The Ireland international will be making his first appearance of the season for the province.

UEFA president Michel Platini has said he is fed up with politicians calling for a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia over Moscow’s actions towards Ukraine.

FRANZ Beckenbauer lashed out at FIFA yesterday for its criticism of World Cup organisers and said Germany was ready to host the month-long tournament.

FRANCE boss Raymond Domenech may already be planning for Saturday’s World Cup quarter-final with Brazil but he admits he will never forget the 3-1 second round win over Spain he believes “lit up France”.

Leinster are unsure if Cian Healy could be made available to them for Saturday’s Guinness Pro12 clash against Cardiff Blues.

Charges against two Dutch women accused of an “ambush marketing” stunt at a World Cup match were dropped today.

BRAZIL continued their low-key build-up to the World Cup with two late goals helping them to a four-goal win over New Zealand in Geneva.

Australia skipper Stirling Mortlock sent a shock wave through the Wallabies camp when he was sidelined from training due to a back injury just a week before the start of the Rugby World Cup.

FIFA will make a final decision on goal-line technology in March, according to president Sepp Blatter.

FIFA have announced that single yellow cards received at this year’s World Cup will only be cleared after the quarter-final stage of the competition.

Justin Rose will represent England at this year’s World Cup, ensuring the tournament has at least one world top-20 player.

Gylfi Sigurdsson helped Iceland seal qualification for their first ever World Cup finals by scoring in an emotional 2-0 victory over Kosovo.

"When it comes to FIFA competitions, any team, including the supporters and officials of that team, who qualify for a World Cup need to have access."

“Ultimately, the girls all want to be playing in a home World Cup. It’s just going to bolster everybody, and it’s going to create competition within the squad,"

Luis Suarez warned his Barcelona side to stay focused for the rest of the season after firing the Catalans to Club World Cup glory over River Plate.

FIFA is to consider expanding the World Cup to 40 teams but a final decision on the change has been deferred.

The Argentinian Football Association have confirmed Sergio Batista as the head coach of the national team on a permanent basis.