Joe Schmidt was straight up. Bonus points? Not for him.

Schmidt is keen to get the point across that any manner of Championship title next month, Grand Slam or otherwise, would be cause for celebration.

Joe Schmidt understands the unique hold that a possible Grand Slam has over the collective consciousness but the Ireland coach is keen to get the point across that any manner of Championship title next month would be cause for celebration.

New Zealand rugby bosses should be concerned about the loss of expertise from rugby coaches moving overseas because of limited career opportunities at home, departing Wellington Hurricanes coach Chris Boyd has warned.

For the first time in 15 years Leinster have won all six pool games in the European Champions Cup.

Montpellier kept themselves in the hunt for the European Champions Cup quarter-finals by making it back-to-back victories over Glasgow with a bonus-point 36-26 win in France.

New Zealand apart, the order of world rugby is changing rapidly, says Donal Lenihan

Peter Jackson gives his progress report on the best and worst teams, players and moments of the Autumn Internationals.

Leinster are the side with three stars on their shirt, as triple winners of the European Cup, but Leo Cullen believes Montpellier boss Vern Cotter is under greater pressure to win this season’s title than he is.

Devin Toner says Leinster are bubbling to the boil at just the right time as they prepare to host moneybags Montpellier in the RDS this Saturday.

Leo Cullen may have enjoyed Leinster’s victory over old foes Munster but when it comes to Europe he knows his province cannot compete on the same terms as their English and French rivals.

At the last official count two years ago, England had 2,057,797 rugby players, almost 50 percent more than the rest of Europe combined.

The most pressing issue that needs to be addressed before travelling to Rome is the ease with which Ireland concede metres on the outside, writes Donal Lenihan.

The bad blood between Scotland and Ireland spilled beyond yesterday's RBS 6 Nations clash as Gregor Townsend took a Twitter dig at Ronan O'Gara.

Don’t believe the hype. Scotland have been talked up these past two weeks, not least by themselves but also by their Irish opponents, writes Simon Lewis of the Irish Examiner.

Ireland flew into Edinburgh last night with what head coach Joe Schmidt described as a “quiet confidence” that the players he will send into the RBS 6 Nations fray at Murrayfield tomorrow can ignore the hype surrounding Scotland and continue their winning ways.

Brian O’Driscoll was on the scene in Edinburgh four years ago when Paddy Jackson’s Ireland debut veered off script but the retired centre believes the Ulster man’s progress has been such there is no reason for Ireland to panic in Jonathan Sexton’s absence this Saturday.

Rob Kearney is under no illusion that Ireland are in for an easy ride against Scotland at Murrayfield this weekend.

Ireland captain Rory Best has warned his side they will have to play better than they did to beat the All Blacks if they want to get their 2017 RBS 6 Nations campaign off to a winning start in Scotland next week.

Former England internationals Andy Farrell and Steve Borthwick look set to be among the assistant coaches announced today for next summer’s British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand.

Here’s the lowdown on four big games across Europe...

Skipper Greig Laidlaw rescued a win for scrappy Scotland as he slotted over a last-gasp penalty to seal a 19-16 win over Argentina.

He may be on the All Blacks’ watchlist but if Joe Schmidt does decide to return to New Zealand when his contract expires 12 months from now, the Ireland head coach will likely do so for more personal reasons.

AN England Grand Slam only five months after their rugby world fell apart in their own global tournament just serves to show once again that, in sport, the pain of calamitous defeat can serve to inspire new beginnings.