Ireland's most successful head coach has taken charge of his final match on the IRFU payroll and will hand the reins to current defence coach Andy Farrell.

Joe Schmidt wasn’t having any of Steve Hansen’s mind games after Ireland saw off the All Blacks last November.

That New Zealand have stated they will target Johnny Sexton is hardly a galloping shock. Johnny’s had that for a lot of his career, but it remains fundamentally important to Ireland’s chances today that he is on the pitch for 60-65 minutes.

Joe Schmidt wasn't having any of Steve Hansen's mind games after Ireland saw off the All Blacks last November.

Despite winning two of their last three encounters between the sides, Joe Schmidt’s Ireland side don’t possess a fear-factor for the All Blacks.

Sit steady and stop fidgeting. The World Cup is about to get properly serious.

New Zealand press not giving Joe Schmidt's side much chance of causing an upset.

It’s a long way from the Newlands Stadium in Cape Town, South Africa to Tuam Stadium in the heartland of North Galway, especially if you go via The Twickenham Stoop, the Vélez Sarsfield in Buenos Aires, and a few laps of MacHale Park in Castlebar, but Gavin Duffy has played in them all, and in doing so, has rather silently compiled one the most compelling sporting CV’s of any Irish man or woman these last two decades.

Ronan O'Gara's latest Irish Examiner column picked up by official All Blacks website.

The answer to whether the Springboks are Rugby World Cup 2019 contenders remains a strong ‘yes’ after Saturday’s epic battle against the All Blacks in Yokohama.

CAPE TOWN - After years of inane platitudes from All Black coach Steve Hansen about the rivalry with the Boks after his side racked up record scores against their old foes, things changed this week.

When rugby went professional — officially, at least — in 1995, Shannon won the first of their four-in-a-row AIL titles.

Best was poor in Twickenham last Saturday when Ireland shipped over 50 points to a rampant England side.

Shane Horgan has warned that Ireland are too dependent on Jonathan Sexton and believes there is a case for Joey Carbery to play beside the out-half in what would be a huge departure for the team under Joe Schmidt.

The All Blacks may have suffered a major blow to their chances of retaining the Rugby World Cup after influential lock Brodie Retallick left today's 16-all draw with South Africa with an injury.

It’s impossible to get used to -2 degrees in July. Irrespective of how many years a Paddy spends in Christchurch, heading out with a couple of Crusader coaches to a Japanese restaurant dressed like a lagging jacket always seems odd.

Rugby players in an Irish Open Pro-Am are not an unusual sight. Along with GAA stars and jockeys, they are a staple of the pre-tournament entertainment at this annual stop on the European Tour.

It was a bit like the Steve Redgrave moment at the 1996 Olympics Games. Just after the great British oarsman had bagged his fourth gold medal in Athens he told the world they had his permission to “shoot him” if he ever went near a boat again.

And before we know it, another season comes to a sudden and dramatic end.

The full-back's contract expires in November after the Rugby World Cup.

The new provincial hurling championships have a strong advocate in Cork hurling captain Seamus Harnedy, even if he admits now that he was “sceptical enough beforehand” last year.

There has been a surge in stories lately about who’s going to end up where in 2020 and not all of it has been about your columnist.

Cork senior hurling manager John Meyler is looking forward to his side’s Munster championship opener in Pairc Ui Chaoimh — and hoping the post-match conversation won’t be about the playing surface.

Toulouse face a ‘mountainous’ challenge against the premier club side in Europe when they face Leinster in the semi-final of the Champions Cup, according to double World Cup-winning All Black Jerome Kaino.

Robbie Henshaw says Ireland must develop a New Zealand state of mind if they are to have any chance of winning this year’s Rugby World Cup.

Towards the end of last season, Johnny McNicholl asked himself a rhetorical question: “Am I Welsh? It’s a tough question to answer. I don’t know.”

In further positive contract news, All Black scrum-half Alby Mathewson has signed a further extension to his Munster stay.

Finally, the pieces are falling into place for Ireland, just as their Guinness Six Nations campaign draws to a close.

Is the dam on the brink of bursting? Is international rugby ready to sell its soul? The haste with which a proposed new 12-team World League is being introduced smacks of panic. There is even talk of the tournament running in 2020. Surely not?

World Rugby chairman Bill Beaumont has called a meeting to discuss the future of the international game amidst controversy over plans for a World League.

Munster coach Johann van Graan believes that his squad’s recent contract extensions mean that Munster’s hand will be stronger than ever going into tomorrow’s extremely testing clash with the Scarlets in Llanelli and for the remainder of what promises to be an demanding programme of matches in the PRO14 and the European Champions Cup.

The former All Black out-half is joining Simon Zebo and Donnacha Ryan at the Parisian club mid-season as a 'medical joker'.

I got off a flight in Christchurch Sunday weary and with the seat of the pants stuck to my backside. By Monday morning though, the first shrill whistle of Crusaders’ pre-season had that whiff of fresh ambition about it, writes Ronan O'Gara.

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

Games as eagerly anticipated as Saturday’s clash of Ireland and New Zealand rarely deliver on the expectation, but this was special, another one of those I was there days, writes Donal Lenihan.

Ireland have beaten the All Blacks for the second time in three years.

It’s eight years since Greg Feek plugged himself into the mainframe of Irish rugby but the Kiwi scrum coach wasn’t exactly in the mood to measure his input as he pulled up a pew ahead of Saturday’s game against Argentina.

You would imagine Chicago will hold a special place in Tadhg Beirne’s heart for quite some time after his double try-scoring first start for Ireland at the weekend.

Watching those re-runs on RTÉ of Reeling in the Years serves as a graphic reminder of just how much things have changed in modern Ireland — in the majority of cases — for the better.

So, that’s that then. No Conor Murray next month. Possibly Ireland’s most important player and he’s unavailable for the visit of the All Blacks, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Sport retains the capacity to cut even the best of players and teams down to size, writes Donal Lenihan

Johann van Graan’s bid to get his first full European campaign off to a winning start could not have come in more difficult circumstances, yet the Munster head coach has learned enough in his short time in charge to expect the unexpected on Heineken Champions Cup away days.

Watching New Zealand and South Africa there was that very rare feeling - it lasted only a few minutes, like viewing the aurora borealis, where you are mouthing quietly to yourself: this is unbelievable, writes Ronan O’Gara.

Jamison Gibson-Park has been biding his time in the shadows at Leinster but the Kiwi scrum-half grabbed the spotlight on Saturday evening with a performance that put a half-dozen returning Irish stars in the shade.