Damian Browne: To the ends of the Earth in search of the ‘savage warrior spirit’

The former Connacht and Leinster player has had to cancel at attempt at Everest

England held all the aces in defining battle of the breakdown

Curry and Underhill set the tone for home side as Ireland’s backrow overrun

Crowning Glory: Three pivotal Ireland games at Twickenham

Andy Farrell's Ireland travel to the lions’ den on Sunday with the Triple Crown up for grabs

Farrell aiming to build on achievements of previous incumbents

Last four national coaches have all left Irish rugby in a stronger place

Women, Irish and living composers are still being shut out by classical establishment

RTÉ NSO and National Concert Hall remain choked by the past in certain respects

This week’s best classical music gigs

National Concert Hall brings musicians from across the generations for a new year bash

The eyes have it: England vision coach Calder closing in on unique prize

South African-born doctor looking to be part of third triumph at a Rugby World Cup

Rugby World Cup TV View: Eir has the perfect soundtrack for midweek massacres

One-sided games can prove a challenge but not to Tommy Bowe and the team

Anxiety, depression, angst: Jonny Wilkinson opens up

The 2003 Rugby World Cup hero says that worry made him a ‘dim, weak, being’

Kicking king Alred keeping the pressure on Sexton to succeed

‘Let’s say I was working for Ireland now and they were playing England. I’d want Ireland to win for everyone in the group’

The Story of Rugby: How an elite took possession of the game and didn’t let go

Review: RTÉ’s history of the game pulls no punches, tackling colonialism, class war and sexism

England want Mark McCall - but does he want the England job?

Saracens boss is favoured successor to Eddie Jones but prizing him away could be tricky

Final countdown: Rokocoko leans Leinster’s way

Greening of Saracens part III, Morrow has Saracens in train, numbers game, team talk

Champions Cup head-to-head: James Ryan v Maro Itoje

Two young locks already achieving greatness and destined for stellar careers

Fired-up Saracens have the bit between their teeth once again

Key figures in the pack that bullied Ireland at the Aviva now have Munster in their sights

TV View: Wales ruin the Paddy’s weekend party

It all started badly and quickly got worse at the Principality Stadium on Saturday

The Offload: There is no place to hide for an out-of-form nine

Mutual respect is obvious as Martin Johnson and Paul O’Connell means good TV

Ireland dominate nominees for Rugby Union Writers’ Club award

Joe Schmidt, Johnny Sexton, Tadhg Furlong and Stuart Lancaster all nominated

Leo Cullen plotting a steady course through calmer waters

Leinster’s head coach overcame a turbulent start to prove his mettle in spectacular style

‘Rugby is too PC’ outburst shows battle at the heart of the game

Geordan Murphy’s remark on Leicester red card comes amid new focus on head injuries

Claude Debussy centenary: Irish composers salute the master

Ireland’s Tombeau to Debussy includes new pieces from seven Irish composers and a trio of NCH concerts

Great Music in Irish Houses: this week’s classical highlights

Also: Billionaire orchestra Würth Philharmoniker, and Pipeworks at Christ Church

No quarter given: Jamie Heaslip recalls Leinster's last-eight battles

Former number eight played in all of Leinster’s quarter-finals up until last year

Supporters jubilant after Slamming chariot off the rails

Thousands who travelled for Six Nations decider witness true ‘I was there’ occasion

Thousands flee California’s third-largest wildfire

Blaze which has been burning for two weeks has destroyed more than 1,000 structures

Twenty years a Tiger: Geordan Murphy ready for fresh challenge

Leicester’s assistant coach favourite to take top job at Cardiff Blues next season

Mental and physical strains force even the best to face the music

Members of the RTÉ National Symphony Orchestra talk about the ailments that beset classical musicians

Judith ring's music shimmers with light

And the Tallis Scholars delivered a masterful programme

What history teaches us when Lions tours go to a decider

Looking back at the 10 times when the series was still alive going into the final game

Rory Best among 11 Irish players named in Lions squad

Wales backrow Sam Warburton will captain the tourists for the series in New Zealand

Lions selections are almost as hard as the matches

Spare a thought for the backroom staff and coaches, whipping tired players into shape

‘Ireland deserve to be recognised as second best in the world’

New Zealand Herald and the English press react to Ireland’s record-crushing victory

Maro Itoje promises to be Ireland’s worst nightmare

England prodigy is captain-material and will seek to tick off Dublin on way to greatness

Ireland in habit of spoiling England Grand Slam parties in Dublin

England travel to Lansdowne Road for fourth time seeking Six Nation’s ultimate prize

Billy Vunipola: 'We know the Irish are going to come at us, know it for a fact'

Eddie Jones’s side look unstoppable with their potent mixture of power, pace and skill

Brian O’Driscoll reflects on life after being ‘Drico’

After the game is over... ‘with every year that goes, you become less relevant. That is life’

EU improved Anglo-Irish relations, ex-ambassador claimed

Ivor Roberts’s 2003 dispatch credited Brussels with bringing the two nations together

Jonny Gray backing up the hype

Scottish lock will look to hit the ground running against Ireland

Ross O’Carroll-Kelly: One last time into the Six Nations breach with the old man

I say it every year. I can’t go through another championship sitting next to the old focker

Time to call a halt to embarrassing ‘Ireland’s Call’

A sop to the Ulster players who won’t sing Amhrán na bhFiann, Ireland’s Call is wrong

YOU MAY ALSO LIKE...

Stardust

Inquests into the nightclub fire that led to the deaths of 48 people

Common Ground

How does a post-Brexit world shape the identity and relationship of these islands