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.

Sean O’Brien has never played rugby in temperatures of -7C before but has farmed in the depths of a white winter when the mercury plummeted to -15.

Munster have opted for more major surgery on their midfield after signing Cardiff Blues centre Casey Laulala yesterday.

Harry Redknapp is facing a huge dilemma in the coming weeks.

TV3’s Tallafornia has caught the attention of both Time Magazine and MTV after just one episode. Deirdre Reynolds looks at how reality TV is plumbing new depths

HARD facts first.

SATURDAY

WE may be at the very start of a World Cup cycle with three and a half years to shape an Ireland team to take on all comers in 2015 but the Six Nations squad unveiled by head coach Declan Kidney yesterday was very much in the ‘as you were’ mould.

DESPITE a 15-month win drought and a fall to 89th in the world rankings, Pádraig Harrington says he “expects’’ rather than hopes to win more majors.

GAVIN HENSON could be in line for a first RBS 6 Nations appearance since 2009 after being included in head coach Warren Gatland’s 35-man training squad.

Ralph Fiennes’s new film adaptation of William Shakespeare’s Coriolanus is a labour of love for the British actor and director, says Declan Cashin

THE performance of reigning World Rally Academy champion, Craig Breen, will be monitored closely on the Monte Carlo Rally, the opening round of the World Rally Championship that begins today.

JOSE MOURINHO has defended Cristiano Ronaldo’s form on the eve of Real Madrid’s Copa del Rey quarter-final against Barcelona tonight (Live on Sky Sports 2, 9pm), describing his performance against Mallorca as “his best” since the manager’s arrival at the club.

FOR the first time since 2007 Horse Racing Ireland has posted positive financial figures, a sign the Irish industry’s repeated losses might have bottomed out according to HRI CEO Brian Kavanagh.