It is difficult to imagine a coach as demanding as Joe Schmidt putting his feet up on Saturday night and thinking he has this World Cup campaign nicely sized up.

Having trailed 10-7 at half-time, Ireland started the second period with intent with two tries before the hour mark

Ireland supporters will have breathed a little easier on Saturday night following this victory at the Principality Stadium.

Jacob Stockdale’s interception of a wayward Aaron Shingler offload on 28 minutes was expertly finished by the Ireland wing to notch his second try of the first-half and establish a 12-point cushion that allowed the Irish to release the pressure valve that had been tightening for the past week.

The 2018 Grand Slam champions suffered a humiliating 57-15 defeat to England in London less than two weeks ago

England have beaten Ireland 57-15 in their World Cup warm-up Test at Twickenham.

The Ireland team to play England on Saturday has been announced and Ross Byrne is set to win his third cap.

Rory Best’s ankle injury has cleared up in time to allow him to have the send-off he hoped for, and the Ireland captain suspects he’ll be an emotional wreck when he says goodbye at the Kingspan Stadium tonight

A raucous Sportsground welcomed Connacht’s progression into the play-off stages of the PRO14 as their team turned in a bonus point performance in their most important game of the season so far.

Michael Bradley spent most of his seven years at the Sportsground not just wondering if he would be in a job at the end of the season, but rather whether the Connacht team he was coaching would still be in existence.

Wales have completed the Grand Slam after beating Ireland 25-7 in their Guinness Six Nations match in Cardiff.

Joe Schmidt admits that the decision to start Robbie Henshaw at full-back against England in Saturday's Six Nations opener has been made with one eye on the upcoming World Cup in Japan.

Jack Carty crowned a glorious week as he celebrating his call-up to the Irish squad by scoring the match-winning try three minutes from time to send Connacht into the quarter-finals of the European Challenge Cup.

It says a lot about Connacht under Andy Friend that they were disappointed not to claim a bonus-point win over Top 14 outfit Bordeaux-Bègles as both teams tested the extent of their squads. But the coach left his players in no doubt that they have to improve their discipline or risk being dropped.

It’s a measure of how much things have changed at Connacht since they won the PRO12 title in Murrayfield two years ago that 10 of the 23 players involved that day are no longer at the Sportsground.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

Connacht make their final away trip of a disappointing season when they face another searching evening in Glasgow against a Warriors side aiming to wrap up a home quarter-final in the PRO14.

Connacht 50 Oyonnax 14: The road to Bilbao has now become clear for Connacht.

Challenge Cup Pool 5

Connacht 55 Brive 10: Connacht coach Kieran Keane is relishing facing into three consecutive inter-pro derbies with a squad high on confidence after their latest European masterclass.

Their PRO14 form is dodgy to say the least, but Connacht’s pedigree in the European Challenge Cup is obvious and on Saturday night they took a big step not only towards securing a quarter-final spot, but ensuring that they will enjoy home advantage in the last eight.

Connacht 15 Worcester Warriors 8: You suspect the more Kieran Keane settles into life in Galway the more he appreciates exactly what his predecessor Pat Lam achieved, not just with limited resources but the manner in which he got them to play in the difficult climatic conditions.

SCARLETS 36 - CONNACHT 27: No surprise result against the Scarlets, no reversal of fortunes for Connacht yet, but they came ever so close, producing their best attacking performance this season.

Connacht coach Kieran Keane knows his men have an uphill battle if they are to oust champions Scarlets at Parc y Scarlets tonight.

Connacht have turned to new out-half Andrew Deegan as they seek a crucial home win against Cardiff Blues.

Connacht return to their happiest hunting ground in the league this evening, bidding for their seventh win in 16 visits to Rodney Parade when they take on Dragons.

CONNACHT 32 - SOUTHERN KINGS 10: Connacht coach Kieran Keane was the first to admit that facing newcomers the Southern Kings so early in the season was a welcome gift but he feels the bonus point win secured on Saturday night will propel his new side.

Glasgow are not the first team to come to Galway and deal better with the wind and rain than the home team, but new coach Kieran Keane was anxious not to blame the weather for losing their opening game of the season to the same opposition for the second year in a row.

Connacht coach Pat Lam has thrown down the gauntlet to his side ahead of today’s crucial Guinness PRO12 clash away to Glasgow Warriors.

Connacht 47 Treviso 8: Pat Lam could hardly have asked for a more routine victory in his 100th game in charge as Treviso, yet again, offered only token resistance in what is turning out to be another disastrous campaign for the Italians.

Defeat in Italy on last season’s PRO12 run-in might not have cost Connacht a coveted home semi-final, but that loss registered in their minds.

Connacht will bid to make it eight wins from eight against Dragons in the Pro12 at Rodney Parade this evening and bounce back from their Leinster nightmare (kick-off 7.15pm).

This evening’s clash at the RDS will be Pat Lam’s 98th in charge of Connacht and it is safe to say that he still has little difficulty coming up with a cause for his men each time they go out.

You would have thought Connacht’s bid to get their first points of the season would be the primary focus of this encounter, but the surprise midweek departure of Edinburgh coach Alan Solomons has changed the dynamic of this clash.

Scarlets 17 Connacht 8: After a third successive loss, Connacht are in choppy waters, and Edinburgh’s impending visit to the Sportsground has taken on a must-win feeling.

Only once before have Connacht lost their opening two league matches at the Sportsground but Pat Lam appreciates they must show significant improvement to prevent that happening again when Ospreys come to Galway this evening (7.35pm).