Will the upcoming year be more fondly remembered than the 12 months just gone? You’d wonder how it could be any worse, writes Garry Doyle

In a career of highs and lows coaching Ireland and then Wales, Warren Gatland has never shied away from making tough or unpopular decisions. Garry Doyle finds him ready to engage

The area around the Five Lamps is also nothing short of a talent factory that continues to churn out Ireland’s best young footballers

Rugby needs to take action to accommodate its long-neglected island nations

Led by their inspirational captain, Siya Kolisi, the South African rugby team beat England

When Eddie Jones’s team dialled up the pressure in Yokohama yesterday, the much-vaunted All Blacks couldn’t find an answer

After last weekend’s humiliation against the All Blacks, Ireland’s Rugby World Cup knockout record sits at a wretched zero wins from eight games. It’s back to the drawing board for the IRFU, but where do they go from here?

l Ireland’s hopes of reaching the Rugby World Cup semi-finals were cruelly dashed yesterday, as an excellent New Zealand team ruthlessly exposed the Irish team’s weakneses, beating them 46-14

Joe Schmidt sat in the coach’s box at the Tokyo stadium, wearing the fraught expression of a man waiting in sporting purgatory

The devastation in parts of Japan this weekend partly vindicated World Rugby’s scrapping of fixtures. But it has other questions to answer

The odds on Ireland remaining visible in the tournament beyond next weekend are long

It’s a puzzle as to who the real Ireland is, the heroes who beat the All Blacks or the team that meekly capitulated to Japan

New Zealand’s Luke Jacobson, had the courage to bow out of the tournament when he declared himself concussed in a training session before the All Blacks’ opener with the Springboks

Football tsar who loved the limelight squandered the chance of a revolution

What does a rugby star do after he hangs up his boots? For the former Ireland internationals Andrew Trimble and Gordon D’Arcy, the answer wasn’t a straightforward one, writes Garry Doyle

Nothing is as predictable at World Cups as the deluge of fake tears from those who pretend to care about the fate of the Pacific Islanders

The hosts made sure that yesterday’s match was played on their terms – and Joe Schmidt and Ireland simply had no answer

The hosts caused a sensation four years ago by ambushing South Africa, but they remain makeweights at the highest level

Whether they get the All Blacks or the Springboks after the group stage, Joe Schmidt’s team will struggle to achieve that elusive first World Cup semi-final, writes Garry Doyle