Joe Schmidt

‘If you’re not taking stuff off the best coaches in the world then you are going to be in trouble’

Italy’s presence should not be guaranteed if they cannot be competitive

Learning to live with the bully boys will be the acid test for Andy Farrell’s side

Battling second-half comeback comes up just short in Stade de France cauldron

Difficult to look past French flair and power not to mention a raucous home Parisian crowd

Ireland plan to ‘go after’ France, says James Ryan, but will avoid ‘PlayStation rugby’

Irish coach’s promise to bring emerging players into the squad yielding rewards

Head coach named strong side for Six Nations opener against defending champions

Ulster forward included in Farrell’s Six Nations squad after making three caps in 2017

Van Graan is leaving, their games are a hard watch, but they’re still in an enviable position

Cullen’s side will be highly motivated by controversial walkover which still rankles

Ireland’s most decorated player will play final game of his career, lining up as Barbarian

The likes of Piutau could feature at the next World Cup with nations of their heritage

Ireland coach has created an environment where players will go that extra bit further

New Zealand coaches scale back training by ‘10 to 15 per cent’ after toll of effort against Ireland

When they next meet in Auckland, Ireland will be the ones on a gruelling tour schedule