Ireland are on their way back up the IRB World Rankings, moving from eighth to seventh after beating France 30-21 at Croke Park last Saturday.

Fiji’s military ruler today refused to buckle to demands that he hold democratic elections this year, saying he would stick to his own timetable even if it meant facing sanctions.

Fiji’s military ruler says it could be 10 years before he relinquishes power - offering a defiant challenge to South Pacific leaders as they meet to press him into restoring democracy.

Fiji's military ruler today said he was expelling New Zealand's top diplomat, sending relations between the two South Pacific nations spiralling even lower.

FIJI’S newly imposed premier admitted the army’s ousting of the elected government was illegal and that elections could be two years away, but said the nation did not need Western-style democracy.