Missing out on a World Cup would, under normal circumstances, be one of the lowest points in any player’s career, but it likely helped propel Jordan Larmour on to a much higher plain this season.

Pre-tournament favourite Rory McIlroy kept his hopes of winning the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play title alive thanks to a 2&1 victory over Jhonattan Vegas last night.

Ireland will book their spot at next year’s World Cup if they overcome Afghanistan in their final qualifier this morning after Zimbabwe suffered a shock defeat to the UAE in Harare.

This week in Turkey, they celebrated Nehruz, a festival to mark the coming of spring, the traditional rituals to mark the occasion including jumping over bonfires and tapping eggs.

Declan Kidney could not suppress a laugh at the final question as he was unveiled as London Irish’s new technical director, a few hours after Nick Kennedy’s shock resignation as the Exiles’ director of rugby.

Officially, the Irish attendance in the Antalya Stadium this evening will be 236 but we can expect the welcome from the little green army to far exceed that number in sheer delight when Seamus Coleman leads the Irish team onto the field of play, just one day short of the first anniversary of the sickening leg break which he suffered against Wales at the Aviva Stadium on March 24 last year.

As they disembarked the team bus at the Shelbourne Hotel on their return to Dublin last Sunday, the heroes of Ireland’s Six Nations success were manhandled into the waiting embrace of Minister for Sport, Shane Ross.

AS Ireland’s Grand Slam celebrations began at Twickenham on St Patrick’s Day, Na Piarsaigh and Cuala played out a thrilling draw in the All-Ireland Club hurling final at Croke Park.

There are still beads of sweat on his brow after a 90-minute training session in the Mediterranean sun but it’s the snow of last weekend which is on Shane Duffy’s mind as he relates the saga of how he was unable to pick up his FAI Senior Player of the Year Award in Dublin on Sunday.

As a two-time world champion, Conrad Smith knows what it takes to be the best in the world.

Rory McIlroy has revealed the part that Wayne Rooney played in his brilliant victory in the Arnold Palmer Invitational, a win which led to a surprisingly low-key celebration.

Former Munster and Ireland scrum-half Michael Bradley is being touted as a contender to take charge of Ulster.

Clare’s Peter Duggan and Limerick’s Aaron Gillane have defended the free-taking shootout which decided their league quarter-final on Monday evening.

Just watching the positive energy Joe Schmidt brings to proceedings is infectious, writes Donal Lenihan.

Maybe the most remarkable thing about Rob Kearney’s new IRFU contract, confirmed yesterday along with extensions for Irish team-mates Rory Best and Iain Henderson, is the lack of discussion that has shadowed its signing.

The popularity of Irish rugby on and off the pitch looks set to continue its meteoric rise after the glorious success of Twickenham and a historic Grand Slam.

While witnessing new rugby heroes lift and warm the hearts of the nation this chilly spring, we couldn’t but think of past ones and how this was their achievement too, writes  Kieran Shannon.

Rugby Europe is to analyse the performance of the Romanian referee in charge of Belgium’s controversial upset of Spain this weekend in a meeting on Friday.

Joe Schmidt deservedly received the plaudits for guiding Ireland to a Grand Slam on Saturday. But the New Zealander was quick to credit the efforts of his backroom team in the unforgettable spring campaign. Rory Keane reports.