With Ireland progressing on target and England exiting the Rugby World Cup this past weekend, maybe it’s time for Ireland to unleash its secret weapon: the fourth shamrock to add to the three our brave rugby players already proudly wear on their jerseys?

Former England footballer Ian Wright has revealed his MBE was among treasured memorabilia stolen by masked raiders held a knife to his wife’s throat and threatened to cut her and their two daughters’ fingers off during a robbery.

Italy 1 Ghana 0

Italy winger Ludovico Nitoglia has been ruled out of the 2007 RBS 6 Nations Championship after it was revealed he requires a second operation on his injured right shoulder.

Michael Owen is hoping to be back in action before the end of this season.

Claude Makelele has signed a one-year extension to his Chelsea contract to keep him at Stamford Bridge until 2009.

Sven Goran Eriksson has jumped to Wayne Rooney’s defence.

Tottenham 3 Charlton 1

England 2 Uruguay 1

Blackburn midfielder Brett Emerton has ended weeks of speculation concerning his future by signing a new four-year contract at Ewood Park.

Javier Clemente has been confirmed as the first coach of Serbia following the country’s split with Montenegro.

285 jobs are to go at the Unifi yarn company in Letterkenny, Co Donegal.

Rivaldo has finally parted company with AC Milan after the pair came to a “mutual agreement” to officially cancel his contract.

Stirling Mortlock's breakaway try converted by Elton Flatley has given Australia a 7-0 lead against New Zealand at the Telstra Stadium in Sydney today.

Roy Keane has agreed to make a dramatic return to the Republic of Ireland team.

Rudi Voller has resigned as Germany coach following the team’s first-round exit at Euro 2004.

The Archbishop of Dublin, Cardinal Desmond Connell, has sent out a message of good wishes to students sitting Junior and Leaving Cert exams next week.

Southampton are looking to bolster their defence by luring Sweden international Michael Svensson to England.

Spain 3 Slovenia 1

Yesterday the Irish women’s team defeated the host nation, Holland, in their fourth match in the qualifying tournament.