BY WILL KELLEHER AT THE PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: Wales will be ready for a rude awakening in Dublin on Saturday - aware that Ireland will not walk on to their punches as Italy did.

Wayne Pivac called for patience after he lost his first Wales match, saying it would not take major surgery to reinvigorate their Six Nations challenge.

WILL KELLEHER AT PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: And so the fortress has fallen. After 10 years of being out-gunned in Cardiff, the French revolution is well and truly alive.

WILL KELLEHER AT THE PRINCIPALITY STADIUM: Wayne Pivac was left livid with two decisions costing Wales a win over France as they lost at home in the Six Nations for the first time in three years.

Shaun Edwards stood in the bowels of the Principality Stadium wearing the quiet contented look of a man who had just transformed a team that for years had an attitude problem.

Wales' oracle has spoken and delivered doses of reality to his nation. Alun Wyn Jones does not talk much, but when he does it is worth listening to the totemic and decorated captain.

Wales will be hopeful Dan Biggar does not spark a backline injury crisis ahead of their Six Nations match against England after going off early for Northampton on Saturday against Saracens.

Alun Wyn Jones moved to ease fears that Dan Biggar is not fit for Wales' trip to Twickenham by saying he will play against England on Saturday despite suffering a knee injury for Northampton.

CHRIS FOY: Twickenham will be a sanitised zone but the health and safety initiatives will not extend to the field of play, as England seek to end Six Nations campaign with a vengeance.

WILL KELLEHER AT TWICKENHAM: Are Wales now dashing instead of dogged? Under Warren Gatland they were rarely, if ever, easily beaten in a game that mattered. Not in the Six Nations anyway.

MIKE BROWN: Players love seeing what grenades Eddie Jones throws during his press conferences. Sometimes they will be watching on social media to see what he comes out with.

WILL KELLEHER AT TWICKENHAM: Justrin Tipuric called for calm after Wales' third consecutive defeat - making this their worst Six Nations run since 2007.

Joe Marler's England future has been left in doubt as he awaits confirmation of a citing for manhandling Alun Wyn Jones's genitals, amid fresh Test retirement speculation.

NIK SIMON FOR THE DAILY MAIL: Danny Care issued a staunch defence of Harlequins team-mate Joe Marler ahead of today's disciplinary hearing in Dublin.

Wales are still livid at Joe Marler for his grabbing of Alun Wyn Jones' genitals with Wayne Pivac saying there is 'no place in the game' for the England prop's act.

With sport a long way from being permitted, rugby is bracing itself for catastrophic losses and Six Nations countries are desperate for the November Test matches to go ahead.

COMMENT: It is a sad fact that the main barrier to rugby's progress lies here; in the home nations and those other centres of the sport's narrow European landscape - France and Italy.

If you're ever going to slip into the red, it will usually be over Christmas. The average household is expected to blow around £500 at this time of year, according to the British Retail Consortium.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT OLD TRAFFORD: Steve Smith accused England of playing into his hands after he continued to punish their bowling with a magnificent 211 in Manchester.

MARTIN SAMUEL AT OLD TRAFFORD: Late in the day, England digging in, Australia bowling well but increasingly frustrated, Nathan Lyon decided he might mess with a few minds.

England have abandoned plans to rest senior players from the two-Test series in New Zealand that begins this winter as they start to again prioritise the ultimate format.

Australian cricketer David Warner has given a quick thinking response to a fan after being sledged in England during the Ashes test. 

Steve Smith was already the pantomime villain for England fans but he has riled them even more following Australia's celebrations after they retained the Ashes on Sunday.

Kevin Pietersen has branded England's Ashes cult hero Jack Leach a 'laughing stock' and claims the spinner could have done more to prevent Australia retaining the urn.

A spectator reportedly left the ground on the second day on Thursday after hearing a section of supporters sing a racist song about England's Barbados-born bowler Jofra Archer.

Members of the Australian cricket team were understood to be trying to contact Jack Leach on Tuesday night following suggestions that they mocked him during their Ashes celebrations.

Steve Smith's glorious Ashes has raised calls from some fans and pundits for his restoration to the Australia captaincy but incumbent Tim Paine has no plans to hand over the reins quietly.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: Buttler, whose previous eight innings in this series had produced a best of 41, deposited Josh Hazlewood for three sixes to reach stumps on 64 not out.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: In a summer where Test openers have generally enjoyed the lifespan of a mayfly, Rory Burns has come dangerously close to spreading his wings.

PAUL NEWMAN AT THE OVAL: For a short, sweet spell Jos Buttler produced a passable imitation of Kevin Pietersen's famous innings here at the Oval in the greatest of all Ashes series.

NASSER HUSSAIN AT THE OVAL: England fans may be entitled to ask where Sam Curran has been all this series after a very impressive effort with the ball.

LAWRENCE BOOTH AT THE OVAL: Joe Root hailed a 'phenomenal' summer of cricket after England squared the Ashes at 2-2 almost exactly two months after England's World Cup win.

IAN HERBERT AT THE OVAL: There was something telling about Tim Paine sitting down to say that his terrible record with the decision review system might require him to 'enrol in umpire school'.

Real estate agent Emma McCarthy, 27, shared a photo with the smiling spin bowler captioned: 'Keeping the urn, so proud of you.' Steve Smith was seen sharing a kiss with wife Dani Willis.

Both men have been staples of the cricketing world since their debuts in the 1970s, but were - in their own words - 'being retired' after the TV network did not renew their contracts.

Channel Nine is reportedly 'unsatisfied' with Sunrise host Edwina Bartholomew's apology after she 'defamed' journalist Seb Costello in a since-deleted Twitter post.

Donald Butler's daughter Nicolle, 27, had recently passed away, with family staying nearby in Tampa, Florida, for the funeral when his truck disappeared with his daughter's urn inside.

RICHARD GIBSON: As the ghost writer of a soon-to-be-published memoir of Ben Stokes' summer, I have been given the privilege of re-living these momentous events through his eyes.

A cricket supporter has been forced to get a very embarrassing tattoo after Australia failed to win the 2019 Ashes. 

Joe Root has declared his desire to continue as England Test captain despite a failure to win back the Ashes from Australia after a drawn series.

He had a disastrous time at the Ashes in England, scoring just a measly 95 runs. 

Cricketer Nathan Lyon, 31, and his girlfriend Emma McCarthy couldn't take their eyes off each other as they touched down in Australia on Wednesday evening. 

Archer was England's leading wicket-taker in their triumphant World Cup campaign and followed that up by making a huge impact during the Ashes, as he took 22 wickets at an average of 20.27.

Sunrise presenter Edwina Bartholomew resumed her broadcasting duties on Monday, after her 'errant tweet' about Seb Costello earlier this month caused a legal headache for Channel Seven executives

A man's body has been found in the ashes of a suburban Melbourne home which had been subject to a council clean-up order to clear towering piles of junk.

The Ashes star was seen with his hand in wife Clare Stokes' face at the Professional Cricketers' Association Awards Anniversary party in London last Wednesday.

The all-rounder, who took 5-46 in the first innings of the fifth Test against England, was dismissed in a Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania on Sunday and took his frustration out immediately.

EXCLUSIVE BY LAURA LAMBERT: Sky is being investigated by Ofcom for three separate incidents of the word 'f***' being audible during its cricket coverage this summer. Sky declined to comment.

It has been a long slog for David Beckham and the power brokers behind Inter Miami but next March, they will finally see their vision become a reality. 

An abandoned baby deer (left) has been miraculously pulled from the ashes of the devastating bushfires without injury.