A more recent influence has been the “unbelievable” France veteran tighthead prop Rabah Slimani, who arrived at Leinster last summer.

It sees Ireland finish with a 3-3 record in Group A and in line for a second-placed finish, with Kosovo hosting Group A winners Switzerland in Pristina later on Sunday.

Despite the progress that the Ireland men's team has made, there will naturally be questions about what route Basketball Ireland will go with Mark Keenan and his coaching staff. 

Meanwhile, it appeared Mayo were about to hit rock bottom against Armagh on Saturday but Davitt Neary's inspirational goal proved the catalyst for the type of comeback to which supporters have become accustomed. 

It is widely accepted that the FAI leaned heavily on player feedback when discarding Vera Pauw 18 months ago but that wasn’t the case for her successor’s axing.

Ward has observed with interest Campbell’s switch from left-back to centre-half with the London City Lionesses, convincing the new Ireland boss to replicate it at international level.

Although Carla Ward’s opening match will be remembered for victory, it was only just against a Turkish side who were inches from blotting the new reign.

Katie McCabe talks to Cliona Foley about the pressure — and joy — of captaining Ireland and the work still to be done to level the playing field for female athletes

Gregor Townsend seems to know just what is needed to unravel their Six Nations rivals with a peerless record.

With so much emotion floating around the Principality Stadium and a proud rugby nation sure to get behind their team, it’s more important than ever that Simon Easterby establishes a clarity of focus because for Ireland every point matters

Cork are in the zone. Winning Liam MacCarthy has to happen sooner rather than later. 

The emergence of Sam Prendergast has pushed Ross Byrne down the depth chart at Leinster. 

Gatland departed following Wales’ 14th successive Test defeat – a 22-15 loss to Italy – with Cardiff boss Matt Sherratt now in charge on an interim basis for three remaining Six Nations fixtures.

It means that even if Ireland finish second with victory over Azerbaijan, along with a defeat for Kosovo against Switzerland on the final matchday, it wouldn’t be enough to advance.

Simon Easterby may have rung the changes for Ireland’s latest Guinness Six Nations challenge but do not fall into the trap of thinking his selections weaken his squad’s chances of collecting a Triple Crown at Wales’s expense in Cardiff on Saturday.

The 21-year-old joins from Cyprus club Ermis Aradippou. 

These weeks the big questions are probably the most important. What do you stand for? What essentially do you want out of this?

The Girls in Green aim to start as they mean to go on under the former Villa boss.

It’s fair to say that the rugby played in New Zealand is very different to what we digest in Europe.

It's another action packed weekend of sport on TV with Ireland back in action in the Six Nations, the Allianz NFL and NHL continue with Rep of Ireland women back in action under new manager Carla Ward.