Ireland were jaggy, a little confused structurally on both sides of the ball and under pressure in the scrum/maul, but they showed up to work in the hard moments in both halves and came out with a win, writes Tom Savage.

Jacob Stockdale is moving on from a disappointing World Cup, his gaze firmly fixed on a new era for Irish rugby and, he hopes, a clean slate under head coach Andy Farrell.

Andy Farrell is convinced there is plenty of road left for Conor Murray to travel in his Test rugby career after backing his under-fire scrum-half to steer Ireland in their Six Nations opener against Scotland in Dublin this Saturday.

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.

After a year when everything he touched turned to gold, 2019 has not been the follow-up act that Jacob Stockdale had hoped for, but it is one he was prepared for.

Head Coaches Johann van Graan and Dan McFarland has named his side for Satuday's Guinness PRO14 Interpro derby this Saturday at Thomand Park.

Bundee Aki’s tackle may have been the topic of most conversations after Saturday’s defeat of Samoa but it was far from the only hit to take the breath away.

Jacob Stockdale is not just refusing to press the panic button on Ireland’s attack, the wing is relishing the opportunity to right some wrongs against Samoa on Saturday.

Frustrated, inconsistent and more susceptible to upsets than their top-tier rivals.

The vibes around Ireland’s World Cup adventure are not good. Defeat to Japan and the unimpressive win against Russia have given new life to the theory that this team’s peak is in the past, even as they look to the future and a bid for rugby’s summit.

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

Well, that’s one itch scratched. Partially, anyway.

Dan McFarland will be up early this Sunday morning, like most Irish rugby fans around the country.

It does not matter how secure Jacob Stockdale’s place in the Ireland first XV appeared, doubts about his status in the World Cup pecking order still lingered right up until the email from Joe Schmidt dropped into his inbox on Sunday night.

Ireland supporters will have breathed a little easier on Saturday night following this victory at the Principality Stadium.

Jacob Stockdale can’t wait to get back to Japan next month with a trip to Twickenham to face England this Saturday underlining just how close the Ireland wing is to a World Cup debut.

Dan McFarland says it would be dangerous for Ulster to give tomorrow’s PRO14 semi-final against Glasgow the status of a ‘free hit’.

Rory Best is winning his race to lead Ulster out for the last time at home and play in Saturday's PRO14 play-off against Connacht, but Jacob Stockdale will miss out.

Ulster have serious concerns they’ll be without Jacob Stockdale for the Guinness PRO14 quarter-final against Connacht next month.

Jacob Stockdale says he feels personally responsible for Ulster’s Champions Cup defeat by Leinster and, in an admission of incredible honesty, agreed with Brian O’Drisco ll’s damning post-match verdict that his missed try blunder was ‘unforgivable’.

Ulster believe Jacob Stockdale has the mental strength to get over Saturday’s fumble and say he’s eager to throw himself straight back into PRO14 action this weekend to shake off his Champions Cup blues.

Leo Cullen saw this coming.

Jacob Stockdale has apologised to Ulster fans after he made what Brian O'Driscoll called an 'unforgivable' error.

Dan McFarland wore a knowing smile as he entered the auditorium for the evening's main press duties.

Brexit may have been delayed this week but Ulster have crashed out of Europe despite their best efforts tonight.

Injury updates aren’t always worth the paper they are printed on but the absence of Jordan Larmour’s and Jacob Stockdale’s names from this week’s Leinster and Ulster updates allows us a few days to contemplate a potentially exhilarating tete-a-tete.

Ireland were offered every incentive in Rome to get their Six Nations title aspirations back on track as they watched Wales beat England from their hotel base on the eve of this game.

Joe Schmidt hopes Johnny Sexton will shake off a head injury in time for Ireland's Guinness Six Nations trip to Italy.

Ireland bounced back from their painful home defeat to England as they got their Guinness Six Nations title defence back on track with a much-needed victory at Murrayfield.

Among Ireland's chief assets in recent years has been the ability to strike at a point and time that hurts their opponent hardest, but it was the Grand Slam holders who were shipping the biggest blows at the most damaging of moments on Saturday night.

Joe Schmidt’s Ireland squad for the first two rounds of the Six Nations is not the sort of thing, if one is being realistic, that you can sugarcoat or take the glass-half-full view if you’re not included, writes Ronan O'Gara.

These are the four spine-tingling moments of 2018 that will live long in the memory of Donal Lenihan

Iain Henderson bustled and hustled his way to a try in each half as Ulster barnstormed to a bonus-point victory over Scarlets to keep their Heineken Champions Cup qualifying hopes very much alive.

John Cooney marked his return from international duty by kicking 11 points in Ulster's 16-12 Guinness PRO14 victory over Cardiff Blues at the Kingspan Stadium.

This was a very different kind of glory to Chicago.

The last time the reigning Grand Slam champions dared to beat the All Blacks, they followed up by winning the World Cup within a matter of months, writes Peter Jackson.

Ireland underlined their World Cup credentials with victory against New Zealand on Saturday.

Ireland have beaten the All Blacks for the second time in three years.

You would imagine Chicago will hold a special place in Tadhg Beirne’s heart for quite some time after his double try-scoring first start for Ireland at the weekend.

Skipper Rory Best hailed Ulster’s second-half display as they dug in for a vital 24-10 win over Leicester Tigers to kick-start their Heineken Champions Cup campaign.

If Ireland were not quite so driven to succeed, every member of the camp from Joe Schmidt down might take a moment’s pause to appreciate all they have achieved this season.

Ireland signed off from their Grand Slam season with one last high as they edged a tense decider 20-16 in Sydney to claim a first series win in Australia since 1979.

Joe Schmidt will start Ireland captain Peter O’Mahony at openside flanker for his 50th Test cap in Saturday’s series-decider against Australia after shuffling his options to deal with injuries.