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.

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.

Tom Brady piloted Super Bowl champions New England to the winning touchdown with 56 seconds left on Sunday as the Patriots clinched the AFC East with a gut-wrenching 27-24 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

The New England Patriots didn’t need a comeback in their Super Bowl rematch with the Atlanta Falcons.

An Oxford University employee has been denied bail after appearing in court in San Francisco accused of murdering a 26-year-old hair stylist.

Tadhg Furlong has warned the British and Irish Lions to prepare for the "most brutal" Test match of their careers in Saturday's series decider with New Zealand.

Australia’s back-row strength sets up an epic battle, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Ireland may be on the rise but Jamie Heaslip has warned his side face another massive challenge when Australia come to the Aviva Stadium this Saturday.

Scrum-half Conor Murray praised Ireland's young bench after a bruising 21-9 defeat by New Zealand in Dublin.

New Zealand were punished for showing “a lack of respect” to Ireland when they lost in Chicago and could be in for another shock in Saturday’s rematch at the Aviva Stadium, according to former Lions wing Luke Fitzgerald.

Italy 10, New Zealand 68: Conor O’Shea’s mantra since day one of his Italian job has been “Rome was not built in day”. The 10-try drubbing on Saturday seemed like a reminder it only took the Goths three days to destroy it.

Six questions in, all of them a variation on the theme that was his absence from the Ireland squad for last weekend’s historic defeat of the All Blacks in Chicago, and Peter O’Mahony’s calm exterior cracks just a tad.

That was for Axel.

The World Series will be decided in game seven on Wednesday after the Chicago Cubs romped to a 9-3 success against the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field.

If you thought Mayo's wait to get their hands on the Sam Maguire cup was bad, get a load of this.

Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr knows just what his players are going through down the stretch of a potentially record-setting season. Having stumbled to the finish of a 72-win season as a player with the Chicago Bulls two decades ago, Kerr is watching his Warriors do the same.

A Cork business and tourism delegation will be in the US this week, hoping the St Patrick’s Day spirit will unlock American goodwill.

The New York Mets completed a four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs in the National League Championship Series with an 8-3 rout on Wednesday. It put them into the World Series for the first time since 2000.

On Monday, the Boston Celtics were the surprising beneficiaries of one of the most generous systems in professional sport.

A tornado hit a tiny town in Illinois state, killing one person, injuring seven and sweeping homes off their foundations as a large storm system swept across a large swathe of the US.

High profile coaching casualties followed quick on the heels of the final day of the NFL’s regular season as the San Francisco 49ers and the New York Jets parted ways with their coaches yesterday.

Chicago Bears’ defensive end Lamarr Houston will miss the rest of the season after a freak injury while celebrating a sack.

The first openly gay athlete to compete in one of the four major American sports received a standing ovation upon making his home debut last night.

Madonna will perform with Macklemore & Ryan Lewis at the Grammy Awards.

Taylor Swift, Katy Perry and Pink are among the artists set to perform at the Grammy Awards later this month.

A win over divisional rivals Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday evening saw the Denver Broncos emerge from the toughest part of their NFL campaign relatively unscathed and in poll position in the AFC and will now retain home advantage throughout January’s play-offs.

One of the many interesting little anecdotes that emerged out of the James ’Whitey’ Bulger conviction on Monday was the fact that his lawyers had fought successfully for the Boston gangster to keep possession of a 1986 Montreal Canadiens Stanley Cup ring.

I COULDN’T help it.

This is a tough time for experts.

As the NFL heads into December, nearly every division race has an outright favourite.

With more than 130m Americans heading out to vote and some queuing for hours, reports of polling problems in key battleground states as well as the flood effected areas of post-Sandy New York and New Jersey caused some concern for both parties.

Ben Roethlisberger threw two touchdown passes on Sunday to help Pittsburgh beat the New York Giants 24-20 in an NFL game played with Hurricane Sandy’s devastation as a backdrop.

Late field goals kept the Atlanta Falcons and Arizona Cardinals undefeated while Houston won a rout to also stay perfect four weeks into the season.

Hours after his younger brother’s death in a motorcycle accident, Torrey Smith caught six passes for 127 yards and scored two touchdowns to spark Baltimore to a last-play 31-30 NFL win over New England.

Rory McIlroy’s literally got the bug for PGA Championship glory this week at a storm-drenched Kiawah Island in South Carolina.

The Ladbrokes Irish Derby moves a step further tonight with eight more first round heats at Shelbourne and this session will see the majority of the very strong Dolores Ruth team swinging into action.