Ireland supporters will be hoping their heroes in green have been channelling that showtune this week as they attempt to pick themselves off the floor following their Twickenham horror show and get World Cup preparations back on track today in Cardiff.

For years, there had been a reliance on IRFU assistance to facilitate loan repayment negotiations on the debt arising from the Thomond Park redevelopment,

It won’t prompt an update from the AA Roadwatch team but the steady traffic of players switching provinces will continue this summer on the back of IRFU performance director David Nucifora’s vision to maximise the playing pool.

Both Leinster and Ulster have named their teams ahead of their clash tomorrow at the Kingspan stadium.

The Ireland U20s were not long celebrating their remarkable Six Nations Grand Slam before the demands of the rest of the season kicked back in and they had gone their separate ways.

What a dire weekend for GAA attendances. Kerry-Mayo in Austin Stack Park was obviously an exception but across the country there was evidence of supporters preferring to do something else with their Bank Holiday weekend.

In Wales, the party will continue for some time.

Ireland Under-20 captain Charlie Ryan vowed his team will take the momentum from sealing Six Nations Grand Slam glory into this summer’s World Rugby Under-20 Championship.

Shaun Edwards is irreplaceable in the Wales set-up after another master class from the defence guru put Warren Gatland’s side on the brink of a Six Nations Grand Slam.

Joe Schmidt has insisted Ireland keep striving to improve after their history-making win over the All Blacks.

You cannot blame Joe Schmidt for trying to keep a lid on expectations after this epic first home victory over the All Blacks, but you pity the futility of the exercise.

Joe Schmidt has warned Chicago hat-trick hero Jordan Larmour he faces a big step up in challenge when he starts at full-back for Ireland against Argentina on Saturday.

Tyler Morgan looks set to line up for Wales this autumn just five months after he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

Ronan O’Gara has revealed his target of one day coaching Ireland, but insists Joe Schmidt’s current crop can bridge the gap to New Zealand and conquer the world this season.

They may constitute Leinster’s old brigade but Johnny Sexton and Cian Healy are not finished yet, at least not if you listen to their ambitions for greater success.

Munster stars Conor Murray and Peter O’Mahony have backed summer signing Joey Carbery to be a success at his new province following a move from Leinster.

Peter O’Mahony believes his team can deliver its best performance of the series to land a series victory in Australia that will last with this Ireland squad for a lifetime.

What a tour, what a season, what does it all mean?

Joe Schmidt will reach a decision on his future as Ireland head coach over the Christmas period.

The IRFU has promised to do everything in its power to extend Joe Schmidt’s tenure as Ireland head coach beyond next year’s World Cup.

The perils of having a large extended family are becoming all too apparent to Bundee Aki as he tries to wrangle enough tickets for his Australia-based kinfolk to watch Ireland take on the Wallabies over the next three weeks.

Will Genia has learned to his cost the dangers of underestimating Ireland and the Australia scrum-half believes the next generation of Wallabies are at no risk of making the same mistake as he did at the 2011 World Cup.

Joe Schmidt described choosing the 32 players he will take to Australia next month as the most difficult process of his tenure as Ireland head coach but it is clear he has selected a squad with a series victory over the Wallabies at the top of his priority list.

Keith Earls, named by his peers last night as Zurich’s Irish player of the year, is aiming to cap a memorable season by accounting for Leinster’s European champions and claiming a first trophy for Munster since 2011.

Routine is everything to players.

It was his piece of individual magic that turned the tide against Toulon and delivered Munster a place in the Champions Cup semi-finals but Andrew Conway believes it will count for nothing if his side does not kick on and reach the final.

As a two-time world champion, Conrad Smith knows what it takes to be the best in the world.

Rory Best has declared captaining Ireland to just their third-ever Grand Slam as a dream come true.

Jerry Flannery was a member of the Irish team which completed the Six Nations Grand Slam in 2009. An outstanding hooker who helped Munster to win the Heineken Cup in 2006 and 2008, he represented Ireland on 41 occasions. Ahead of Ireland’s bid for more Grand Slam glory on Saturday he spoke to Charlie Mulqueen

South Africa-born back-rower CJ Stander says Ireland’s Six Nations Grand Slam bid against England is now the biggest game of his career.

Two former coaches of Irish rugby, Declan Kidney and Les Kiss, are reportedly set to return to top-flight coaching at Aviva Premiership team London Irish

There was a time when teams boasting outstanding forward packs brought the All-Ireland League title to Limerick almost as a matter of course.

Munster boss Johann van Graan is relying on his players to have moved on from their St Stephen’s Day defeat at home to Leinster when they travel to face Ulster on New Year’s Day.

Tomás O’Leary yesterday announced his retirement from professional rugby “happy and content that it is time to move on”.

Wales 7 Ireland 12: Ireland Women’s head coach Tom Tierney is wary of the challenge his team face in Friday’s Six Nations Grand Slam decider with England.

England and Wales. Two countries steeped in rugby history with a rivalry to match.

When you’ve locked horns and beaten women’s rugby giants New Zealand and World Cup champions England in the recent past, taking on highly-ranked Canada isn’t quite the frightening prospect it could be.

It was an emotional day all round in Manchester on Saturday when Ireland beat New Zealand 33-24 in the World Rugby U20 Championship, but nobody fluctuated as violently through the full gamut of emotions as Irish hooker Adam McBurney.