The IRFU performance director delivered his report yesterday into how and why Ireland underperformed in Japan

There was never going to be a single reason for Ireland’s World Cup no-show, but the IRFU’s report into yet another failure at rugby’s biggest tournament will not sit well with former head coach Joe Schmidt.

The IRFU’s report into Ireland’s World Cup failure in Japan will not be a comfortable read for former head coach Joe Schmidt.

Ruan Pienaar only heard about Alby Mathewson’s departure from Munster on Tuesday.

Scott Fardy will not be a hostage to fortune.

Jerry Flannery expects Felix Jones to take his experience of being involved in coaching South Africa to a World Cup final back to Ireland someday.

Johnny Sexton may have only been half-joking when he suggested the knives would be out for himself and half-back partner Conor Murray once Ireland had departed this World Cup.

Ireland's bid to overturn Aki's red card sanction proves unsuccessful.

Rugby union could look very different after the World Cup. How different will become more apparent this week when World Rugby’s Law Review Group (LRG) meets in London today and tomorrow to decide on which player welfare-based rule amendments to pursue on a trial basis.

It won’t prompt an update from the AA Roadwatch team but the steady traffic of players switching provinces will continue this summer on the back of IRFU performance director David Nucifora’s vision to maximise the playing pool.

Rob Kearney has agreed a “nine-month extension” to his IRFU contract and will play with Leinster next season.

Leo Cullen has apologised for comments made last week when he suggested that all of Glasgow Warriors' players were Rangers fans.

The IRFU has hit back at suggestions made by Rob Kearney’s manager that there is a significant gulf between the two parties in ongoing contract negotiations.

Nothing less than a World Cup semi-final appearance in Japan later this year will constitute a good World Cup for Ireland, said a straight-talking David Nucifora, as the IRFU performance director threw down the gauntlet to Joe Schmidt and his squad yesterday.

IRFU Performance Director David Nucifora backed Johann van Graan as the right man to take Munster forward and pledged to surround the head coach with experience and support in the province’s new-look backroom staff.

The IRFU have secured the services of Performance Director David Nucifora for another three seasons.

The 88-times capped Ireland prop's contract will run until summer 2021.

Leinster scrum coach John Fogarty is set to join the IRFU in the summer.

Donal Lenihan runs the rule over the Heineken Cup semi-finalists

Ulster have announced that Leinster loose-head Jack McGrath will join the province in the summer.

The time has come for Ireland rugby to believe the hype and go to Japan this year confident they can and will win the World Cup.

“He’s been a part of the most successful transformation of recent times of a national side.”

Tributes have been pouring in for Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt who has announced he'll step away from coaching after the 2019 World Cup.

“I don’t think there’s another Joe out there,” says Ronan O’Gara, when guided toward the topic of life after Joe Schmidt.

It’s hard not to think that Joe Schmidt spent a good chunk of Saturday evening sitting in the stands of the Aviva Stadium with an inner glow of satisfaction insulating him against any looming October chill.

“Maybe a tax break? Or maybe a two or three month period of the year where players are able to go part time, and they’re given much better expenses to play games. The further they go, the more expenses they get.”

Something just doesn’t sit right about rugby in August.

Joe Schmidt will reach a decision on his future as Ireland head coach over the Christmas period.

The IRFU will continue to assess the recruitment of players with doping convictions on a case-by-case basis in the wake of the controversy sparked by Munster’s signing of Gerbrandt Grobler last summer.

IRFU performance director David Nucifora has not ruled out a return to the Ireland team for sacked internationals Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, should they return home to play for a province in the future.

IRFU performance director David Nucifora has not ruled out a return to the Ireland team for sacked internationals Paddy Jackson and Stuart Olding, should they return home to play for a province in the future.

The IRFU has promised to do everything in its power to extend Joe Schmidt’s tenure as Ireland head coach beyond next year’s World Cup.

The first of a three-match Test series between Ireland and Australia takes place at the weekend in Brisbane, writes Jack Anderson.

As impressive as Leinster’s conveyor belt of homegrown fly-halves is, something always had to give.

Friend, who was most recently coach of the Australian Sevens team, will arrive at the Sportsground in late June to oversee pre-season training.

Once again, the professional model that pertains in Ireland is being hailed as the best in class. That’s what comes with success. Everyone looks at what you’re doing in an attempt to close the gap, writes Donal Lenihan.

Leo Cullen was giving the press his take on Leinster’s crushing Champions Cup semi-final defeat of Scarlets at the Aviva Stadium last Saturday evening when his day brightened that little bit more with news that the province’s ‘A’ side had reached the final of the British & Irish Cup, writes Brendan O’Brien.

Maybe the most remarkable thing about Rob Kearney’s new IRFU contract, confirmed yesterday along with extensions for Irish team-mates Rory Best and Iain Henderson, is the lack of discussion that has shadowed its signing.

Joe Schmidt deservedly received the plaudits for guiding Ireland to a Grand Slam on Saturday. But the New Zealander was quick to credit the efforts of his backroom team in the unforgettable spring campaign. Rory Keane reports.

Ulster's director of rugby Les Kiss is leaving his post by "mutual consent, effective immediately".

Philip Browne has suggested Munster’s signing of Gerbrandt Grobler was down to a “crying need” for second-row cover, a situation that led the province and the IRFU to ignore the player’s former doping ban.

Playing for Ireland in the 2019 Rugby World Cup and winning trophies with Munster were the chief reasons why CJ Stander inked a new deal with the IRFU and turned down lucrative offers to continue his career abroad.

The cash-rich Top 14 outfit Montpellier, has tabled an astonishing €840,000 a year offer to CJ Stander in a bid to turn his head and dissuade him from signing a new contract with Munster and the IRFU.