Bundee Aki and Darren Sweetnam stand poised to complete very different but equally demanding journeys into Test rugby when they pull on an Ireland jersey in Dublin tomorrow evening.

Northern Ireland 0 Switzerland 1

The daily newspapers had hardly been bundled onto shelves around the country on Wednesday morning when word arrived that Peter Schmeichel wouldn’t talk about Roy Keane when he arrived in Dublin yesterday.

It’s not often that the great minds of the Irish management team and the Irish media think alike but such was the case this week when we asked Roy Keane for his thoughts on how Shane Duffy has progressed to the point where he is now widely regarded as the rock of the Irish defence and one of the most consistent centre-halves in the Premier League.

Peter Schmeichel all but scoffs when asked how the current Ireland and Denmark squads compare to his day when the teams drew twice in the qualifying rounds for the 1994 World Cup.

New Zealand’s Canterbury Crusaders are targeting Ronan O’Gara for a sensational move to Super Rugby next season.

American director Alex Gibney was stunned by what he found for his documentary on the Loughinisland killings. It will be shown at Cork Film Festival, writes Richard Fitzpatrick.

Catch up on this morning's headlines...

Wales boss Warren Gatland looks set to field three home Test match debutants in the starting line-up for Saturday’s clash against Australia.

World Rugby chief executive Brett Gosper has hinted that Ireland’s timing hasn’t been right as the country finds itself ranked behind “two masters of the universe in terms of putting on major world events” in the race to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

Cliodhna Sargent is set to return to action for the first time since January following the birth of her first son, Dylan, in August with a World Cup spot very much the long-term aim.

Trends are there to be bucked, but the Republic of Ireland must overcome a pattern of progress by seeded teams in World Cup play-off ties when they face Denmark in Copenhagen and Dublin.

Tommy Fleetwood would happily be responsible for a “boring” end to the season as he looks to hold off the inspired challenge of Justin Rose and win the Race to Dubai.

A book about the shirts worn by Irish football internationals over the years is to get a second print run, owing to the huge demand for the illustrated tome.

‘To the left, to the right, he’s our midfield dynamite,’ goes the song Spurs fans sing about Christian Eriksen.

It was on board Australia he claimed his first Derby winner and it was in the country of the same name on its grandest of racing days that Joseph O’Brien announced himself as a trainer to be admired and feared given his potential.

Steven Davis will earn his 100th Northern Ireland cap tomorrow night but he insists the World Cup play-off with Switzerland is more important than such personal landmarks.