While most Irish eyes were fixed on the Aviva Stadium on Saturday as Declan Kidney’s side hammered Argentina, one Cork man’s focus was solely on Paris and Samoa’s bid to topple France.

With a clean sweep on their Southern Hemisphere tour, Scotland have gone a long way towards redemption after their World Cup and Six Nations disasters, but head coach Andy Robinson admits there is still a lot of work to do.

Gethin Jenkins is hoping his Welsh team-mates will have learned the harsh lessons of the second Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne when they try to salvage something in Sydney in Saturday’s third and final game.

The New Year’s Eve parties started a whole day early on the South Pacific island nation of Samoa, after a hop across the international date line transported the country 24 hours "into the future" – making it the first in the world to ring in the new year.

Sirens wailed and fireworks exploded over Samoa as the tiny South Pacific nation jumped forward in time, crossing westward over the international date line and effectively erasing Friday, December 30, 2011, from the country’s calendar.

SAMOA, marshalled by dynamic Crusader’s half-back Kahn Fotuali’i, is a world-class unit that combines the qualities of raw power and unbridled flare that has characterised Pacific rugby for decades.

MOURNING islanders of American Samoa were set to hold a national prayer service Sunday for victims of the tsunami that obliterated villages and left at least 176 dead.

Taitasi Suapaia Fitiao is preparing for every parent’s nightmare – burying her child.

LIMERICK tsunami survivor Triona O’Neill and her family are expected to arrive in Australia tomorrow following her dramatic escape from the disaster.

LIMERICK hotel manager Triona O’Neill ran for her life carrying her son in her arms to escape a massive tsunami that flattened Samoan villages, killing at least 119 and leaving dozens missing.

Scores of people were dead and missing today after a powerful earthquake in the South Pacific hurled a massive tsunami at the shores of Samoa and American Samoa.

At least 82 people were killed when a powerful earthquake in the Pacific Ocean triggered a tsunami which swept ashore on Samoa and American Samoa.

A fresh tsunami alert rang out in the capital of Samoa in the South Pacific today, hours after tsunami waves crashed ashore, killing at least 39 people and leaving scores unaccounted for.

A tsunami swept into Pago Pago in American Samoa shortly after an earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.9 shook the Pacific area.

Junior All Blacks captain Daniel Braid has called on a number of ousted New Zealand internationals to prove their worth in the team’s IRB Pacific Nations Cup title defence.

The worst cyclone in living memory has smashed into the tiny South Pacific island state of Niue, killing a woman and seriously injuring several people including her baby.

Uruguay believe they can learn the lessons of their World Cup mauling by South Africa and turn it into a positive performance against Samoa at Subiaco Oval later today.

Irish coach Eddie O’Sullivan admitted he was delighted with his side’s emphatic victory over Samoa in Apia.

Ireland finished off their record-breaking 14-match season with an emphatic 40-14 victory over Samoa in Apia, as outside-half Ronan O’Gara scored 32 points in an all-round impressive team effort.

Anthony Horgan of Munster and Cork Constitution has been selected to win his first cap at left wing on the Ireland team to play Samoa at Apia on Friday.

IT may have been tough at the Teufavia Stadium on Saturday, but despite the bumps and bruises Guy Easterby wouldn’t swap a minute of it.