The case cast light on a culture of contempt and entitlement in sport, but rugby in particular, and it would be fascinating to examine where the sympathies of Jackson’s and Olding’s team-mates lay, writes Paul Rouse

Republic of Ireland and former Cork City striker Sean Maguire was relieved to turn tears to cheers after his dramatic return to action with a brace in Preston’s 3-1 Championship win at Bolton.

Ulster are hoping to field their best available team when they travel to France for the Pool 5 Champions Cup opener against Bordeaux-Begles.

TOMORROW, the pinnacle of the GAA season is reached, but it’s an occasion about much more than a game of football between two hyper-trained teams, writes Michael Clifford.

It’s not just a jersey they hand you, but one with a number, and often that number counts.

Craig Gilroy took a while to win Joe Schmidt over to the view he was a viable wing option for Ireland. Now he has to prove it in today’s second Test against South Africa but is hopeful Ellis Park can provide the perfect conditions to do so.

He might not be the finished article quite yet but within the Ireland camp there is a strong feeling that Paddy Jackson is well on the way to proving himself a genuine rival for Johnny Sexton in the chase for the green number 10 jersey.

One man’s misfortune is another’s stroke of luck, but Paddy Jackson is going to have to take full advantage of Johnny Sexton’s injury in the most demanding of rugby environments.

If Seán Hayes can guide Cork to victory in Saturday’s EirGrid All-Ireland U21FC final against Mayo in Cusack Park, Ennis (6pm), he will complete a rare double.

Two of Ireland’s most promising young stars are hoping to ride the feelgood factor from the Walker Cup and rack up big finishes in the Volopa Irish Challenge at Mount Wolseley this week.

It is by a distance the most frequent face-off of the new millennium, with 26 championship clashes already since Cork partied like it’s 1999. Kieran Shannon has crunched the numbers from all those games, observed the trends — and how both camps might try to buck them this evening.

Leinster 24 Ulster 11

Ulster are familiar foes for the patrons at Leicester’s Welford Road.

It is truly terrifying to think that this year’s college entrants were born in the late 90s, making them younger than your first mobile phone. Ed Power looks back at a long lost world    

While a night on the tiles can produce a helluva hangover, constant drinking does longterm damage.

Hugh Jackman is helping his overweight friend get fit for a marathon.

It’s hard not to get nostalgic as a Cork person in a week such as this, but it doesn’t necessarily mean getting all romantic either.

Chris Henry has had to bide his time to get to the front of the Irish back row queue and after a long campaign in an Irish shirt he just doesn’t want the season to end.

Michael Jackson's family claim he would not approve of the upcoming 'Xscape' album.

Pharrell Williams is upset songs he wrote for Michael Jackson never "made it" to him.

You can observe a lot just by watching,” the quote machine that is Yoggi Berra offered and reading a book on and with Dennis Bergkamp in recent days, we’re guessing the Dutchman would agree.

Fulham chairman Shahid Khan believes removing the controversial Michael Jackson statue outside Craven Cottage is the “right thing” to do.

A little over a week after the 2005 All-Ireland football final, this writer received an email from a fairly irate Kerry supporter.

Jockey plans for the Darley July Cup have been taking shape with Ryan Moore, Luke Morris and Jimmy Fortune all being booked for the six-furlong championship at Newmarket on Saturday.

Michael Jackson's 14-year-old daughter was bullied when she started school.

Michael Jackson's mother claims Dr. Conrad Murray's four-year prison sentence for the involuntary manslaughter of her son is "not enough".

MICHAEL JACKSON was named this year’s top-earning dead celebrity in a list compiled by financial website Forbes.com, earning the title for the second year in a row following his death in 2009.

Val McDermid’s perspective as a woman is key to her ability to write crime fiction, but the genre is more than it seems, she tells Declan Burke.

Kieren Fallon’s desire to regain the jockeys’ title burned as brightly as the autumn sun as the in-form rider rattled off another two winners at Ascot.

A LAWYER for the promoter of Michael Jackson’s final concerts said the singer’s doctor asked the company for life-saving equipment just days before the pop superstar’s death.

Michael Jackson’s brother Jermaine has revealed a plan to secretly fly his sibling to Bahrain if he was found guilty of child molestation charges, it was reported.

Michael Jackson spent the last months of his life frightened, convinced that he would be killed by people wanting to get access to his valuable music catalogue, according to his sister, LaToya Jackson.

Michael Jackson's iconic red leather 'Thriller' jacket is up for auction.

Fulham today confirmed a commemorative statue of the late Michael Jackson is being erected at Craven Cottage at the behest of chairman Mohamed Al Fayed.

Jermaine Jackson will tell “the truth as we know it” about his brother Michael in a new book to be published this year.

Executors of Michael Jackson’s estate are demanding that the Discovery Channel cancel plans for a show purporting to re-enact Jackson’s post-mortem.

Scotland 19 Samoa 16

Michael Jackson's record label has been forced to issue a statement insisting it really is him singing on his new single.

MICHAEL JACKSON’s mother said yesterday she believes her famous son was addicted to plastic surgery.