Eddie O’Sullivan is adopting a hard-headed approach to plotting the downfall of the team he led with distinction when the United States meet Ireland on Sunday.

They might get spanked in Ireland’s Pool C but a shift in attitude to the sport in Russia means this could be the last World Cup they’ll head to as minnows. Ciaran Cronin explains.

Irish team manager Paul McNaughton isn’t prepared to focus on the four World Cup warm-up matches Ireland lost before arriving in Queenstown, choosing instead to draw positives from Munster's and Leister's European triumphs.

Rory Best has warned Ireland they must contain the USA’s early onslaught in their World Cup opener on Sunday.

Donncha O’Callaghan believes Eddie O’Sullivan’s inside knowledge of Ireland will make Sunday’s World Cup opener against the United States fraught with danger.

ENGLAND flanker James Haskell has been passed fit for selection against Ireland on Saturday.

Geordan Murphy was today named in Ireland’s World Cup squad just 48 hours after being resigned to missing out.

THIS time last year, Felix Jones had just half a dozen games for Munster under his belt.

Matt Stevens’ return from the ignominy of a drugs ban continued today when he was confirmed in England’s 45-man Rugby World Cup training squad.

Defeated Aviva Premiership finalists Leicester have boosted their ranks ahead of next season with a trio of signings.

WITH a Heineken Cup medal in his back pocket, a Magners League Grand final against his native province to come and the likelihood of a starting spot in the World Cup, things couldn’t be a whole better right now for Mike Ross.

Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi was last night told he would have been facing prison and not just a five-week ban from rugby had his attack on Chris Ashton occurred on the street.

Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi has received a five-week ban for punching Northampton wing Chris Ashton during last Saturday’s Aviva Premiership play-off clash at Welford Road.

Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi will find out this evening whether he will miss out on the Aviva Premiership final after being cited for punching Northampton wing Chris Ashton.

Connacht Rugby have continued their recruitment drive for next season by securing the services of Harlequins scrum-half David Moore for next season.

Keith Matthews will celebrate his 100th cap when he lines out for Connacht for tomorrow night’s Magners League against Edinburgh at the Sportground (kick-off 7.45pm).

IRELAND coach Declan Kidney has said the onus is on Munster prop Tony Buckley to prove he’s worth a place in the Ireland squad following his signing for Sale Sharks, a transfer which has put the IRFU’s player management policy in the spotlight.

Declan Kidney hopes Ireland are now beginning to benefit from their attempts at building a squad with genuine depth.

NINE changes, a first cap and a couple of Six Nations debutants will put Declan Kidney’s faith in the depth of his carefully assembled squad to the test on Saturday when Ireland face Italy in Rome.

IRISH skipper Brian O’Driscoll has given the new-look back three of the team to produce the goods in the RBS Six Nations opener in Rome on Saturday.

THE CHAT was going reasonably well.

IN the end it was surprisingly easy, with Ireland consolidating their superiority with a second try and an unusually comprehensive victory over the Argentinean Pumas.

THE perfectionists that are Declan Kidney and his coaching team mean many hours will be spent analysing videos of Ireland’s four games of the Guinness Series before the squad meets again to prepare for the 2011 Six Nations Championship.

IT seems a lifetime ago since Tom Court was a loner on the athletic fields of Queensland making his name as a champion shot-putter and chasing a place on the Australian Olympic team.

Declan Kidney insists the absence of John Hayes from Ireland’s clash with South Africa on Saturday does not represent the end of his Test career.

THE absence of Ireland’s birthday boy John Hayes from the squad to meet South Africa at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday suggests the veteran prop forward has come to the end of an illustrious career.

DECLAN KIDNEY last night plucked a rookie back row all the way from Argentina after suspension and injury depleted a squad still dazed from Saturday’s dispiriting defeat to the All Blacks in New Plymouth.

ON his first mission south as Ireland coach, Declan Kidney delved deep into the west yesterday.

Ireland coach Declan Kidney has said he has chosen a strong second-row combination of Ed O'Donoghue and Dan Tuohy for their game against the Barbarians tonight.

IT’S BEEN quite a week for the RDS, with a pair of soccer internationals and a Magners League final over a five-day period.

England today suffered the first withdrawal from their summer tour to Australia and New Zealand when Dylan Hartley pulled out with a knee injury.

IT’S so long since Ireland lost a game that one had forgotten how bad it feels. Those once familiar pictures of dejected figures in green jerseys at the final whistle had almost faded into sepia-tone. It was inevitable that a reality check would come at some stage and the fact that it occurred in Paris shouldn’t come as a surprise.

PREMIER RUGBY has flexed its muscles to deny Ireland access to Leicester winger Johne Murphy for tomorrow’s A game against England Saxons in Bath (2 pm).

DANNY Cipriani has withdrawn from the England Saxons squad ahead of Sunday’s game against Ireland A after suffering a family bereavement.

Ireland international hooker Sean Cronin has extended his stay at Connacht to the end of 2011.

A QUICK study of Leinster centre Fergus McFadden’s rugby CV reveals the extraordinary statistic that he has played more often for Ireland than Leinster.

MUNSTER have opted to give John Hayes another week off and he will sit out Sunday’s Magners League game against the Scarlets at Musgrave Park. Meanwhile, they are keeping their fingers crossed that Marcus Horan will take a full part in Shannon’s AIB League game against St Mary’s College on Saturday.

THE bookies have installed Ireland rugby coach Declan Kidney as firm favourite to grab yet another prestigious accolade – this time in his home town.

THE omission of Leinster flanker Sean O’Brien from the squad for tomorrow night’s A international against Argentina Jaguars suggests he is on standby to replace Denis Leamy on the bench against South Africa on Saturday should the Tipperary man fail to recover from an ankle injury.

Ireland international Mick O'Driscoll will captain the Ireland A team that will take on the Argentina Jaguars in the historic first ever international rugby match in Tallaght Stadium this Friday night (kick off: 7.30pm).

DECLAN KIDNEY is the type of rugby man who would have taken almost as much satisfaction from Ireland’s victory in the Churchill Cup in the USA as he did from the Grand Slam heroics in the Six Nations Championships.

IRELAND A skipper Shane Horgan believes tonight’s game at Ravenhill, Belfast (7pm) against Tonga provides the opportunity for players to ask some questions of the senior coaches.

IRELAND A coach Michael Bradley has named an experienced side for Friday night’s international against Tonga (Ravenhill, 7.35pm).

IF John Fogarty manages to win his first international cap against Australia next week, he will raise a glass to toast his two brothers, Damian and Denis.