Sergio Parisse has nothing much to show for 16 years of international rugby beyond a global admiration for his gallantry in the face of overwhelming odds.

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.

France’s far-right National Front leader Marine Le Pen told a Sunday paper that she expects her party to get enough votes in the May 22 to 25 European elections to form a bloc with other Eurosceptics that can stop the EU’s progress.