#international-rugby

#international-rugby

Dublin would derive nutritional value from Leinster Championship success, with Wicklow first on the menu.

Thousands of runners took part in the London Landmarks Half Marathon in central London, with participants including club runners, charity fundraisers, celebrities, and first-time entrants.

I don't think we are good enough to dream that far. It's a great competition with a lot of history and I'd like to be a part of that.

No. It's out of our hands really. We can only do a certain amount. It's a game for us to play against an opponent that's had the upper hand on us for years. We're playing them away from home. They've got a brilliant record at home. It's a challenge but a real opportunity for us to go and deliver an even better performance than we did last week.

The most humbling thing is being at the top of the run with the Paralympic team, who are mostly visually impaired, and they just disappear into the distance while I'm still putting my boots on. As performance director of GB Snowsport, nevertheless, Myall's job is to give the nation's talented crop of snowboarders, freestyle, alpine and mogul skiers a decisive edge when the Games commence in Milan next week.

In likes of Tommy O'Brien, Robert Baloucoune and Jamie Osborne, Andy Farrell has a fresh crop of winners ahead of Rugby World Cup. As the man with the deaf dog says 'it can be hard to call it'. That has been the case in the majority of this year's Six Nations but when Ireland play Scotland we now expect Ireland to win.

Rassie Erasmus has described Ireland's rugby system as "precision farming" and the last year has shown how delicate the ecosystem is. All the analysis that followed the alarming defeats to France, New Zealand and South Africa remains valid and the issues that cropped up remain worthy of attention. Yet it all feels a little less alarming after a weekend where the senior side issued a stunning riposte to those who believed they are a beaten docket and the U-20s showed there's life in the pathways yet.

Henry Pollock has been such a prominent figure in the recent rugby landscape that we had to double check that Saturday will be the first time he has started a game for England. Such has been the meteoric rise of the effervescent 21-year-old, it's easy to forget that up to now, each of his seven Test caps has come from the bench. That will all change against Ireland at Twickenham this weekend.

Changes galore, and notable ones at that, across both matchday squads. Steve Borthwick hands fan and media darling (and bloody good player) Henry Pollock his first start in the back row, where he will be joined by the returning Tom Curry. In the backs Tommy Freeman returns to a wing berth at the expense of Tom Roebuck, which brings Ollie Lawrence back into the centres. The bench is a 6:2, with Jack Van Poortvliet and Marcus Smith as the backs options.

Saracens will travel to face Bath in the round of 16 after being beaten 28-3 by Glasgow in their final pool match at Scotstoun. Most of the points came in the first half, with the Warriors scoring three converted tries through Ollie Smith, Kyle Steyn and George Horne while Saracens replied with an Owen Farrell penalty. Seb Stephen then rumbled over in the closing seconds of the match to secure a fourth successive bonus-point pool-stage victory for Glasgow.

Winter Olympics Tanya Aldred, Billy Munday and James Wallace buckle up for day 15 of these compelling Games, which brings the prospect of a British curling gold medal. Bruce Mouat and his rink of Grant Hardie, Hammy McMillan and Bobby Lammie face Canada in the final (6.05pm-9. 20pm) looking to upgrade the silver they won in Beijing four years ago. Other highlights include the opening two heats of the four-man bobsleigh (9am and 10.57am),