Tommy Bowe expects Ireland to deliver their best display of the year in Cardiff this weekend.

As a man who won three Grand Slam titles on home soil, Adam Jones expects Wales to repeat the trick in Cardiff on Saturday.

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.

Joe Schmidt sensed his Ireland team were in for a rough ride as he surveyed an unusually quiet home dressing room prior to kick-off.

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 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.

Sean O’Brien was in a pub in Carlow when Ireland claimed the Grand Slam.

This Grand Slam is the start of something very exciting, writes Stephen Ferris.

Ireland's Grand Slam triumph owes everything to Jacob Stockdale's record-breaking scoring exploits - but also an unwitting helping hand from Twickenham's ground staff.

What does it take to win a Grand Slam? Upset a president for a start...

What goes around comes around. A year after bursting England’s bubble and ending a Grand Slam dream in Dublin, Ireland stand on the brink of similar glory as they prepare to storm Twickenham today.

Twickenham? Dan Leavy’s never been, let alone played, at ‘HQ’.

Ireland 37 - Wales 27: Warren Gatland can always be relied on to offer a pithy comment or a smartly-aimed barb and they were much in evidence as the Wales coach reflected on a first Six Nations defeat to Ireland since 2014.

It’s less than a decade since Declan Kidney’s Irish team secured that famous Grand Slam but it may as well be a page ripped out of an ancient history textbook as Joe Schmidt’s current generation of players go about writing their own chapters.

The pre-prepared monologue followed his Australian Open quarter-final defeat.

Kenny Perry, who won the US Senior Open in July, never tasted major championship glory during an otherwise successful PGA Tour career.

Eighteen-time grand slam champion Roger Federer is out of the Dubai Duty Free Championships after suffering a second-round loss to Russia's Evgeny Donskoy today.

Rafael Nadal has announced he will not be competing in next week's ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament held in Rotterdam.

Now that Ireland’s painful abdication from their crown has come to pass, England and Wales will fight it out next week for the right to claim the Six Nations throne.

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.

Nick Faldo will miss the chance to see a Rory McIlroy duel with Jordan Spieth at this week’s Open but the man who tamed St Andrews 25 years ago also believes the current world number one has missed a serious opportunity to add to his major haul after his football injury.

Heather Watson came within a whisker of one of the great Wimbledon upsets, but was unable to stop Serena Williams’ march towards the calendar grand slam.

Rugby is mourning another of its finest sons as Ireland, Munster and Lions star Jim McCarthy died yesterday, aged 90.

RBS 6 Nations

There is much to savour and appreciate regarding Ireland’s Six Nations win over England on Sunday, and much of it comes down to the numbers.

So many rudderless English chariots have drifted away on the Liffey over the years they must now pose a danger to shipping in the Irish Sea.

When Ireland won their first Triple Crown in 19 years back in 2004, a young English boy joined in the celebrations at their training base.

Brian O’Driscoll has outlined how being overlooked for the 2009 IRB Player of the Year was one of the biggest disappointments of his career, while the Grand Slam win that year was one of the highlights.

Roger Federer buried another of last year’s ghosts by defeating Roberto Bautista Agut to reach the quarter-finals of the US Open.

You heard the views of the Irish camp after losing to New Zealand last November.

Saturday September 24, 1988 at Palmerston North – the first and last time Joe Schmidt bumped into Warren Gatland in New Zealand’s National Provincial Championship.

We plot Brian O’Driscoll’s incredible Six Nations journey.

It is the best way to get a feel for the tennis these days; watching, and typing, with a broken finger.

Rafael Nadal will take on Novak Djokovic in a sixth grand slam final at the US Open on Monday.

Roger Federer’s latest attempt to find a way out of his slide sees him turn to the comforts of home.

The reaction over the Warren Gatland decision to drop Brian O’Driscoll was instant and dramatic, triggering mayhem, fury, disbelief.

Novak Djokovic does not care that Britain has not had a men’s singles champion at Wimbledon for 77 years and today said he was ready to deny Andy Murray the trophy he desires above all others.

Ireland's women's rugby team are expected to receive a hero's welcome later when they touch down at Dublin Airport with the Women's RBS 6 Nations Championship trophy.

RBS SIX NATIONS:

Brian O’Driscoll has dismissed suggestions he is focusing on the race to captain the British & Lions in Australia this summer but made clear his intentions to earn selection for a fourth and final tour.

He was making a stand for sure, but when an unflinching Martin Johnson would not be moved from that red carpet in Lansdowne Road 10 years ago, no one could have known that year would represent a last stand for England too.

One of the most sage pieces of advice offered to RTÉ head of sport Ryle Nugent was that if he survived the first 10 years without people liking or disliking his rugby commentary, he might just make it. On the eve of his 15th season behind the mic, he evidently succeeded.

If we are feeling a little vulnerable and insecure after five consecutive Test defeats, just put yourself in the boots of the Welsh Grand Slam squad for a brief moment.