As Joey Carbery and Jacob Stockdale lined up against each other at Ravenhill, it was noted that four years ago, at the time of the 2015 World Cup, neither had made their provincial debuts.

Carbery has spent the last two months rehabbing an ankle injury.

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.

Tyrone designer Sharon Wauchob on her career and the worth of luxury fashion. By Paul McLauchlan.

Felipe Contepomi made the point last week that every Irish player returning from duties in Japan would process the disappointment of the World Cup in their own unique way.

There may be an ill wind blowing his way this weekend but as far as Andrew Porter is concerned the only storm that matters is the one Ireland can produce against Samoa.

This was a game that Ireland could not afford to labour in, but labour they did all the same.

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

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.

Brendan Porter's mother Maura, aged 70, died after she was struck by a car on her way home from Mass in Carndonagh, Co Donegal in December 2013.

A woman who lived less than a mile from her local hospital died after an ambulance took almost an hour to get to her house.

Ireland lock James Ryan says they must match Wales' intensity in Saturday's World Cup warm-up match in Cardiff.

Tadhg Furlong was a rookie prop at the last World Cup, not only a blossoming tighthead but also covering the loosehead side of the front row.

If Tyrone are to pile more misery on Kerry and reach successive All-Ireland finals, chances are flame-haired target man Cathal McShane will be tormentor -in-chief.

Wexford needed a Jamie Myler penalty deep into additional time to withstand a brave comeback from Louth to advance to a semi-final against Dublin.

Corkman Edward Kenealy, a self-declared messenger of God, was disbarred for outlandishness, says Robery Hume.

Leinster boss Leo Cullen named an unchanged starting line-up from the semi-final win over Toulouse for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final showdown with Saracens but insisted it was a far from straightforward selection process.

The promotional posters for this game pitted Iain Henderson and Jacob Stockdale against Jamison Gibson-Park and Adam Byrne.

This looked kinda promising on paper.

Andrew Porter's last-gasp try topped off a fantastic late fight-back as Leinster overcame Connacht 33-29 in an enthralling nine-try PRO14 derby at the RDS.

The family of a woman who was killed in a traffic accident have said that they are haunted by her death each day.

Connacht 47 Leinster 10: On a day when Connacht bade farewell to their talisman from Portumna, along comes another farmer’s son from a few miles away on the other side of the River Shannon to lay down a marker and offer hope for the future with hooker Shane Delahunt producing a remarkable display on a day of celebration in Galway.

All but lost amidst the praise for the James Ryans and Dan Leavys this season has been the frankly ridiculous progress made by Leinster’s Andrew Porter since he switched sides in the front row.

Rory Cowan has revealed on this afternoon’s Ray D’Arcy show that he will be returning to the Olympia Panto to play Dame Polly at the end of the year.

Last year, Democrats and Republicans alike agreed that if anyone could bring order to the Trump White House, it was the retired four-star US Marine general. Were they wrong?

MIKE Prendergast would have had some head on him this week. That sort of bould Limerick ‘I told you so’ head.

Eight tries in your first seven internationals isn’t the sort of strike rate we’ve seen all that often. Not outside New Zealand, at any rate. Jacob Stockdale, though? He’s known hot streaks like this before.

A Saturday to savour in Dublin was made even sweeter by a cracking performance from Scotland in defeating back-to-back Six Nations champions England in Edinburgh, writes Donal Lenihan.

Even watching from the family sofa, Jacob Stockdale could see that Six Nations rugby was at a different level to anything else in the game.

Fine margins, this fixture has been determined by them time and time again over the past decade and everything points to a similar scenario when Ireland and Wales lock horns once more in Dublin this afternoon.

It’s less than a decade since Declan Kidney’s Irish team secured that famous Grand Slam but it may as well be a page ripped out of an ancient history textbook as Joe Schmidt’s current generation of players go about writing their own chapters.

2FM boss Dan Healy has hinted that Al Porter could return to RTE radio, instead of his own Today FM, once the controversy settles.

Annabelle Comyn feels her revival of John Osborne’s classic play will show how its central angry young man is very much alive in today’s world, writes Alan O’Riordan.

It’s one of life’s great pleasures, listening to ideas with which you profoundly disagree, writes Terry Prone

Sixteen seasons and counting now since Connacht have claimed a win in Dublin — and they have never tasted success at the RDS — but they came as close as humanly possible to ending that drought last night without actually getting their lips to water.

Colm Greaves peers into his crystal ball in search of tips and talking points for the year ahead

Evidence against the Birmingham Six was “enhanced”, a top-ranking police chief warned an MP years before their eventual release.

Benetton 10 Leinster 36: Leinster had to wait eight months to see James Lowe touch down on Irish soil after the province announced him as their marquee signing for the season.

‘Learn about myself’, ‘learn from my actions’, ‘conquer my demons’, ‘a wake up call’, ‘pursuing shared feelings’, ‘was mistaken’, ‘fallen below the high standards’, ‘difficult conversations’, ‘face your missteps’, ‘been made aware’, ‘crossed the line’, ‘how benign my intent’, ‘caused upset’, ‘see things differently now’, ‘up until now’, ‘ebullient behaviour’, ‘examining my own behaviour’, ‘no time intended to upset anyone’.

Comedian Al Porter is to take “time away from the spotlight” following a weekend of allegations of unwanted groping and advances by the broadcaster.

As a child, Gregory Porter took solace in the velvet voice of Nat King Cole. He’s now paying tribute to his idol, writes Ed Power

It was not as if Leinster put Ulster to the sword in a lively, if disjointed Guinness PRO14 derby at the weekend, they simply sliced and diced them!

The ‘Blind Date’ revival is instantly familiar, and while it may border on overly nostalgic it’s set to be a winner with audiences, writes Carolyn Moore.