The question didn’t come from out of left field so much as the Far East. Where, asked the Japanese journalist, would you rank Ireland on a scale from one to 100 right now?

Fifteen weeks had passed since Ireland were turfed out of the World Cup by the All Blacks by the time Jordan Larmour sat down today wearing his IRFU gear.

IRELAND’S implosion at the World Cup sent ripples in all sorts of directions.

The expectation in South Africa is that Felix Jones will continue to work with the Springboks under the new coaching team. As for the man himself, he was tight-lipped on his future yesterday when asked what comes next after his World Cup experience.

Garry Ringrose’s ability to duck and weave is not confined to the pitch.

Leo Varadkar’s diplomatic response to topical chatter about a bridge across the Irish Sea — possibly or perhaps impossibly from Larne to Stranraer — was well-judged. Yes, it’s “worth examining”, but don’t expect Ireland to pay for it.

Your round-up of the stories behind the headlines from Day 14 of #RWC2019

Thomas Du Toit should have really just been fighting off the jetlag but he looked for all the world yesterday like a guy whose head was still in the clouds after being parachuted onto the South African bench for tomorrow’s Pool B encounter with Namibia.

Pop guru, Louis Walsh, last year shared more than €335,000 in wages as a director of his main entertainment firm.

Scotland defence coach Matt Taylor has taken the blame for their horror show in Nice after admitting he failed to fire up the Dark Blues before facing France.

Scotland’s World Cup preparations got off to a nightmare start as they were crushed 32-3 by France in Nice.

World Cup-bound Lewis Ludlam was considering his options outside of rugby a year ago as he reflected on a career that was in danger of fading away.

Edu has returned to Arsenal to become the club’s first technical director.

Robert McNamara joins the Irish agri-food trade mission to Japan and finds Irish beef is cooking up a storm in Tokyo, where discerning customers are insisting on high-quality food and knowledge about its provenance.

Injury may have diluted Joey Carbery's first year with Munster but the province's out-half believes the time he did manage to bank as the starting ten will stand him in good stead as he targets the upcoming World Cup.

The story of the macrocarpa, aka Monterey cypress, is intriguing.

Kya deLongchamps warns us to be cautious when buying bronze and gentle when caring for it

Glastonbury is back and there are a host of other overseas festivals offering impressive line-up, writes Ed Power.

Three years and change since Richie McCaw quit being the ruination of many an opponent’s rucks and, while the New Zealander didn’t make many friends doing what he did, he continues to influence the breakdown.

Is it a bit unfortunate that our Taoiseach recently said he was trying to eat less red meat, when asked what he was doing on climate change?

Friends in 18 countries across six continents have contributed to a video in memory of a young Kerryman who died a year ago in Australia.

The appointment of a receiver to sell Tony O’Reilly’s stake of 6.8% in the five-star Dromoland Castle will have no impact on the operations on the hotel, its chief financial officer Joe Hughes has pledged.

Edinson Cavani, winning his 100th cap, scored the winner for Uruguay.

Jonny Evans is to be reinstated as West Brom captain, Baggies boss Alan Pardew has confirmed.

Two wolf dogs from the North who starred in Game Of Thrones are helping drive a surge in the rare breed's popularity.

Carrigtwohill in East Cork is being lined up by Ikea, the world’s largest furniture retailer, for its second full retail store in the Republic of Ireland, with a promise of around 500 retail jobs locally.

Cork Airport has come a long way from the doldrum days experienced during the recession — it expects to handle 2.31m passengers, a 4% increase, by year-end .

Clare’s Sam Slater is hoping to make a name for himself at the 2017 IMMAF World Championships in Bahrain next month as he seeks to kickstart his career in MMA.

Sam Allardyce remains in legal correspondence with the Football Association and disputes the claims which led to his sacking as England manager, it is understood.

The Korean Peninsula may be the most dangerous place in the world with the threat swapping between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un ratcheting up tensions in the region. Brian Keane is chairperson of Seoul Gaels GAA club which lies 35 miles from the border with North Korea. He tells Colm O’Connor about life — and gaelic games — in the Far East in these tense times

Wayne Rooney is already a globally-recognised footballer but the Everton striker could be set for worldwide stardom of a different kind with his potential immortalisation in the Angry Birds online game franchise.

Pádraig Hoare speaks to Thea Murphy, managing director of Silver Pail Dairy in Cork, the biggest independent ice-cream maker in Ireland, and which has entered the lucrative liqueur market

A combination of factors, including the deliberate sinking of wooden fishing boats, has resulted in a significant fall-off in the number of migrants being rescued by the Naval Service.

Carol O’Callaghan gets advice from the experts on choosing, maintaining and laundering bed linen

Gardaí say there is “no doubt” that paedophiles in Ireland will import child sex dolls — and may already be doing so — and are examining if these objects are covered under Irish criminal laws.

Cristiano Ronaldo is due to answer charges of a €14.7m tax fraud in a Spanish courtroom this morning, the latest event in a busy few months for the Real Madrid superstar.

Liverpool manager Jurgen Klopp finally has his full squad to work with after forwards Sadio Mane and Danny Ings joined team training together with returning midfielder Emre Can.

Cristiano Ronaldo's reported unhappiness in Spain will have some of the biggest clubs in world football on alert in a bid to sign the Real Madrid forward.

Support services group DCC paid out over €3m in performance-related bonuses to its top three executives last year, driving combined executive pay levels up from €8.54m to just under €11.5m. 

Qatar Airways’ plan to launch its first Irish route will go ahead on schedule and will be unaffected by four of Qatar’s Arab neighbours cutting diplomatic ties with the country.

Sunderland’s five-year sleep walk towards relegation may be complete but some supporters are looking forward to life outside the Premier League.

ANY book written about the Syrian civil war can only, sadly, be a a sad book. And this book is no exception.