SEAN O’BRIEN HAS been included in the Ireland Wolfhounds team to face the England Saxons at Musgrave Park tomorrow evening [KO 19.45]. The Leinster back row makes his return from long-term shoulder injury problems at openside flanker, having last played in September’s Guinness Pro12 clash against Glasgow Warriors. Felix Jones captains Dan McFarland’s side from fullback and is joined in the back three by Fergus McFadden and Luke Fitzgerald. Keith Earls continues his recovery from knee injury at 13, outside the veteran Gordon D’Arcy. Ian Madigan gets a chance to reacquaint himself with the out-half position just over a week before the Six Nations opener against Italy on 7 February,…

WALES CAPTAIN SAM Warburton just couldn’t bring himself to play down the significance of tonight’s Six Nations curtain raiser (KO 20.05). Source: James Crombie/INPHO England cross the Severn to open up the 2015 tournament in Cardiff with a great big bang. The Millennium Stadium under lights is a daunting prospect at any time. But when the sides are due to meet in the upcoming World Cup and Wales still have some bloodlust left over from the 2013 trouncing dished out to their nearest and dearest, then England have reasons to be fearful. Stuart Lancaster’s men did manage to see off Wales in Twickenham last time out. That, you sense, has…

CONNACHT’S APPROACH HAS always focused on the collective rather than the individual, and despite the emergence of an international star like Robbie Henshaw, that hasn’t changed. Before last weekend’s win over the Dragons, head coach Pat Lam stressed the importance of teamwork, pointing out that his side are ‘Joe Average’ when they play as individuals — as they did, according to Lam, seven days earlier in a defeat to the Scarlets. The Six Nations period is always a tricky one at club level, as teams aim to emerge in the best possible shape ahead of the return of their international contingent in its aftermath. Although they went through a difficult…

Source: Dan Sheridan/INPHO HomeCian Healy is part of an all-international front row for Leinster as they take on the Scarlets.And Donnacha Ryan is back in the Munster team for the first time in 11 months.Robbie Keane was named by Sports Illustrated as the best import in MLS history.The first-ever GAA World Games began in Abu Dhabi today.Jon Walters said if anyone ever spat at him they would be ‘eating their supper through a straw’.Joseph Duffy said he might drop to featherweight after his UFC debut – the same weight class that Conor McGregor fights in.Away Source: David Davies Sepp Blatter says teams should be relegated if their fans sing racist…

Murray Kinsella reports from the Millennium Stadium WALES ASSISTANT COACH Robin McMcBryde says he doesn’t expect Ireland to bring an open style of rugby to the Millennium Stadium tomorrow as they search for a fourth Six Nations victory in 2015. A win of any kind is likely to have Schmidt smiling tomorrow. Source: James Crombie/INPHO All that stands between Joe Schmidt’s side and a Grand Slam is two wins against Wales and Scotland, both on the road. Tomorrow’s clash in Cardiff would appear to be the more demanding of those ties on current form, with the Welsh buoyed by their win in Paris in round three. There has already been…

“Certainly in the first half we didn’t react particularly well on our own ball but also theirs; we gave them some serious momentum. We turned it around in the second half, we fixed a few things and were far more dominant. All the things we didn’t get right are easily fixable and have been in the first couple of days this week.” Analysis: Ireland get taste of own medicine in early stages against Wales Easterby is expecting another challenge at lineout time from the Scots. “Of course. They had a pretty effective lineout on the weekend, won all of theirs and stole of a few of England’s,” he says. “They’re…

As part of the “shake up” that WWE promised yesterday, the company announced five call-ups from NXT. The five individuals promoted to the main roster are EC3, Lacey Evans, Nikki Cross, and Heavy Machinery. EC3, the former Impact champion, returned to WWE earlier this year at NXT Takeover: Philadelphia. He made his NXT debut in March, keeping his Impact name and has been involved in some pretty good matches ever since then. EC3 worked for TNA/Impact for four years prior to his return to WWE. He previously had one stint with WWE as part of Florida Championship Wrestling and NXT as Derrick Bateman. Lacey Evans has been signed to a…

According to US Magazine, Nikki Bella is dating her former Dancing With the Stars partner Artem Chigvintsev. The two have been seeing each other “for some time.”Click Here: melbourne storm jersey

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER big rugby transfer. Edinburgh’s top-class wing Tim Visser will be playing for Harlequins next season after scorching down the touchline for the Scottish side for the last six seasons. Visser was born in the Netherlands but signed for Newcastle after being spotted by a scout at the Amsterdam Sevens. In 2009 he moved to Edinburgh and remarkably was the top try-scorer in the Pro12 for his first four seasons there. Click Here: 2021 soccer tracksuit He hasn’t been as prolific since 2013 but he remains one the competition’s most clinical finishers and has played for Scotland 18 times. Source: EllliotJack4/YouTube “I’ve given so much of my career…

GOAL-KICKING IS an aspect of rugby we can sometimes take for granted. Perhaps the regularity with which we see the skill performed at expert levels is the reason for that. Men like Ronan O’Gara, David Humphreys, Eric Elwood and Johnny Sexton have essentially decided games with their efforts from the tee in recent years, but we often remember the misses more than the successes. Ian Madigan was six from six off the tee last weekend. Source: Ryan Byrne/INPHO A study by New Zealand Rugby’s Senior Scientist, Ken Quarrie, last year highlighted that 45% of all points in 582 international rugby matches between 2002 and 2011 came from place-kicks. Leinster’s exploits in the Champions…