THERE are two noticeable powerhouses dominating Irish racing this season - Willie Mullins and Michael O'Leary's Gigginstown House Stud.

Bookmakers are likely to be running for cover if the mighty Hurricane Fly can strike a blow for punters and successfully defend his crown in the Stan James Champion Hurdle at Cheltenham today.

ZUT alors! Not only are the French better at cuisine, couture and l’amour, but now it turns out they’re better at parenting too.

England captain Chris Robshaw and full-back Ben Foden last night endorsed Stuart Lancaster’s bid to become the team’s full-time coach after a remarkable RBS 6 Nations triumph over France.

Declan Kidney hailed his team for overcoming the loss of two iconic captains, Brian O’Driscoll and Paul O’Connell, to bring the smile back to Irish rugby.

Roberto Martinez hailed Wigan’s resilience after the Barclays Premier League strugglers battled back to share the points at Norwich yesterday.

QPR manager Mark Hughes’ protests fell on deaf ears at the Reebok Stadium.

THIS week, Ted Walsh continues his long-standing love affair with the Cheltenham festival.

Pat Keane and Ruby Walsh discuss tactics ahead of Cheltenham.

HE is affable, personable and courteous, but also cold and logical.

A year ago Ireland won a record 13 of the 27 races at the Cheltenham festival.

1. The Tuesday bankers

Munster will welcome David Wallace back to the fold at some stage of tomorrow’s RaboDirect Pro12 clash with Aironi at Stadio Zaffanella in Viadana.

Arsene Wenger maintains Arsenal will not be selling captain Robin van Persie to Manchester City — and expects the Dutch striker to stay on to lead the Gunners to success.

A home game against a winless side trying to avoid a wooden spoon really should not have this much importance placed on it for Ireland.

There have been no emails this week to the respective coaches but Ireland coach Declan Kidney is confident his players can get on the same page as RBS 6 Nations debutant referee Chris Pollock at Aviva Stadium today.

1 THE SECOND ROW

Ben Foden will always be indebted to France coach Philippe Saint-Andre for spotting his potential as an international full-back.

Andy Robinson has urged his Scotland players to focus on the players who are on the pitch at the Aviva Stadium, rather than getting too excited about Ireland’s long injury list.

For the guts of an hour or so there on Tuesday night, we were all Gooners — all, at least, bar the supporters of AC Milan and, I presume, Spurs.