The 20-year-old academy second-row produced a stunning three-try salvo against Glasgow Warriors on Friday.

Six Nations officials will meet in Paris on Monday to discuss the threat posed to the tournament by the spread of the coronavirus, but they are at the mercy of a situation that is entirely beyond their control.

Jonathan Sexton has faced the brickbats before.

The big second row's international career appeared to be all but over when Joe Schmidt cut him loose from the Ireland squad that would travel to Japan for the World Cup but he starts for the first time in six months for his country on Sunday against England in Twickenham.

Ireland target a Triple Crown on Sunday at Twickenham against England, as they bid to maintain their perfect record in the tournament.

The head coach retained 23 players for a two-day camp in Cork last week, while 13 others returned were released back to their provinces to get game-time.

If last week was flat then this was full on.

Two tries on a spring afternoon, nearly 40 years ago, put Moss Finn in the Irish sports pantheon, but recently he’s been in the news for a different reason. After over 140 years in business, the family sports shop on Finn’s Corner closed down last week. He spoke to Michael Moynihan about the modern game, the older game, and everything in between

Ronan O'Gara has tried to put himself in the Ireland boss’s shoes this week and he knows all too well that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to team selection.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made two enforced changes to the Ireland team to face Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash.

Conor Murray or John Cooney? It’s the selection question that has polarised opinion at the outset of Ireland’s new era under Andy Farrell but it doesn’t always have to be one or the other.

Far from perfect though Ireland were last Saturday, Jonathan Sexton was on to something when pointing out that they are in a far better position after than 12 months previously when their Triple Crown and Grand Slam hopes were already in ruins.

Meanwhile, uncapped Leinster back-row Will Connors has been drafted into Andy Farrell's squad.

Cometh the hour, cometh the man they had all been talking about.

It may have been Hogg with the schoolboy error but Ireland's report card is clear: must do better, writes Brendan O'Brien.

Simon Easterby knows what it is to be dropped in at the deep end.

The question didn’t come from out of left field so much as the Far East. Where, asked the Japanese journalist, would you rank Ireland on a scale from one to 100 right now?

Fifteen weeks had passed since Ireland were turfed out of the World Cup by the All Blacks by the time Jordan Larmour sat down today wearing his IRFU gear.

Andy Farrell believes he will be leading Ireland into a new era with a squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations he believes has got the lot.

Listen to the radio sports bulletins and chats this week and Leinster have barely merited a mention.

Jonathan Sexton and James Ryan both look good to go for Ireland's Six Nations opener against Scotland early next month.

Jonathan Sexton will go cold into the Six Nations after confirmation on Monday that the out-half will play no part in Leinster's last two Heineken Champions Cup fixtures.

Fretting over one candidate for the Irish captaincy as the Six Nations approaches is unfortunate enough. Worrying about the fitness of a second is another level of concern entirely for Andy Farrell.

The Guinness PRO14 rarely fares well when observers from across the Irish Sea compare it to their own Gallagher Premiership.

All injury updates come attached with a health warning these days but the latest on Jonathan Sexton is that his knee problem is “progressing well”. More should be known after he sees a specialist later in the week.

Leinster are poised to present a batch of fresh and inexperienced faces when they take on Munster this weekend but James Tracy won’t be among the boys in blue experiencing Thomond Park for the first time.

There’s not much worse than old-timers waxing lyrical about how things were better in their day.

Connacht coach Andy Friend has told Jack Carty not to panic over his surprise omission from the Irish squad and he’s confident the 27-year old can play his way back on to the international stage.

There's no room for Rob Kearney, Seán Cronin, Jordi Murphy, Jack Carty, John Ryan or Kieran Marmion – with newly eligible Jamison Gibson-Park jumping ahead of the Connacht man at scrum-half.

With the Six Nations kicking off in less than two months, it is the first squad meet-up since the national team returned from Japan.

Seven tries last week, another seven tonight.

‘Tis the season for Christmas jumpers, blue Santa hats, and Leinster at the Aviva.

The Leinster out-half suffered a knee injury during last Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup win away to Northampton Saints.

Jonathan Sexton has been ruled out of Leinster's Heineken Champions Cup meeting with Northampton Saints this weekend but the full extent of his knee injury has yet to be determined.

Seven tries to one. A 27-point differential. This Pool 1 Heineken Champions Cup encounter turned into a rout but Leinster were just three points to the good when Jonathan Sexton went down in the tackle four minutes after half-time.

Northampton has been a happy hunting ground for Leinster in the past and they have the scent of a quarter-final berth in their nostrils yet again after this impressive win.

The IRFU’s World Cup post-mortem will go on for some time yet but the evidence of the weekend just passed would suggest that many of the players involved have turned the page.

Leinster head coach Leo Cullen hailed his returning international contingent after their 33-19 bonus point victory over Benetton Rugby in their Heineken Champions Cup Pool One opener.

Garry Ringrose is still sporting a bandage to cover the head injury he picked up in Japan but a hat-trick of tries in this bonus-point Heineken Champions Cup win in Dublin suggests that there is no lingering hangover from Ireland's dismal World Cup showing.

Sean O’Brien was among a handful of former Leinster stars who returned to the team HQ this week to set the scene for the province’s ‘drive for five’ ahead of today’s Heineken Champions Cup opener against Benetton.

Jonathan Sexton let it be known last year that he would not walk gently into the good night as a rugby player.