Matt Williams

Cape Town win ‘tossed a giant log on the fire that fuels the white-hot competition between the Irish provinces’

Matt Williams: Athletes stare into the eyes of the monster that is defeat and search deep within themselves to find the courage to overcome their fear of failure

La Rochelle more complete than last season, having replaced Ihaia West at outhalf with the more reliable Antoine Hastoy

Series of season-defining games for province with, potentially, URC final to follow an outrageously tough five weeks

As a former player, captain and now head coach, he has been one of the prime drivers of a strikingly successful club model based on locally-produced talent

Toulouse coach Ugo Mola will want to avoid the tactical mistakes France made in the high-tempo Six Nations clash which suited a Leinster-inspired Ireland down to the ground

The revered Australian Rugby League coach believes in preparing his players for life’s challenges and Redcliffe Dolphins are just the latest club to benefit from his holistic philosophy

Given the calibre of Toulouse and La Rochelle, Champions Cup success may come down to O’Brien’s influence in coaching Leinster’s breakdown work

The competition’s current structure means underperforming in the pool stages is of little consequence

A pivotal play helped earn a heroic draw against Stormers which could well go a long way in deciding the eventual destination of the URC title

Claiming two Grand Slams in a week is a huge achievement for Irish rugby but advancing from that peak to lifting the World Cup is a gargantuan task

‘The young woman immediately in front of me gave the security guard a look of alarm that was close to panic’

Three factors explain how Scottish rugby has recovered from monumental errors made at the start of the professional era

Despite considerable adversity over the years, the Leinster man honed his game and never quit on his ambition to once again wear Ireland’s number 10 jersey

Excellent Italian performances had genesis in 2016 when Conor O’Shea guided team and Irish man Stephen Aboud developed elite player and coach pathways