WE HAD another terrific guest chef at the cookery school recently.

LUNCH, like dieting or fidelity, means many things to many people.

GIOVANNI TRAPATTONI would be ill-advised to take up the European Championship bail-out offer slapped on the table in the sleepy Slovakian resort of Senec yesterday.

INTERNATIONAL qualifiers will be played across six days between Thursdays and Tuesdays from 2014 to maximise TV coverage and broadcast income.

JAMES LAST may or may not be tuning into the big match early on Saturday morning.

SARACENS have announced that they will play their Heineken Cup pool stage clash with Biarritz in Cape Town, marking the first time the tournament has seen a fixture played outside Europe.

TWENTY-FOUR years ago Ireland suffered a mortal blow at a Rugby World Cup in New Zealand, losing a pool game to Wales.

MUNSTER’S first RaboDirect Pro12 defeat in Edinburgh on Friday was a reality check for a young squad but Denis Hurley isn’t pushing the panic button.

FOR all the talents at the disposal of New Zealand coach Graeme Henry, you’d be tempted to bet he may have cast an envious eye south to Wellington this week and wished he had the half-back headaches Declan Kidney says he has been grappling with.

QUADE COOPER may be viewed as public enemy number one in New Zealand but the Australia fly-half insists he is still enjoying the World Cup.

SONNY BILL WILLIAMS may have joked about replacing Dan Carter at fly-half, but he was deadly serious in vowing New Zealand would not abandon their attacking principles in pursuit of World Cup glory.

BEN FODEN warned England will be heading into the “danger zone” against France in Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final.

GORDON D’ARCY is expecting Wales to target Ronan O’Gara again in Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final but the centre believes Ireland can deal with the tactic, just as they did when winning the Grand Slam in 2009.

WHEN Marco Tardelli was asked if he was aware that tomorrow night’s game against Andorra will take place on the fifth anniversary of Ireland ‘s 5-2 humiliation in Cyprus, he backs away in mock horror.

WARREN GATLAND has kept faith with the youngsters who guided Wales into the World Cup quarter-finals for Saturday morning’s shoot-out with Ireland in Wellington.

IRELAND captain Brian O’Driscoll believes the lessons of his last quarter-final appearance have been learned and, eight years on, will not be repeated.

FROM nine to 99, the small Cork village where Ireland prop Mike Ross was born has gone rugby crazy ahead of Saturday’s crunch Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash against Wales.

IF a patriotic urge encourages you to jump on a plane and fly to New Zealand to cheer Ireland on to their first rugby World Cup semi-final, be prepared to dig deep into those savings.

DECLAN KIDNEY last night stuck with Munster half-backs Ronan O’Gara and Conor Murray as he named what he hopes will remain an unchanged side for Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Wales.

IRELAND’S current ‘golden generation’ have been challenged by Donncha O’Callaghan to earn their status with a World Cup quarter-final victory over Wales on Saturday.