One of the most fascinating aspects of sport is the psychological factor.

Interstellar *****

Declan Kidney last night vowed to get on with his job as Ireland head coach and ignore the speculation about his future in the role that has increased with RBS 6 Nations defeat to Scotland.

The Scots had a simple explanation for how they managed to secure a result in yesterday’s battle of Murrayfield – smash and grab!

It’s hard to know what’s the most daunting challenge in world sport right now but whatever it is, it exists at the upper echelons of men’s tennis.

THIS afternoon, in Louisville, Kentucky, the bell will ring for a week-long birthday party in Muhammad Ali’s honour.

I SAW Joe Frazier at Madison Square Garden but not, alas, in the Fight of the Century. It was just last January and Joe was courtside for Knicks-Spurs in the NBA.

Boxing was today mourning the passing of one its finest heavyweights after Joe Frazier lost his battle with liver cancer.

Muhammad Ali today paid tribute to his great rival Joe Frazier, saying: “The world has lost a great champion.”

'EastEnders' is going out five nights a week for one week only as it welcomes a new face to the square.

Jamie Foreman has joined the cast of 'EastEnders'.

LESS STYLISH than Raging Bull, less euphoric than the Rocky films, The Fighter (US/15A/115 mins) is a boxing movie made in the image of its hero, ‘Irish’ Micky Ward (Mark Wahlberg), a solid but unspectacular Irish-American scrapper who slugged his way to a shot at the world title in the mid-’90s.

LEOPARDSTOWN Racecourse yesterday announced a new five-year deal which will see the 100% Irish owned BHP Insurances Ltd company sponsor the Irish Champion Hurdle until 2015.

THE most successful teams in the GAA over the last decade have been Kerry, Tyrone and above all Kilkenny, who have nearly as many All-Ireland titles in that period as the two others put together.

MIGUEL COTTO claimed he had answered his critics after stopping Yuri Foreman in the ninth round of their fight at Yankee Stadium to claim the WBA light-middleweight title.

FIGHT fans eager for boxing’s return to Yankee Stadium will have to wait a little longer tonight as Israeli world champion Yuri Foreman puts the Sabbath top of his priority list.

IRISH light-middleweight boxer James Moore is confident he can take full advantage of a second shot at the big time when he faces Pawel Wolak at Yankee Stadium tomorrow night.

THIRTY FOUR years after boxing’s last headline act at Yankee Stadium saw Muhammad Ali handed a controversial points victory over Ken Norton, the sport is preparing to return to the venue tomorrow night.

A pair of spacewalking astronauts, one of them a surgeon, rushed through antenna and cable work outside the International Space Station and even managed to do an extra chore

Amy Winehouse is dating the son of legendary boxer and grilling machine inventor George Foreman.

Boxing promoter Bob Arum has handed John Duddy a lifeline to a world title shot after putting the Irish contender on the Miguel Cotto-Michael Jennings undercard later this month.

Hundreds of people holding signs and waving American flags cheered wildly to honour the pilot who safely landed a US Airways jet in New York’s Hudson River.

Former top novice chaser Foreman is to make his debut for Jonjo O’Neill in the Blue Square Mobile Handicap Chase at Sandown on Saturday.

IN their record tenth successive Heineken Cup quarter-final appearance, Munster stormed the historical fortress of English rugby at Kingsholm to register a third victory away from home at this stage of the competition — another cup record.

WITH their fifth and final spacewalk under their belt, Endeavour’s astronauts took some well-deserved time off yesterday before starting the journey home.

Madonna has laughed off reports she and husband Guy Ritchie have invested $5m (€3.26m) in their own London pub.

Pop superstar Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie have bought a traditional London pub near their home in the British capital.

Dessie Hughes believes Schindlers Hunt is showing all the signs of being back to his best ahead of the paddypower.com Newlands Chase at Naas on Sunday.

Nickname finally makes his seasonal reappearance in the Paddy Power Dial-A-Bet Chase at Leopardstown tomorrow.

Our Ben finally landed a long-awaited Graded success over fences as he lifted the O’Connell Logistics Hilly Way Chase at Cork.

FOREMAN is set to make his debut for new trainer Charlie Swan in Sunday’s O’Connell Logistics Hilly Way Chase at Cork.

Foreman is set to make his debut for new trainer Charlie Swan in Sunday’s O’Connell Logistics Hilly Way Chase at Cork.

‘THERE is always the shock in seeing him again. Women draw an audible breath. Men look down. They are reminded again of their lack of worth.’

YOU know things are getting pretty bad when you start quoting Rodney King.

NEWMILL could face two of the three horses that finished ahead of him at Cheltenham last month as he bids for back-to-back victories in Punchestown’s Kerrygold Champion Chase later this month.

NEWLY-CROWNED Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Voy Por Ustedes is likely to have run his last race this season.

Newly-crowned Queen Mother Champion Chase hero Voy Por Ustedes is likely to have run his last race this season.

KAUTO STAR has been the talk of the jumps season, enthralling spectators and even sparking a debate about how to pronounce his name.

JOHN MURPHY has moved to reassure punters reigning Queen Mother Champion Chase winner Newmill’s entry in the Champion Hurdle is just a precaution.

Well Chief makes his eagerly-awaited reappearance in a cracking renewal of the totepool Game Spirit Chase at Newbury on Saturday.

PAUL NICHOLLS is keeping a close eye on the weather and hoping the wet spell comes to an end ahead of Kauto Star’s outing in the Aon Chase at Newbury on February 10.