WORLD CUP DIARY BY WILL KELLEHER: England v Wales is not quite the intense rivalry of old off the field any more. Some club-mates have been meeting up for coffees.

RORY KEANE AT TOKYO STADIUM: Dear, oh dear. Ireland's abysmal record in World Cup quarter finals continued in Tokyo as a rampant All Blacks outfit romped to a seven-try victory.

WILL KELLEHER AT THE AVIVA STADIUM: Johnny Sexton cannot wait to exact revenge on England after two recent thrashings when unbeaten Ireland travel to Twickenham next.

SIR CLIVE WOODWARD: All eyes on England's next game against Ireland, and what a prospect that is. But I suspect history will show victory over the Scots to ultimately be more important.

England will bottle the feeling of seeing Ireland win the Six Nations Grand Slam at Twickenham two years ago and use it this week, according to George Ford.

Brian O'Driscoll has accused Eddie Jones of 'scaremongering' and admitted he relished the sight of the England head coach's comments backfiring so spectacularly against France.

The Irish travel to Twickenham seeking to clinch a second Triple Crown in three years after beginning this year's tournament with successive home wins over Scotland and Wales.

WILL KELLEHER IN DUBLIN: The 59-year-old Bono dropped into the Irish camp to give a rallying speech to Andy Farrell's team ahead of their Six Nations clash with England.

During the Joe Schmidt era, Ireland were renowned for peppering the backfield with high balls from Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray but Eddie Jones insists that England can cope with it.

NIK SIMON'S FORM GUIDE: England have had an up and down Six Nations campaign so far, with one win and one loss, while Ireland are still undefeated at this stage.

MIKE BROWN: You always know when it's an Ireland Test week because the coaches put a life-sized cardboard cut-out of Johnny Sexton in the team dining room.

England earned a crucial Six Nations victory over a disappointing Ireland at Twickenham on Sunday.   

CHRIS FOY AT TWICKENHAM: Eddie Jones had all his selection decisions vindicated at Twickenham as England delivered another statement victory over Ireland.

Sportsmail runs the rule over every player from the two sides after a brutal Six Nations encounter at Twickenham that gives England a chance of glory thanks to their 24-12 victory.

England dominated from start to finish as they took a 24-12 victory over Ireland. Influential fly-half Johnny Sexton struggled to get into the game as England's defence barely gave him room to breathe.

England wore down Ireland with their physical approach on Sunday but it wasn't just the visitors who left Twickenham with some bruises to show for it.

Italy are meant to have lucrative a trip to Qatar in March that will include two friendly games as part of their preparations for the upcoming Euro 2020. But Roberto Mancini does not see this as tough enough.

Italy is the worst affected country outside of China and the decision was made earlier in the week to suspend all sporting activity across the country until April 3.

The Serie A club confirmed their centre back Rugani has been infected by Covid-19 on Wednesday night and will undergo a period of isolation.

The contrast in difficulty is summed up by the fact that the bottom half has nations with a total of 20 major titles (11 World Cups and nine Euros), while there is a total of none in the top half.

One of Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Wales are guaranteed a place in the final - none of whom have a major international honour to their name.

England booked their place in the semi-finals of the Under 21 European Championship by beating Poland in their last Group A game. Relive the action as it happened here with Tom Farmery.

Goals from Eric Dier and Marcus Rashford saw England come from behind to defeat Slovakia 2-1 to take a giant step towards qualifying for the World Cup next summer.

After the incredible drama of Wednesday's World Cup matches, Groups G and H could well provide a similar level of excitement. Here, Sportsmail runs through all the permutations...

Gareth Southgate's men are among the top seeds and will be in a five-team group while Wales and Scotland will join Germany in pot two and Northern Ireland and the Republic in pot three.

Chelsea's Callum Hudson-Odoi has been handed his first England Under-21 call-up as he continues his rise. The forward has been included for the friendlies against Poland and Germany.

Aidy Boothroyd's side are in preparation mode for the European Championship finals as they trained at St George's Park on Wednesday ahead of friendlies with Poland and Germany.

DOMINIC KING AT ASHTON GATE: The result was not what Aidy Boothroyd wanted; there were elements of the performance, meanwhile, that will have left him shaking his head.

All-rounder Ben Stokes kissed his partner Clare on the hallowed turf of the 'Home of Cricket' after he helped England win the trophy - less than a year after he was on trial over a late-night brawl.

WARNING GRAPHIC CONTENT: Sam Ward is now facing a battle to continue playing after being struck in the face with a hockey ball during an Olympic Games qualifier this month.

Hassan Akkad, who fled to the UK after he was imprisoned and tortured in Syria, is working at St Bartholomew's Hospital in London after deciding he had to do something to help.

The talented Ireland Under 21 international has decided that education must come first before embarking on his career as a full-time professional footballer.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice has now played three times for the Three Lions and has again been called up for the upcoming Euro 2020 qualifiers against Bulgaria and Kosovo.

The West Ham United midfielder chose to represent England in February, having made three friendly appearances for the Republic of Ireland beforehand.

Danny Murphy has come out in defence of Declan Rice, after the West Ham and England midfielder was slaughtered for his apparent lacklustre performance during Sunday's win over Kosovo.

England and Ireland are set to stage a joint bid in hope of securing the hosting of the 2030 football World Cup, and are reported to be confident of pulling it off.

Anna Burns, 33, can only enter the Tesco Metro in Swindon town centre. She appeared in court yesterday where she was set to be sentenced for thefts from stores including Mothercare and Boots.

Anna Burns appeared at Swindon Crown Court, in Wiltshire, for another offence, and when she was bailed she walked 750 yards to a Boots shop and stole £60 of make up.

The UK retail giant's chief executive, Dave Lewis, said panic-buyers tended to be more affluent customers from London and that 10 per cent of shoppers were behind a third of Tesco sales.

The bells of Westminster Abbey rang out on Tuesday in solidarity with France after the devastating fire that gutted Notre Dame Cathedral, Theresa May said.

NICK HARRIS: The Scots think of Irn-Bru as their national soft drink and for a long time it has been marketed under the slogan: ‘Made in Scotland from girders.’ Well, England’s Laura Trott was made in Essex from tungsten.

Data found on a laptop used by Paris attacker Salah Abdeslam shows ISIS wants to use suicide bombs, assault rifles and even drones carrying chemical weapons to carry out the attacks.

Rather than focusing on Gareth Southgate's tactical changes, a cameraman seemed more interested in the presenter sat behind the bench during the England v Costa Rica match.

The midfielder was in the tunnel at the Leeds ground at Elland Road with his team-mates as they prepared to face Costa Rica when the youngster started performing the latest dance craze.

The video filmed after the injury time winner shows one fan in Plymouth, Devon, cling onto the bonnet as the car speeds up and brakes suddenly, sending him flying through the air.

The Chelsea legend will join other stars including former team-mates Didier Drogba, Joe Cole and Michael Essien as well as Sir Mo Farah at the charity football match on Sunday June 16.

EXCLUSIVE REPORT BY ROB DRAPER: A former elite athlete believes her thyroid medication was mishandled by Rob Chakraverty, leading to issues which ended her career at the top level.

In 2017, Ed Warner noted Dr Rob Chakraverty's sloppy documentation of an injection to Sir Mo Farah had been logged in his annual appraisal. It looks now to be a matter for his permanent record.

England doctor Rob Chakraverty has left his role with the Football Association with immediate effect after revelations about his involvement with Mo Farah.

The partnership will see the BT logo appear on the training kits worn by the men's, women's, youth and disability teams of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland from November.