Love them or loathe them, Saracens have played a big part in Munster’s celebrated European journey.

Battered and bruised and ultimately beaten, Wales and Warren Gatland’s World Cup dream ended at the hands of a giant South African outfit for the second successive tournament.

With the cream having risen to the top and the four best sides left standing in the tournament providing two contrasting semi-final shootouts, we are left, with a potentially explosive final with rugby north and south of the equator set for a fascinating head to head.

Wales coach Warren Gatland admitted his side paid the price for conceding too many penalties as they suffered an agonising 19-16 defeat to South Africa in their World Cup semi-final.

This World Cup serves to remind us that previous form or results counts for little. The fact that Ireland had won two of their previous encounters against New Zealand only handed Steve Hansen and his coaching staff a template to beat us when it mattered most.

On the eve of Wales’ final Pool D clash with Uruguay – a game for which head coach Warren Gatland rested his first choice stars – Alun Wyn Jones was still determined not to let his standards drop.

Covering the Wales rugby side is never dull, but the start of the team’s World Cup campaign in Japan saw them breach already lofty standards of controversy.

Michael Cheika picked a fight with the World Cup organisers yesterday over their banning of Reece Hodge, adamant that Australia had been singled out for special treatment.

Joe Schmidt doesn’t forget.

Nigel Carr loved going to Dublin. If Northern Ireland in 1987 was reduced from the friendliest of communities into an angry parochial backwater, then Dublin was an escape from all that, Grafton Street with its bustle and noise, Baggot Street with its pubs.

The clock had long dipped into the red at the end of the first-half by the time Jonathan Sexton attempted one of those trademark wraparound moves only to be swallowed by a bear hug of a tackle and then held up by a posse of supporting Welshmen.

Ireland came from 10-7 down at half-time in the Aviva Stadium to win 19-10 thanks to early second-half tries from Tadhg Furlong and James Ryan

Had a thought this morning. If Joe Schmidt was offered a pass on tomorrow’s final World Cup warm-up game against Warren Gatland’s Wales in Dublin, would he take it?

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

Joe Schmidt begins preparations for Saturday’s final summer Test against Wales and his last home game as Ireland head coach.

Ireland supporters will be hoping their heroes in green have been channelling that showtune this week as they attempt to pick themselves off the floor following their Twickenham horror show and get World Cup preparations back on track today in Cardiff.

Simon Lewis looks at how Wales and Ireland shape up ahead of their World Cup warm-up.

Ireland lock James Ryan says they must match Wales' intensity in Saturday's World Cup warm-up match in Cardiff.

It was a bit like the Steve Redgrave moment at the 1996 Olympics Games. Just after the great British oarsman had bagged his fourth gold medal in Athens he told the world they had his permission to “shoot him” if he ever went near a boat again.

Question marks may remain over his hamstring ahead of Saturday’s Champions Cup quarter-final against Edinburgh but there is no doubting Joey Carbery’s allegiance to Munster with confirmation yesterday that the out-half has signed a two-year contract extension that will see him remain with the province until June 2022.

Cardiff Victory will taste very sweet for Warren Gatland when he gathers his coaching staff together for a “long afternoon” of celebration tomorrow.

In Wales, the party will continue for some time.

The Principality Stadium roof will be open, Storm Hannah’s wet and windy weather won’t make for a classic, but Wales will nonetheless be backed by an entire nation in Cardiff this afternoon.

Three key factors will define today’s titanic Cardiff clash

Tommy Bowe expects Ireland to deliver their best display of the year in Cardiff this weekend.

The powerbrokers of world rugby converge on Dublin today with their agenda dominated by the biggest single offer in the history of the sport — £500m (€585m) for a 30% stake in the Six Nations.

Robin McBryde believes Wales will face “arguably the best side in world rugby” when they go for Six Nations title and Grand Slam glory on Saturday.

As a man who won three Grand Slam titles on home soil, Adam Jones expects Wales to repeat the trick in Cardiff on Saturday.

Shaun Edwards is irreplaceable in the Wales set-up after another master class from the defence guru put Warren Gatland’s side on the brink of a Six Nations Grand Slam.

Warren Gatland says there is “no doubt” his Six Nations title and Grand Slam-chasing players have been distracted by Welsh rugby’s current domestic situation.

Mercifully, England’s attempts to scrap the fallow weeks of the Six Nations and shrink the tournament into five consecutive weekends have fallen on deaf ears. It shows scant regard for the fans and does nothing for player welfare.

As we wait expectantly on the cusp of the 2019 Guinness Six Nations, the final round of the self-styled Rugby’s Greatest Championship seems an awfully long way down the track.

Lions captain Sam Warburton has retired from rugby union at the age of 29.

In a season that keeps on giving for Irish rugby, a series win against a major southern hemisphere superpower for the first time since 1979 would offer the perfect ending.

We look back at a fascinating 2018 tournament. 

The Joe Schmidt era just gets better and better. So many boxes ticked as the clock ticks towards the 2019 World Cup.

Joe Schmidt may have thought long and hard about the make-up of Ireland’s second row for tomorrow’s Six Nations clash with Scotland but the inclusion of Johnny Sexton was never in doubt, whatever about the fly-half’s off-day with the boot last time out.

Joe Schmidt continues to take exception at the suggestion that his Ireland team are an up-the-jumper outfit with little else up their sleeves.

Jonny May has revealed that the recent bite to training has forced the intervention of coaches, as England look to relaunch their NatWest 6 Nations title defence.

Taulupe Faletau will captain Wales and Scarlets flanker James Davies makes his Test debut in Sunday's NatWest 6 Nations clash against Italy in Cardiff.

Nestled at the end of the second paragraph of the IRFU’s official statement on Jamie Heaslip’s retirement was the fact that the Leinster No 8 had appeared 95 times for his country and played the full 80 minutes for 72 of them.

A Saturday to savour in Dublin was made even sweeter by a cracking performance from Scotland in defeating back-to-back Six Nations champions England in Edinburgh, writes Donal Lenihan.

Ireland 37 - Wales 27: Warren Gatland can always be relied on to offer a pithy comment or a smartly-aimed barb and they were much in evidence as the Wales coach reflected on a first Six Nations defeat to Ireland since 2014.