In spite of a two-year hiatus caused by cancellation of the 2018 event, John Maybury on Joker II from Dun Laoghaire delivered his fourth consecutive Division One national title at the ICRA championships at the weekend.

Between the idle chatter about France and the build-up to the weekend’s nicely poised Champions Cup quarter-finals, one of the most important rugby stories slipped through unnoticed this week.

Edinburgh remain in the running for a Guinness PRO14 play-off spot after posting a comfortable 28-11 win over defending champions Leinster at BT Murrayfield.

Edinburgh gave themselves a confidence boost ahead of their crucial European Cup quarter-final match against Munster next Saturday at BT Murrayfield with a forward orientated bonus point win over Leinster last night.

One of the earliest and most hard-earned lessons I learned in the playground as a young football neophyte was that there was no team called Manchester.

It's back!

Manchester United’s troubled International Champions Cup campaign suffered another blow, with a 4-1 defeat to Premier League rivals, Liverpool, in Michigan on Saturday night.

Man Utd 1 Watford 0

Jose Mourinho believes Manchester United still face a fight to secure a top-four finish, never mind sealing second spot.

Ulster kept their play-off hopes alive after edging past Edinburgh in a breathless encounter at BT Murrayfield.

Pep Guardiola has clearly won his private, and long-standing, feud with Jose Mourinho for this season at least but, to listen to beaten manager Carlos Carvalhal on Saturday, the all-conquering Catalan should make the most of his current dominance.

David De Gea’s exceptional display saved Manchester United’s blushes as Jose Mourinho’s men somehow escaped with a goalless draw from a match dominated by Sevilla.

Olivier Giroud hasn’t put a foot wrong since joining Chelsea from Arsenal. Will he get the nod ahead of Alvaro Morata for the Barcelona clash this week? writes Daniel Storey

Manchester United overcame the video assistant referee's controversial intervention and reached the FA Cup quarter-finals thanks to Romelu Lukaku's brace at Huddersfield.

Debutant Alexis Sanchez helped steer Manchester United into the FA Cup fifth round with two assists as Jose Mourinho’s men eased past Yeovil 4-0.

Man Utd 3 ... Stoke 0: Martin O’Neill may well be reflecting today that he has dodged a bullet by turning down Stoke City after the side he would have taken to Old Trafford last night were beaten 3-0 by a Paul Pogba-inspired Manchester United to leave them in serious relegation trouble.

Goalkeeper Sergio Romero will start for Manchester United against Derby.

Jose Mourinho’s side also lost striker Romelu Lukaku to a serious-looking head injury.

Jesse Lingard’s second-half heroics may have plastered over some of the cracks in Manchester United’s season, but Jose Mourinho was left to count the cost of a damaging six days.

So much for getting one’s just deserts from Santa. 

Jose Mourinho is set to recall Henrikh Mkhitaryan for Manchester United’s Carabao Cup quarter-final at Championship side Bristol City tonight.

Manchester United survived a late scare to clinch an uninspiring victory at West Brom.

Man United 1 - Bournemouth 0: Romelu Lukaku ensured Manchester United returned to winning ways following the intense disappointment of the weekend derby defeat and all that went with it, but this was still a far from convincing showing from Jose Mourinho’s side.

Juan Mata has warned Manchester City they can ill afford any slip-ups as Manchester United look to give them a bloody nose in the derby and gradually reel them in.

Manchester United came from behind to beat CSKA Moscow and top their Champions League group as Jose Mourinho’s men took their unbeaten home run to a club record-equalling 40th match.

One hopes the TV lip-reader was right: “When you’ve won the Premier League, let me know.” That, allegedly, is what Ashley Young said to Spurs’ Alli during a set-to on Saturday. In the “show-us-yer-medals” culture that is English football, there is no effective rejoinder to that. 

Juan Mata wants Manchester United to show unity as they look to bounce back from their lacklustre defeat at Huddersfield.

Benfica 0 - Manchester United 1: Manchester United continued their charge towards the Champions League knock-out phase as Benfica’s Mile Svilar, the competition’s youngest-ever goalkeeper, was embarrassed by a Marcus Rashford free-kick.

After the heights of our fabulous Madrid performance, the City game was a hell of a crash landing on Saturday evening.

Man United 4 Burton 1: Marcus Rashford’s brace inspired holders Manchester United to as comprehensive a Carabao Cup victory as you would expect against much-changed Burton.

Wayne Rooney's Old Trafford return ended in disappointment as Antonio Valencia's breath-taking strike set Manchester United on course for a comprehensive victory against Everton.

Substitutes Marcus Rashford and Marouane Fellaini scored to maintain Manchester United's 100% start and spare Romelu Lukaku's blushes against Leicester.

Romelu Lukaku immediately started to pay off his transfer fee with two goals as Manchester United beat West Ham 4-0 in their Premier League opener.

Jose Mourinho insists Manchester United's hectic-looking pre-season schedule will help rather than hinder, going as far to say as their American tour is "perfect".

Ajax 0 - Man United 2: IT was Jose Mourinho’s fourth European final victory in four attempts, a personal triumph for Paul Pogba and a victory that led Manchester United into the promised land of next season’s Champions League.

Southampton 0 Manchester United 0: Jose Mourinho indicated David De Gea has played his last match of the season for Manchester United after the Spanish goalkeeper missed last night’s draw at Southampton.

Arsene Wenger finally recorded a Premier League victory against Jose Mourinho as Arsenal kept their slim top-four hopes alive with a well-deserved win over Manchester United.

Manchester City v Manchester United: With Paul Pogba added to Manchester United’s lengthening injury list for tonight’s derby at the Etihad Stadium, the continued unavailability of Chris Smalling and Phil Jones is a source of great frustration to manager Jose Mourinho.

Jose Mourinho admits Manchester United are “in trouble” after Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marcos Rojo suffered nasty-looking injuries.

Manchester United 0 West Brom 0

Manchester United midfielder Juan Mata is in danger of missing the rest of the season after undergoing groin surgery.