Wales are hoping to make it three from three in this year's U-18 Six Nations Festival in Cork but the young Welsh players will be sternly tested by France who are on the hunt for a first win.

THE week long Six Nations Under-18 rugby tournament, which gets underway in Cork tomorrow, is estimated to be worth in excess of €500,000 to the economy of the city.

PRELIMINARY tests conducted on three people who returned to the Indian Ocean French island of La Reunion after a trip to Thailand indicated they may have the H5N1 bird flu virus, authorities said yesterday.