Aaron O’Brien bagged a brace of tries at Donnybrook to give St Mary’s College a deserved 21-15 triumph over Gonzaga College in the Leinster Schools Junior Cup first round.

Andy Farrell insisted continuity in Ireland team selection would not come at the expense of creativity as he kept changes to a minimum for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations second-round visit of Wales to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made two enforced changes to the Ireland team to face Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash.

Meanwhile, uncapped Leinster back-row Will Connors has been drafted into Andy Farrell's squad.

Belvedere College held off the spirited challenge of St Mary’s College at Donnybrook to book their spot in the Leinster Schools Senior Cup quarter-finals.

There was a time when Johnny Sexton’s schoolboy half-back partner in Japan was Vinny Hammond.

Ireland will take a fully fit squad to Japan for the World Cup.

Munster out-half Joey Carbery is part of the 40-man squad flying to Portugal today for an eight-day warm-weather training camp.

Perhaps it will be Stephen O’Brien that he follows around Croke Park come Sunday. Or maybe Sean O’Shea if he’s not playing as an inside forward. But whatever task Tyrone’s Conor Meyler is handed this weekend, he will not lack for resilience.

An “engaging” German exam heralded the much-anticipated end of exams for many Junior Cert students across the country today.

Ailing attendances, the strong getting stronger and the weak getting weaker, the Ulster championship finds itself at a crossroads.

Joe Schmidt has made seven changes to the Ireland team to face France in Sunday's Six Nations clash.

Cronin has been dropped from the 37-man squad just a week after his first Six Nations start in 68 international appearances.

UCC’s Jack Kennedy has given the thumbs-up to the midweek staging of the Sigerson Cup final.

“A victory for football” is how Billy Morgan described this latest Sigerson Cup final win, his fifth as a player or manager.

Adam Griggs has made one change to the Ireland team ahead of their Women's Six Nations match away to Italy.

The uncapped Linda Djougang, Anne Marie O'Hora and Kathryn Dane are also included on the bench.

As Dublin star Diarmuid Connolly looks set to head out to the US for the summer in the coming days, the allure of Gaelic football in Boston is proving extremely attractive, with a host of inter-county and elite club talent basing themselves there this summer.

Ireland, ever-present in the tournament since it started in Wales in 2008, will face a baptism of fire this evening when they open their World Rugby U20 Championship campaign against France at Stade Aime Giral.

Terenure College and Garryowen were the big winners on the final day of Division 1A’s regular season, setting up semi-final clashes with defending champions Cork Constitution and table-topping Lansdowne respectively.

There are also three new faces on the bench from the win over Wales.

Leinster Senior Schools Cup quarter-final: St Mary’s College 32 Cistercian College Roscrea 29

The past weekend was a golden one for the Irish provinces against their English counterparts, but Leinster senior coach Stuart Lancaster isn’t getting carried away with talk of a power shift in the Champions Cup.

Most Junior Certificate students had the first of two maths papers yesterday afternoon.

Ireland U20 head coach Peter Malone is looking forward to having another crack at New Zealand as he prepares to bring his side into battle for this summer’s World Rugby U20 Championships in Georgia, writes Daire Walsh.

Ireland 27 France 22: Not a performance to shout about, but Ireland’s U20s did just about enough to make it three wins from three in this year’s Six Nations at Donnybrook last night.

Cistercian College, Roscrea will face Gonzaga College in the quarter-finals of the Leinster Schools’ Senior Cup, following their narrow victories over CBC Monkstown and Castleknock College yesterday.

Tom Tierney has named a side to face Scotland on Friday at the Broadway Stadium in Glasgow with a hint of inexperience about it outside of the starting XV.

Ireland women’s coach Tom Tierney has named five uncapped players in his Six Nations squad but it is the absence of former World Player of the Year nominee Sophie Spence that stood out.

St Mary’s College 16 Cork Constitution 20: Cork Constitution survived a late onslaught from St Mary’s College to claim a narrow win in Division 1A of the Ulster Bank League at Templeville Road on Saturday.

Ireland 37 Argentina 7: Irish coach Nigel Carolan says they will treat next Saturday’s World Rugby U-20 Championship final in much the same way as they have approached every other game in the tournament and try not to dwell on the significance of their appearance.

#jbforjodie comes after Wayne Rooney tweeted his condolences to Jodie’s nephews Mark and Evan following the online campaign #rooneyformarkandevan.

Ireland Club’s coach Paul Cunningham is expecting a stern test and plenty of top class rugby in tonight’s Ulster Bank sponsored Dalriada Cup clash with Scotland at Temple Hill, Cork (7.30pm).

As they prepare to head into the lion’s den against title holders Toulon on Sunday afternoon, Jonathan Sexton believes that Leinster need to attack the strengths of the Top 14 giants in their latest European Rugby Champions Cup fixture.

Despite their respective defeats at the weekend, both Old Belvedere and Garryowen hang onto their top four spots in the Ulster Bank League — after the weekend fixture schedule was decimated by the weather, UCD proved too strong for Belvedere and won 20-12 at the Belfield Bowl, while Clontarf defeated Garryowen at Castle Avenue and eased to a bonus point win on a 39-25 scoreline.