WARREN Gatland put the Wellington boot into Ireland’s World Cup dreams here today as green dreams of the Webb Ellis Trophy went up in smoke.

Cyclists from far and wide are descending on Dunboyne, Co Meath this weekend for the annual An Post Rás event.

Following extensive medical consultation, Munster rugby have announced today that Ian Dowling will retire from professional rugby, as a result of a hip injury sustained earlier this season.

IN the not-too-distant past, there was a time when a Heineken Cup fixture on French soil was approached with quivering trepidation.

MUNSTER’S opening European Cup game, on November 1, 1995, ended in triumph against Swansea at Thomond Park, but it was left to the captain Pat Murray to save the blushes with a late try to seal a 17-13 victory.

UNDER leaden skies, Stuart Mangan, the 26-year-old rugby player from Fermoy, Co Cork, who died last week, made his final journey home yesterday to be laid to rest at Kilcrumper cemetery, one of the oldest Christian burial places in Ireland.

Munster’s rugby Academy isn’t just a window to the future — it’s a key ingredient for ongoing success for the province. In the last of a four-part series on the up-and-comers vying for Munster’s Academy player of the year award, back-row Eoghan Grace spoke with Alan Good.

IT will take a while for the dust to settle on this one. After seven years of trying, it may seem almost churlish not to bask in the glory of Munster’s Heineken Cup triumph.

IDEALLY, Nickey Brennan would like to have formally assumed the role of GAA president in his native Kilkenny this weekend.

Lansdowne 15 Shannon 27

FIVE DAYS on and the buzz surrounding another famous Munster victory is still filling the air.

MUNSTER and Toulouse, who play Perpignan and Newport, respectively, will reach a Heineken Cup milestone this weekend when both play their 50th games in the competition.

KIERON DAWSON believes Ireland can win this season’s Six Nations, but fears the outbreak of foot and mouth disease could force his side out of the tournament altogether.

Kieron Dawson believes Ireland can win this season's Six Nations, but fears the outbreak of foot and mouth disease could force his side out of the tournament altogether.