Partisan, loud, raucous and fun.

Captain Richie McCaw spoke of his pride after New Zealand ended their 24-year wait to regain the World Cup with a hard-fought 8-7 victory over France.

France 7 New Zealand 8

COLM MORIARTY will lead a seven-strong Irish challenge bidding for just 12 spots in the British Open at Sandwich when 36-hole Local Final Qualifying takes place at four venues in Kent today.

GONZALO TIESI is a rare breed of Puma.

MEET the small boy with the very big swing who’s about to tee off with the best in the world.

HUNDREDS of young men and women chanted “Death to the dictator”, confronting police wielding batons and firing tear gas in the capital yesterday as opposition activists sought to revive street protests despite authorities’ vows to “smash” any new marches.

Serbia is planning retaliatory measures against Western states if they recognise Kosovo’s independence, including the possibility of severing diplomatic ties with the US and EU countries.

The widow of poisoned former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko says he was not working for British intelligence, as his alleged killer claims.

Columbine High School, site of the US’ deadliest school massacre eight years ago, was evacuated today after officials received at least one call about a bomb threat, authorities said.

EU defence ministers today gathered in Finland to consider winding down the international peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and eventually replacing it with a mostly civilian operation in the Balkan nation.

The gunman who took six girls hostage in a high school classroom in Bailey, Colorado, killing one, had sexually assaulted at least some of them, the sheriff said today.

The gunman who took six girls hostage in a high school classroom in Bailey, Colorado, killing one of his captives and himself, began the takeover by ordering students to line up at the blackboard.

A terrifying attack in a Canadian college has left one woman and the gunman dead and at least 19 others injured.

Ethnic Albanian and Serbian officials today discussed how to protect the rights of Kosovo’s minorities, putting the issue on the agenda for the first time during their UN-brokered talks on the province’s future status.

THE legendary Michael Johnson telephoned the organisers of the BUPA Cork City Sports during the week in a bid to get one of his proteges, Darold Williamson, into their July 1 showpiece at The Mardyke.

East Timor’s government showed signs of unravelling today, as desperate residents scuffled over scarce food in the capital and looters defied foreign peacekeepers sent to restore order.

A mob armed with machetes looted East Timor’s attorney general’s office today, including an area where evidence of 1999 massacres linked to the country’s breakaway from Indonesia were kept.

RELATIVES of Columbine High School massacre victims have expressed outrage over an internet game based on the 1999 attack.

CRAIG QUINNELL has spoken of his anguish after being forced into premature retirement by a neck problem which has left him one tackle away from life in a wheelchair.

Craig Quinnell has spoken of his anguish after being forced into premature retirement by a neck problem which has left him one tackle away from life in a wheelchair.

Paul Broadhurst maintained his lead in the Portuguese Open but admits he struggled to hold things together today.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will be given general anaesthesia during a heart operation today and turn over his duties to his deputy, Ehud Olmert.

THIRD-level scholarships worth up to €160,000 and financed by JP McManus were last night presented to eight students who completed their Leaving Certificate exams at CBS Sexton Street in Limerick.

AUSTRALIA unveiled its team of the decade yesterday which included nine of the starting 15 from the Wallabies’ first series win over the British and Irish Lions in 2001.

NEXT Sunday Seán Óg Ó hAilpín returns to a familiar field.

IAN McGEECHAN has insisted Lions flanker Lewis Moody will be available for selection against Otago on Saturday.

Three members of Europe’s 1999 Ryder Cup team will contest the Madeira Island Open this week, all looking to kick-start their careers at Santo da Serra.

Tiger Woods leads a star-studded line-up of the world’s top players who have confirmed their participation in the JP McManus Invitational Pro-Am at Adare Manor Hotel and Golf Resort next July.

Lee Westwood pulled off a notable double today to reach the semi-finals of the HSBC World Match Play championship at Wentworth.

COLIN Montgomerie stood there with tears in his eyes, sighed deeply and pondered how every cloud, no matter how black, has a silver lining.

India and Pakistan today held their first substantive talks in six years on the disputed Kashmir region – one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints and a key hurdle in their revived peace process.

MARK JOHNSTON has issued an upbeat report on star filly Attraction who is currently sidelined with a fractured pedal bone.

AS a professional rugby player, David Wallace knows all about heartbreak.

Political Reporter

JAMES JOYCE is going back to the National Library today but not as we know him. This time the National Library does not have to pay €12.5 million for the writer’s manuscripts like they did last year.

AUSTRALIA coach Eddie Jones dismissed England’s losing history Down Under as irrelevant and yesterday steeled his players for a clash with a team he believes has everything.

Hundreds of protesters called for the death of Iran’s supreme leader Ali Khamenei as thousands of onlookers watched early today, the third day of demonstrations in Tehran despite threats by the hard-line regime to crack down to end the disturbances.

DARREN CLARKE is the US Tour’s best driver of a golf ball this year. That is a fact, not an opinion.

ALEX FERGUSON has claimed Manchester United were forced to iron some serious flaws out of their game to become Champions League contenders again.

Alex Ferguson has claimed Manchester United were forced to iron some serious flaws out of their game to become Champions League contenders again.

ISRAELI Prime Minister Ariel Sharon dismissed as "despicable libel" allegations about his involvement in a financial scandal that has cast a shadow over the upcoming Israeli election.

A Yugoslav weapons dealer has exported military equipment to Iraq, and Serb experts are helping Saddam Hussein defend air space against US attacks, it was claimed today.

Nick Faldo revealed today that he was close to giving up golf for good little more than a year ago.