Do you agree with our ratings?

TWO defeats against England in 2019 mean Andy Farrell faces big challenges tomorrow afternoon at Twickenham. So what needs to happen for Ireland to win?

If Joe Schmidt could get a mulligan for one moment of what turned out to be a fairly average 2019 for Ireland, you’d guess it would be the first 20 minutes of the Six Nations campaign.

Bundee Aki believes Ireland are going to have to bring their 'A' game to Twickenham on Sunday if they are to continue their winning start to the 2020 Guinness Six Nations.

Ireland target a Triple Crown on Sunday at Twickenham against England, as they bid to maintain their perfect record in the tournament.

The head coach retained 23 players for a two-day camp in Cork last week, while 13 others returned were released back to their provinces to get game-time.

IT has been a fresh start for Keith Earls in more ways than one, these past few months since the World Cup.

So much for stormy weather. The clouds may have been gathering around Ireland as they prepared to face Grand Slam champions Wales in Dublin, and not just those being blown in by Storm Ciara. Yet when Johnny Sexton speaks, all becomes calm.

This was a statement win for Ireland, Andy Farrell, and for his senior players, writes Tom Savage.

Ireland have won their Six Nations clash with Wales by 24-14 to record a second successive victory under new head coach Andy Farrell.

New Wales defence coach Byron Hayward has told his side to blitz Ireland out of the game as they go in search of their first win in Dublin since 2012.

Andy Farrell has backed the players who scraped past Scotland to take the extra steps required to overcome the greater challenge a rampant Wales will bring to Dublin on Saturday.

Ronan O'Gara has tried to put himself in the Ireland boss’s shoes this week and he knows all too well that there’s no such thing as a one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to team selection.

Andy Farrell insisted continuity in Ireland team selection would not come at the expense of creativity as he kept changes to a minimum for Saturday’s Guinness Six Nations second-round visit of Wales to Dublin’s Aviva Stadium.

Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has made two enforced changes to the Ireland team to face Wales in Saturday's Six Nations clash.

Meanwhile, uncapped Leinster back-row Will Connors has been drafted into Andy Farrell's squad.

Stuart Hogg has apologised to his Scotland teammates for messing up what should have been a certain try against Ireland in Saturday's Six Nations opener at the Aviva Stadium.

The last time Bundee Aki wore the green jersey, things did not end well but four months on, the Ireland centre is relishing the opportunity to make amends.

A new-look team was unveiled yesterday as the national team head coach showed his hand for this Saturday’s 2020 Guinness Six Nations opener at home to Scotland

Andy Farrell has handed Leinster No.8 Caelan Doris a Test debut against Scotland this Saturday at the expense of Peter O’Mahony.

Nash has been named to start on the wing as Keith Earls misses out due to a minor knee injury in one of two changes to Johann van Graan's side.

The Munster head coach was able to select JJ Hanahan as his starting fly-half to face Racing 92 in Sunday’s crucial Heineken Champions Cup pool clash at La Défense Arena.

Sometimes it helps to take all the guesswork out of who should be playing for Ireland by actually going hard at each other.

Forget all the marketing blurbs and advertising campaigns: is the national side really the Team of Us, or is it still primarily the preserve of those who have come through the fee-paying schools' system. Ciarán Ó Raghallaigh went in search of answers.

Leinster didn’t even need to send out their first team to do this damage — Cullen made 13 changes to the side that hammered Northampton Saints last week in the Champions Cup

Good things are coming in twos to Alan O’Connor this week.

There's no room for Rob Kearney, Seán Cronin, Jordi Murphy, Jack Carty, John Ryan or Kieran Marmion – with newly eligible Jamison Gibson-Park jumping ahead of the Connacht man at scrum-half.

With the Six Nations kicking off in less than two months, it is the first squad meet-up since the national team returned from Japan.

Saracens have named an almost totally different side to face Munster at Allianz Park tomorrow, while the Reds make one change from their 10-3 home win.

The four Irish provinces have named their teams for this weekend's Champions Cup clashes.

Leinster were relieved to leave Lyon with their winning record intact in the European Champions Cup after a nervous end to their win in Stade Matmut de Gerland.

There are three changes to the team that defeated Ospreys.

It wouldn't be like an Irish mammy to wish illness on her son but you wouldn't have blamed Robbie Henshaw's if she had regarded it as the lesser of two evils when it forced the Leinster centre to miss out on the visit to the Sportsground two weekends ago.

Tadhg Furlong is a doubt for Leinster ahead of the province's Champions Cup clash with Lyon.

The IRFU’s World Cup post-mortem will go on for some time yet but the evidence of the weekend just passed would suggest that many of the players involved have turned the page.

Garry Ringrose is still sporting a bandage to cover the head injury he picked up in Japan but a hat-trick of tries in this bonus-point Heineken Champions Cup win in Dublin suggests that there is no lingering hangover from Ireland's dismal World Cup showing.

Robbie Henshaw will return to Leinster training this week ahead of Saturday's Heineken Champions Cup opener with Benetton.

That Ireland could lose a World Cup quarter-final to the All Blacks is not a major shock in itself. New Zealand just have better cattle, as I said in last week’s column. However, the manner of the loss, even at a remove now of five days, was utterly shocking.

Oh Lordy. Where do we start? Do we actually have to start? Can we somehow sneak out of it?

Player ratings on a disappointing end to Ireland's Rugby World Cup campaign

The decision to switch Beauden Barrett to full-back and move to twin playmakers with Richie Mo’unga at fly-half continues to pay dividends for the All Blacks

It's not even the fact that Ireland have failed again to reach a semi-final.

Ireland will have to wait another four years for a crack at a first World Cup semi-final appearance after Joe Schmidt’s tenure as head coach came to an end with a comprehensive defeat to the world champions on Saturday.

Johnny Sexton has warned New Zealand that any repeat of their strong-arm tactics from Dublin in 2016 will lead to red cards in today’s World Cup quarter-final.