Kelan McDonagh confessed that golf has been put firmly in perspective by his girlfriend’s brave battle with cancer after he opened with a battling 72 to keep the leaders in his sights in the Irish Amateur Open at Royal Dublin.

MIKE MILLER is stepping down as International Rugby Board chief executive.

INCENDIARY tweets, guerrilla gum shields and mean-spirited old farts – kind of makes you yearn for the innocent pleasures of dwarf throwing and bungee jumping doesn’t it?

Meeting financial targets doesn’t seem such a problem for the RWC head honcho after the Christchurch disaster. Brendan O’Brien spoke to Mike Miller.

WORLD rugby’s top official has predicted that the game will emulate football one day by taking the showpiece World Cup tournament to the Middle East — but not just yet.

RTÉ chiefs have expressed delight at securing the broadcast rights to next year’s Rugby World Cup.

International Rugby Board chief executive Mike Miller is confident the low attendances at last weekend’s autumn internationals were not due to an over-exposure of Test rugby.

International Rugby Board officials are confident that preparations for the 2011 Rugby World Cup in New Zealand are on track despite the financial uncertainties arising from the current global economic crisis.

World Cup organisers will launch an investigation into an alarming security breach that occurred just prior to the presentation of the Webb Ellis Trophy to tournament winners South Africa last night.

Argentinian Rugby Union president Alejandro Risley has described reports of the Pumas’ imminent inclusion in the Tri-Nations as “premature”.

Abi Titmuss has signed up to make her West End stage debut – in an Arthur Miller play.

The Pacific Islanders will play five tests in 2006, including historic tests against Ireland, Scotland and Wales, after its three member unions pledged to reform the team.

Christy O’Connor Jnr's hopes of making an immediate imprint on the €330,000 AIB Irish Seniors Open at Adare Manor this afternoon were dashed as the 55-year-old three-putted on four occasions for a round of 75.

DUBLINER Peter Lawrie, Ireland’s Rookie of the Year on the PGA European Tour, was feted along with other leading Irish professionals Gary Murphy and Damien McGrane in Dublin last evening.

Wales coach Steve Hansen has warned that rugby could miss a vital opportunity to sell itself to the rest of the world if the enthusiastic part-timers cannot close in on the elite professionals.

The IRB’s vow to invest money on world rugby’s middle tier will have been met with hearty applause in an Italian camp acutely aware just how wide the gap is between themselves and the world’s heavyweights.

Concerns about the use of decoy runners will not be fully addressed by the International Rugby Board until January.

SAM TORRANCE becomes the latest new kid on the block when he makes his European Seniors Tour debut at the Charles Church Scottish Seniors Open that starts at The Roxburghe Golf Club today.

BALLYLIFFIN’S Brendan McCarroll shot a round-of-the-day 71 to win the Nissan Irish Boys Amateur Close Championship at Hermitage by four strokes from Karl Gilbert (Malone).

Nigel Mansell recovered from a nightmare start to card a one-over-par 73 and move into a challenging position after the first round of his own Nigel Mansell Classic staged over his own Woodbury Park course in Devon.

Australia’s Noel Ratcliffe survived a late scare before carding a one-over-par 73 to claim his seventh European tour title at the AIB Irish Seniors Open at Adare Manor Hotel in Co Limerick.

Jamaica’s Delroy Cambridge carded a fine 69 in treacherous conditions to claim a one-shot lead after the second round of the AIB Irish Seniors Open at Adare Manor in Co Limerick.

The International Rugby Board have cancelled the Beijing leg of the IRB Sevens because of the current outbreak of the SARS virus.

England will host rugby union’s Under-21 World Cup later this year.

SCOTLAND’S Mike Miller and Australia’s Noel Ratcliffe hold a one-shot lead over Denis O’Sullivan after the first round of the Tunisian Seniors Open at El Kantaoui.

EDDIE POLLAND will face Denis O’Sullivan in the semi-finals of this year’s Daily Telegraph/Sodexho European Seniors Tour Match Play Championship over the new Flamingos GC in southern Spain.

An all-Irish battle has been set up for the semi-final of the Daily Telegraph/Sodexho European Seniors Tour Match Play Championship over the new Flamingos GC in southern Spain.

Generous Seiji Ebihara became the first man to make a successful defence of the AIB Irish Seniors Open title when he closed with a two under par 70 for a two-shot win over England’s Denis Durnian at Adare, Co Limerick.

The overnight leaders in the £501,000 MasterCard British Seniors'