There will be two Highfield men in the Munster front row at Thomond Park this evening when James Cronin and Kevin O’Byrne pack down against the Scarlets.

There’s never a good time to have a major disruption to fixtures involving a few countries, but one coming in a Rugby World Cup season is going to exacerbate the situation, with Ireland’s Six Nations clash with Italy on Saturday week set to be the first of many games impacted.

Christian Brothers College, Cork put one foot in the quarter-finals of the Harty Cup when recording their second win in Group C.

Dragons new head coach Dean Ryan has described this afternoon’s Guinness PRO14 visit to Thomond Park as “a massive challenge”. His forwards coach, Ceri Jones, went a stage further in calling it “the acid test”.

West Ham manager Manuel Pellegrini believes everyone must respect Declan Rice’s decision over his international future.

My summer holidays as a child were spent in a cottage in Blackwater village near Wexford. We used to spend a lot of time on a farm opposite, helping out or hiding in the haybarn or diving in haystacks.

The community of Newport in Co Tipperary has banded together to help raise €100,000 for one of its residents, 29-year-old Kevin Bourke who has a rare form of cancer.

John Deady proposed to Aoife Hennessy as they enjoyed a visit to Killarney National Park, in December 2017, and they returned as newlyweds to Kerry this year to toast to their future together.

A key test, passed with flying colours. For a golden generation of young athletes, Saturday’s National Junior and U-23 Championships proved a low-key but high-intensity examination of their fitness as they prepare to take their talents to a bigger stage.

Re-engaging with a team recently met is one of hurling’s hardest tasks. Familiarity breeds apprehension, a mixture of knowledge and fear.

A round-up of the counts in Munster.

It was another day of records at the Irish Life Health/Munster Schools’ Championships which took place in blustery conditions at Cork IT.

Mary Lowry visited a psychic to see if would help when her boyfriend Bobby "Mr Moonlight" Ryan disappeared, the Central Criminal Court has heard.

Mary Lowry said she did not make the recording and did not give anyone permission to record the conversation.

Ulster moved third in PRO14 Conference B following a 28-15 bonus-point victory over bottom side Dragons in Newport.

Munster head coach Johann van Graan reserved special praise for his young players and the experience of scrum-half Alby Mathewson after his team survived a big scare in Newport.

Bernard Jackman has been sacked as head coach by the Dragons.

Nenagh CBS bounced back from an opening round loss to hand defending champions Ardscoil Ris a significant defeat in this group A Dr Harty Cup tie in Newport.

Walters played the full 90 minutes in last night's 4-1 defeat to Wales.

The Cork youngster penned a new contract with Liverpool last month.

It will be dry and sunny again today but temperatures will start dropping slightly after reaching a high of 32ºC on Thursday.

The much-awaited clash between Charlie O’Donovan (Coláiste Chríost Rí) and Darragh McElhinney (Coláiste Pobail, Bantry) in the senior boys 1500m lived up to expectations at the Irish Life Health Munster Schools Championships which took place in glorious conditions at Castleisland.

Volunteers behind a new museum say they hope to tell the remarkable stories here of the US military’s bravest Irish heroes.

On a day of surprises at the Irish Life Health All-Ireland Schools’ Cross Country Championships, Sarah Healy made light of the mud and hills to make history at the WIT Arena in Carriganore.

It took a back-to-basics approach for Munster to rebound from their Cardiff Blues no-show to get the show on the road again last weekend and Jean Kleyn believes the squad will be similarly focused ahead of tomorrow’s tricky league trip to Edinburgh.

By Marjorie Brennan

Harry Kane rescued Tottenham’s FA Cup hopes as his late equaliser secured a 1-1 draw at Newport.

Around 100 million people shivered In the United States as temperatures plummeted - with a wind chill close to minus 100F (minus 73.3C) on New Hampshire's Mount Washington meaning it vied for the world's coldest place.

A "monster" who subjected his girlfriend to a series of vicious attacks that left her so badly bruised a paramedic could not tell what her race or ethnicity was has been jailed for life.

A Cork Garda who was shot at multiple times by a gunman after stopping his van at a checkpoint, said she was “honoured” to receive a Silver Scott Medal for “exceptional courage and bravery” after she tried to disarm the man, before he took his own life.

Only 25% of sheep farmers are meeting their lamb survival targets, according to a study of 100 sheep farmers in Co Galway.

A janitor with a pharmaceutical manufacturer has been awarded €64,000 after the High Court found his employer was negligent in allowing him to work excessive overtime.

Inland Fisheries Ireland (IFI) has called for a crackdown on fish farms after farmed salmon escaped into five river systems in the west of Ireland.

Scores of farmed salmon have been caught in five renowned rivers despite producers not reporting any escapes, fisheries chiefs have revealed.

Connacht paid the price for a shocking first-half display as they were beaten 21-8 by the Dragons in Newport.

Connacht return to their happiest hunting ground in the league this evening, bidding for their seventh win in 16 visits to Rodney Parade when they take on Dragons.

Ireland were celebrating on the double at the 19th European Senior Racquetball Championships in the Hague today.

Kieran Marmion may have won 10 of his 16 Irish caps since November in a rich vein of form but he knows that the immediate impact made by his former Connacht team-mate John Cooney in Ulster will not go unnoticed.

This summer was officially a washout - for some - according to new figures.

Leo Cullen is expecting a Dragons side revitalised under new ownership and the guidance of former team-mate Bernard Jackman when Leinster open their Guinness Pro14 campaign at Rodney Parade in Newport this afternoon (3:15pm).

Bristol City upset Premier League Watford to reach the third round of the Carabao Cup with a 3-2 victory at Vicarage Road.

A youth worker who watched a livestream of a six-year-old boy being raped and urged on the attacker has been jailed for 11 years.

A coroner has concluded that the death of a 10-year-old boy in the UK who died after getting tangled up in a makeshift curtain was an accident.