New Wales defence coach Byron Hayward has told his side to blitz Ireland out of the game as they go in search of their first win in Dublin since 2012.

Spending quarter of a century in the International Tennis Federation gave Dave Miley a unique perspective on tennis at all levels, so it’s hardly a surprise he threw his hat in the ring as a candidate for ITF president.

Joe Schmidt makes his final trip to the Aviva Stadium this afternoon as he takes charge of Ireland on home soil for the 34th and last time.

Joe Schmidt begins preparations for Saturday’s final summer Test against Wales and his last home game as Ireland head coach.

It wasn’t the choice of venue for this season’s Guinness PRO14 final that caught me by surprise when it was announced last week

Jack Carty stands alone among Irish goalkickers this season with not even Johnny Sexton able to keep him

As first-half performances go, Ireland’s 40-minute demolition of France in Dublin on Sunday was among the best Joe Schmidt had seen in his six seasons as a Six Nations head coach.

Mercifully, England’s attempts to scrap the fallow weeks of the Six Nations and shrink the tournament into five consecutive weekends have fallen on deaf ears. It shows scant regard for the fans and does nothing for player welfare.

England defence coach John Mitchell stoked the fires ahead of their trip to Dublin this Saturday by claiming that the defending Guinness Six Nations champions will “try and bore the shit out of us” at Aviva Stadium.

The raft of players coming back into contention for Champions Cup selection this weekend across the provinces bodes well for Joe Schmidt as he prepares to name his first Six Nations 2019 squad this afternoon.

Sammy Arnold assisted Garryowen this season in the early rounds of the Ulster Bank All-Ireland League.

Joe Schmidt has tipped Rob Kearney to keep extending his Test career after storming back into vintage form as Ireland swept to the Grand Slam.

As Six Nations’ Grand Slams go, the one Rory Best collected amid the snowflakes at Twickenham beats them all.

The Joe Schmidt era just gets better and better. So many boxes ticked as the clock ticks towards the 2019 World Cup.

No Irish mis-steps as the Six Nations moves towards its final stages and certainly not a thought wandering to potential glory days ahead.

Peter Jackson recaps the weekend’s Six Nations action. 

It took just over an hour for Roger Federer to fix one anomalous statistic in his extraordinary career.

And so it begins. There was a new venue in west London yesterday as the self-styled Rugby’s Greatest Championship was rechristened the NatWest 6 Nations to reflect the updated title sponsor.

The Australian Open commenced this week. In advance of the first morning session, Tennis Australia held a workshop on match-fixing at which Jack Anderson presented and got an insight into the efforts taken by a major sporting organisation to protect the integrity of a global sporting event against gambling scams.

Ireland’s record in Paris means the squad will be on its guard when they travel there next month, but Sean O’Brien has no qualms about admitting that Joe Schmidt’s side should be winning in the Stade de France if they are to be the team they aspire to be.

Old man par is usually your friend at the US Open but Erin Hills is such an unknown quantity that the world’s best are hedging their bets on the winning score this week.

All the best tens are blessed with great vision so Dan Carter knows a loaded question and its likely consequences when he sees one.

Hindsight is a wonderful thing but to think that Peter O’Mahony was not meant to start against England now seems faintly ridiculous.

On a rainy night in Dublin that provided happiness for both sides, it was also understandable there was frustration in both camps as they lapped the Aviva Stadium in near darkness.

It is precisely because they understand this is a brilliant Dublin team Kerry people are so exercised, writes Paul Rouse.

Eurosport is to be made available for the first time and in high definition to eir Vision customers in Ireland today.

It is common in professional sport for the protagonists to talk of nothing but their focus on “the next game”, but this weekend’s clash with Munster has been many years in the planning for Glasgow Warriors’ head coach Gregor Townsend.

Here it comes again. For the fifth time in my life, I will on Sunday be the focal point of my sons’ affections.

New coach, new belief, two wins from two and their first game at ‘HQ’ to come.

Sam Warburton aims to “burst Ireland’s balloon” on Sunday. The Wales captain knows their opening game of the Six Nations could prove the acid test for hopes of claiming a peculiar hat-trick.

Ireland must conquer the “step-up in psychological pressure” to become genuine World Cup contenders, according to Shane Horgan.

England have missed targets and finished an unacceptable second in the RBS 6 Nations once more, but Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie has confidence in head coach Stuart Lancaster ahead of the Rugby World Cup.

A fourth successive RBS 6 Nations runners-up spot for England is unacceptable, Rugby Football Union chief executive Ian Ritchie said today.

With a few days to reflect on events at the Millennium Stadium, I am even stronger in the belief that Ireland’s defeat in Cardiff will serve more purpose in the long run.

Captain Blackadder: It’s the same plan that we used last time and the 17 times before that.

Conor Murray walked gratefully in to the warmth of one of the business suites attached to the Portmarnock Golf and Links Hotel yesterday after an hour spent filming for a sponsorship gig on the freezing and windswept expanse of beach just a Garryowen away.