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A decent initial prize cheque of his career was of little importance to rookie professional Paul Dunne following his 19th-place finish in the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Oh, the heart sank with the news coming out of the west, or the northwest, last week.

Brendan O’Brien looks at what was learned from the weekend’s action at the Rugby World Cup...

A strange occasion. The very sight of a rugby ball being thrown and kicked around a stadium which has rocked to Usain Bolt and Mo Farah in days past, and one which will etch out a new identity as the home of West Ham United, took time to sink in.

It can’t have been an easy few weeks for Robbie Henshaw.

Ireland 16 Italy 9: JOE SCHMIDT had a feeling things would get tougher when Ireland’s World Cup bandwagon eventually ran into Italy.

An Independent Cork city councillor has announced his attempt to “upset the formbook” by becoming the first Independent TD for Cork.

Paul O’Connell last night warned his Ireland side they have a mountain of a challenge in front of them if they are to beat France next Sunday and top their World Cup pool.

There may be a full round of pool games to go over the course of the next seven days but already five teams, including Ireland, have booked a safe passage to the knockout phase of the Rugby World Cup.

England 13 Australia 33: Having been in the World Cup for just 15 days, England are now set to enter a month-long period of reviews, damning indictments and calls for heads to roll.

Before taking charge of the Springboks, Kitch Christie made a bold prediction: “Six months is long enough for a coach to win the World Cup.”

Samoa 5 Japan 26: Japan coach Eddie Jones believes his players have put the pride back in Japanese rugby regardless of whether they qualify for the World Cup quarter-finals.

Argentina 45 Tonga 16: Argentina captain Agustin Creevy revealed Diego Maradona’s dressing room dance has driven them to push for Rugby World Cup glory.

South Africa 34 Scotland 16: Stand-off Duncan Weir hopes his stunning second-half burst against South Africa on Saturday will help seal his place in coach Vern Cotter’s plans as Scotland look to book their place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Phew… that was the general consensus at the end of a too-close for comfort match which put Ireland in the quarter-final of the Rugby World Cup once more.

It didn’t quite compensate for the recent failure to bring back Sam to the Kingdom, but there was great local delight at the crowning of Cahirciveen company Quinlan’s Seafood as supreme champions at the Blás na hÉireann Food Awards as part of the annual Dingle Food Festival that took place in the Kerry over the weekend.

New Zealand 43 Georgia 10: New Zealand moved into the World Cup quarter-finals by predictably beating Georgia in bonus-point fashion – but it was a performance laced with errors.

Slowly, patiently, Joe Schmidt is moving his pieces into place for Ireland’s big push into the knockout stages of this World Cup.