Both the Six Nations and the International Rugby Board moved yesterday to support under-fire match referee Dave Pearson, following his decision to postpone Saturday night’s France-Ireland game.

There have been four direct free-kicks scored in this Cup of Nations.

If Harry Redknapp does eventually succeed Fabio Capello as England manager — and thousands at White Hart Lane made it clear they hope he won’t — one of the first calls he will make will be to Paul Scholes.

Start spreading the news, Thierry Henry might not have taken his final bow in the Premier League.

Mark Schwarzer says he is living the dream with Fulham and wants to play for at least a further two seasons.

AS we pull up to the East Link toll booth, the woman in the window sees my passenger Henry McKean’s microphone and guesses something is afoot.

Cian O’Connor’s improving relationship with his new horse Blue Loyd has given him cause for optimism heading into today’s $125,000 World Cup class at Florida’s FTI Winter Equestrian Festival.

THE defections of Synchronised and Quito De La Roque have greatly enhanced my prospects of winning the Hennessy Gold Cup on Quel Esprit at Leopardstown tomorrow.

Here’s a pet theory for which there is no objective evidence; the Irish sporting world was changed irrevocably by the discussion that took place in the aftermath of the infamous events in Saipan that saw Roy Keane sent home from the World Cup.

Time is a healer, they say, but have Ireland had enough hours, minutes and seconds to put right the wrongs of last Sunday’s effort and produce a performance against France tonight in Paris?

Declan Kidney is undoubtedly Ireland’s most successful coach of the modern era.

Wales captain Sam Warburton admits it is time his RBS 6 Nations title contenders avoided any further outbreaks of the yellow peril that threatened to lay them low in Dublin last weekend.

So farewell Fab. And hello again Trap.

It may be cold enough here in Paris to leave eskimos pining for the frozen tundra of their homelands but the hot air currently being generated by French rugby folk more than compensates for the polar conditions.

With the announcement in Waterford yesterday of a 24-man panel for the friendly against the Czech Republic later this month, Giovanni Trapattoni showed his hand and effectively named his squad for the European Championship finals.

1 The mental challenge

It’s five years and a handful of weeks since former Leicester Tigers coach Pat Howard sat on a battered old sofa in the club’s training grounds and described Thomond Park as “just a field” to a scrum of English and Irish journalists.

SCRUM

IT was the tournament that launched a million footballing passions on this side of the world, as Mario Kempes, Daniel Passarella and Leopoldo Luque stole our hearts en route to their first World Cup triumph in 1978.

Munster and Ireland full-back Felix Jones makes his return to the competitive arena for the first time in almost six months when he turns out for Shannon against Young Munster in tonight’s (7.30pm) Ulster Bank League tie at Thomond Park.