the World Cup.

Ireland will have to wait another four years for a crack at a first World Cup semi-final appearance after Joe Schmidt’s tenure as head coach came to an end with a comprehensive defeat to the world champions on Saturday.

Joe Schmidt wasn’t having any of Steve Hansen’s mind games after Ireland saw off the All Blacks last November.

Joe Schmidt wasn't having any of Steve Hansen's mind games after Ireland saw off the All Blacks last November.

Whether or not Japan, the Brave Blossoms, continue to defy the odds, in this Sunday’s World Cup quarter-final, the success of Jamie Joseph’s side, on home soil, should open doors at world rugby’s top table.

And that includes World Rugby, the sport’s governing body, which has been stunned by the huge numbers being racked up in terms of television viewers and social media engagements as well as the good old-fashioned barometer of jersey sales.

Size isn't everything. Even for the Springboks.

It may have taken time to make an impact, but this World Cup has finally captured the interest and imagination of the Japanese public — thanks in no small part to the exploits of their national team.

Some things don't change with the All Blacks. Though they can play rugby with a terrifying beauty, there is a robotic consistency to the way they put opponents to the sword.

Hammer the hammer.

Hansen was in typically mischievous mood when he set the scene on Monday.

Are we witnessing a changing of the guard in Ireland’s last line of defence?

It might not have been the route they envisaged but Ireland have reached their initial destination, although the question remains whether this is finally the time to venture into virgin territory.

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.

The game between Scotland and Japan went ahead despite threat of cancellation,with Japan winning 28-21.

“The safety of all involved in Rugby World Cup 2019 is our primary consideration and fans are advised not to travel to Kamaishi or the venue, which will be closed.”

Presumption has already made fools of many of us at this World Cup.

Simon Lewis provides an on-the-whistle report of the main talking points from Ireland's win over Samoa.

Joe Schmidt chose his words carefully but he was clearly fuming about the fact that Ireland were playing rugby today while others got to take the weekend off.

It was Samoa who provided the opposition for Joe Schmidt’s introduction to Test rugby as Ireland’s head coach, way back when in November 2013.

Scotland have urged World Cup bosses to see sense and push their win-or-bust showdown with Japan out of Typhoon Hagibis’ path of destruction.

This isn’t the team that Joe Schmidt envisaged naming against Samoa.