The families of the two most senior RUC officers killed in the Troubles have been failed by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), it has been claimed.

Some of Ireland’s finest young players have headed Down Under in search of a career as a professional sportsman. While, the allure of Sydney and Australia’s other attractions fill many a dream, the reality for Tommy Walsh, Michael Quinn, Chris McKaigue and Setanta Ó hAilpÍn also includes bouts of homesickness and a punishing schedule.

Fresh searches for a schoolgirl who went missing in the North in 1994 are to begin in the New Year, an inquest heard today.

THE All Blacks have vowed to repay fans with an entertaining style of rugby against Ireland after they were mobbed for a second straight day in Taranaki.

Queen's University 17 Nenagh Ormond 16

PREVIEW: AIB League Division Three Final

A COUPLE were arrested after being caught having sex on the Queen’s lawn at Windsor Castle.

Director of rugby Ian McGeechan has named an unchanged starting line up for London Wasps clash with Leinster at the RDS on Saturday.

Leinster supporters will have the opportunity to get a glimpse of new signing Isa Nacewa when the Auckland Blue lines out for the Classic All Blacks against Leicester Tigers at Welford Road on Sunday.

Northampton have confirmed the departure of several squad members as they prepare for their Guinness Premiership return.

Teenage wonderkid Michael van Gerwen powered into round two of the Blue Square UK Open as the tournament began on Thursday - but American Ray Carver was the biggest casualty of the opening night.

PAUL GRAYSON has paid the price for Northampton’s relegation from the Guinness Premiership by losing his role as head coach.

NORTHAMPTON chairman Keith Barwell has promised there will be no knee-jerk reaction to Saints’ humiliating exit from the Guinness Premiership.

Biarritz 6 Northampton 7

Newcastle Falcons boss John Fletcher claims he would have been “a stark raving lunatic” to leave out a fully-fit Jonny Wilkinson for Sunday’s Guinness Premiership clash against title contenders Bristol.

Northampton boss Paul Grayson is under no illusions about the task facing his Heineken Cup quarter-final hopefuls in tomorrow’s clash against Border Reivers.

Ospreys head coach Lyn Jones believes his players are ready for the “extra dimension” of a Heineken Cup showdown with French championship leaders Stade Francais.

Northampton scrum-half Mark Robinson will receive a written warning and be urged to curb his language by English rugby’s senior disciplinary official after being cleared of making racially abusive remarks.

English rugby’s senior disciplinary official has decided there is “insufficient evidence” to charge Northampton scrum-half Mark Robinson with making racially abusive remarks.

A Democratic Unionist Party MLA from South Belfast claimed £18,000 (€26,700) in travel expenses during a 12-month period despite the fact that his constituency is just 10 miles from Stormont.

IT wasn’t pretty but Munster coach Declan Kidney was delighted after his side sneaked to the narrowest of Magners League wins over Border Reivers at Thomond Park on Saturday night.

The Barbarians will field a team selected from seven countries, including Ireland's David Humphreys and Bob Casey, when they tackle an England XV in Sunday’s Gartmore Challenge match at Twickenham.

London Irish 30 Northampton 3

Connacht kept the pressure on Worcester in Pool 5 with an impressive 43-10 win over Montpellier.

Pete Doherty is being sued by a security guard who claims the rocker hit him over the head with a microphone during a concert.

Munster 20 Northampton 18

The Football Association has today announced the England squad for the Four Nations tournament in Cork later this month.

Ireland’s Johnny O’Connor has been named in the Barbarians squad for this month’s two-match tour of Britain.

Andrew Baldock

The sisters of the murdered Belfast man, Robert McCartney, are backing the families of two other murdered men in their quests for justice.

England World Cup winner Mark Regan was tonight fined £500 (€726.40) for bringing the game into disrepute.

Llanelli 20 Northampton 22

Worcester coach Andy Keast has vowed his team will “come back fighting” against London Irish on New Year’s Day after they returned to the Zurich Premiership basement.

London Irish 21 Northampton 22

London Irish 21 Northampton 22

BATH have been left to pick through the pieces of a botched Italian job which has effectively left their Heineken Cup hopes in tatters.

Bath tonight began picking through the pieces of a botched Italian job which has effectively left their Heineken Cup hopes in tatters.

Northampton 23 Toulouse 21

LEINSTER coach Turlough O’Siochain reckons the presence of the new Irish coach Dave Passmore at this weekend’s hockey interprovincials in Dublin will add considerable spice to the historic competition.

Northampton put their domestic troubles behind them to record a second successive Heineken Cup victory and remain firmly on course for the quarter-finals.

Matt Dawson today confirmed he will join Wasps on his return from England’s summer tour as he looks for a new challenge to reinvigorate his career.

England 12 Barbarians 32

CELEBRITY Irish gardener Diarmuid Gavin picked up an award for his design at the Chelsea Flower Show yesterday and found himself entangled in another row at the prestigious event.

Scotland 33 Barbarians 40