This was a statement win for Ireland, Andy Farrell, and for his senior players, writes Tom Savage.

Ireland have won their Six Nations clash with Wales by 24-14 to record a second successive victory under new head coach Andy Farrell.

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

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

Ireland were jaggy, a little confused structurally on both sides of the ball and under pressure in the scrum/maul, but they showed up to work in the hard moments in both halves and came out with a win, writes Tom Savage.

Johnny Sexton starred on his first outing as permanent Ireland captain as Andy Farrell’s tenure as head coach began with an unconvincing 19-12 victory over Scotland.

It's not just the new faces who must impress as Ireland kick off their Six Nations campaign tomorrow against Scotland.

Nash has been named to start on the wing as Keith Earls misses out due to a minor knee injury in one of two changes to Johann van Graan's side.

There has been no shortage of praise for Leinster’s latest batch of youth, but to watch Max Deegan give another Man-of-the-Match performance yesterday in Ballsbridge could make you think that they perhaps haven’t been lauded enough.

Another runaway success, but some signs of vulnerability too.

Leinster's bid to claim top seeding for the knockout stages of the Heineken Champions Cup was buttressed by an ultimately convincing win over Lyon in Dublin on Sunday afternoon.

The Munster head coach was able to select JJ Hanahan as his starting fly-half to face Racing 92 in Sunday’s crucial Heineken Champions Cup pool clash at La Défense Arena.

Leinster didn’t even need to send out their first team to do this damage — Cullen made 13 changes to the side that hammered Northampton Saints last week in the Champions Cup

Josh van der Flier says that Joe Schmidt always reminded his Ireland players that they were in the presence of greatness.

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.

Saracens have named an almost totally different side to face Munster at Allianz Park tomorrow, while the Reds make one change from their 10-3 home win.

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.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

Leinster were relieved to leave Lyon with their winning record intact in the European Champions Cup after a nervous end to their win in Stade Matmut de Gerland.

There are three changes to the team that defeated Ospreys.

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.

Keith Earls will make his first Munster appearance of the season in tomorrow's Champions Cup opener against the Ospreys.

Jack Conan will miss the 2020 Six Nations after surgery on the foot injury that ended his World Cup early.

Player ratings on a disappointing end to Ireland's Rugby World Cup campaign

Irish Examiner rugby writers Brendan O'Brien and Simon Lewis look ahead to the World Cup quarter-finals.

Bundee Aki’s tackle may have been the topic of most conversations after Saturday’s defeat of Samoa but it was far from the only hit to take the breath away.

Ireland looked back to their ruthless, clinical best in a dominant 47-5 win over Samoa in Fukuoka.

Simon Lewis provides an on-the-whistle report of the main talking points from Ireland's win over Samoa.

This isn’t the team that Joe Schmidt envisaged naming against Samoa.

Robbie Henshaw will belatedly begin his 2019 Rugby World Cup campaign against Samoa on Saturday after Ireland named a team close to full strength in their bid to qualify for the quarter-finals.

Here’s how the players rated in the aftermath of a hugely disappointing result and performance for Ireland in Shizuoka.

Donal Lenihan picks out three issues Ireland must address.

The Ireland squad appear to be enjoying their Japan adventure if their social media activity is anything to go by.

It’s easy to forget just how big this weekend will be for the players.

Grand Slam winner Larmour, 22, will make his World Cup debut at the Yokohama International Stadium on Sunday as Ireland’s starting full-back, with Conway making his tournament bow on the right wing after head coach Joe Schmidt named his matchday squad to the face their Six Nations rivals this morning.

Ireland will take a fully fit squad to Japan for the World Cup.

Ireland supporters are about to discover whether their team’s trials and tribulations of the past few months will have been worth it when the World Cup squad gets put through its final paces before Japan at the Aviva Stadium tomorrow.

The Irish team to face Wales this Saturday has been announced.

In another unexpected move, head coach Schmidt preferred Luke McGrath as his back-up scrum-half over Conor Murray’s long-standing number two Kieran Marmion.

Josh van der Flier has backed “calm, controlled” Ross Byrne to take his Twickenham start for Ireland in his stride tomorrow, just as the fly-half hit the ground running with Leinster.

Eddie Jones believes “Kamikaze kids” Tom Curry and Sam Underhill can smash England straight through any World Cup turgidity.

Joe Schmidt has called on Ross Byrne to make the most of his opportunity and stake a claim to a place in Ireland’s World Cup squad after handing the fly-half his first Test start against England at Twickenham on Saturday.

The Ireland team to play England on Saturday has been announced and Ross Byrne is set to win his third cap.