When it seemed referee Jerome Garces had formally concluded the week-long obsequies for Anthony Foley with a shrill final whistle on Saturday, Axel’s comrades took to Thomond’s famed turf for one last farewell to one of the greats of Munster and Irish rugby.

Harry Arter seems eager to make up for lost time and opportunities.

To host or not to host, that is the question. After witnessing first hand the buzz and excitement that has been so evident at the four games I have attended over the opening two weekends of World Cup action, I can think of nothing better than the prospect of Ireland hosting the event in eight years’ time, writes Donal Lenihan.

Republic of Ireland 0 England 0: The good news: 20 years on from the Lansdowne riot, this meeting of Ireland and England in Dublin passed off without major incident.

TOULON 24 CLERMONT AUVERGNE 18: Be careful what you wish for.

THE Six Nations championship has never witnessed a day like it. 221 points scored, 27 tries, 12 in that breathtaking game in the tournament finale at Twickenham. It was riveting stuff, writes Donal Linehan.

European Champions Cup Pool 1

The jury at the Hillsborough inquests has been given a minute-by-minute countdown as the tragedy unfolded.

Munster Rugby’s plans to redevelop Musgrave Park moved a step closer to fruition yesterday with the sale of land on the Cork stadium’s grounds.

Alan Kelly has one sincere wish for Ireland’s game against England at Wembley tomorrow night.

Few will forget Ireland’s ill-fated 1995 clash with England at Lansdowne

Shannon 3 Young Munster 36

Instead of sitting in front of a warm TV and a cold drink to watch the rugby game against Italy from Dublin last Saturday afternoon, myself and 20-odd others facing similar prospects in the medium- to short-term sat in plastic chairs in a counselling centre.

John Terry gave Chelsea a major fright today after limping out of the club’s open training day at Stamford Bridge.

SITTING in the press box in the Aviva Stadium on Tuesday night behind a laptop and under a sky filled with paper planes, it was clear that travel — if not beautiful football — is what we do best.

IT feels, this week and in this country, like someone should gently place a Sinatra record under a record player stylus as we bob downstream together towards oblivion.

IT’S amazing how the arrival of a new player can focus the mind. I am a John Obi Mikel fan, but he can be frustrating sometimes.

THE smells assaulted the senses every bit as much as the sights.

Wales forward Alun-Wyn Jones has revealed the full agony of his Twickenham sin-bin torture and admitted: “I thought it would jeopardise my international career.”

Diarmuid O’Flynn pays tribute to Declan O’Connell, the original Munster rugby fan

MUSGRAVE PARK will host its lowest number of Magners League games since the competition’s inception when Munster Rugby announces its home venues for the 2009/10 campaign later this week.

THOMOND PARK’S automated turnstiles will not be in operation for the next two games at the stadium.

THIS was the perfect example of a scoreline offering a distorted picture of a game of rugby.

THOMOND Park night with a twist. Munster’s rugby cathedral had its beaming floodlights and immaculate playing surface on Thursday night, but the stands and pitch were quiet.

IT wasn’t a great game, and the weather didn’t help, but Saturday night at Thomond Park represented a memorable occasion for Munster rugby.

ON time. And within budget.

AMIDST talk of crisis and gloom in the Ireland camp and speculation surrounding the future of Eddie O’Sullivan, Ronan O’Gara’s side is on the cusp of equalling a record set by Irish teams in the ‘70s, who defeated England for five successive seasons in the then Five Nations Championship.

John Sisk & Son has won the contract to build the new Lansdowne Road Stadium.

Sisk, Ireland’s largest construction company, has been appointed main contractor on the New Stadium at Lansdowne Road.

The demolition of the historic Lansdowne Road stadium is almost complete after the West Stand was razed to the ground, developers revealed today.

DEMOLITION work at Lansdowne Road is due to finish in December but work has already begun on the new state-of-the-art ground with excavation and supports for the new East Stand currently underway.

Peter Kenyon insists the race for the Barclays Premiership title is not over as Chelsea re-group in the wake of their Champions League exit.

SUNDERLAND’S crucial Cham-pionship clash with Burnleytomorrow night goes aheaddespite a fire at the Stadium of Light yesterday.

Chelsea 1 Liverpool 0

The Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) has confirmed that O2 Ireland is the new official sponsor of the Irish national rugby team.

AND so it ends. Planning permitting, the wrecking balls will demolish Lansdowne Road this year, paving the way for an historic Six Nations championship at Croke Park next year.

AFTER the cold war involving the manager, the players and the media which darkened the final days of the Brian Kerr era, the thaw of the past week was as welcome as it was out of sync with the prevailing weather conditions.

Toyota Ireland has entered an agreement with the Munster Branch of IRFU for the naming rights of the West Stand at Thomond Park.

UNITED fans were able to pay on the gate in last night’s Champions League tie at Old Trafford.

SWEET chariots could be swinging to a new low if Ireland add to England’s recent woes by overcoming their historic enemy in tomorrow’s rugby international at Lansdowne Road.

MILLWALL and Liverpool fans have blamed each other for the violence which marred the Carling Cup third-round tie at The New Den.