Premier playmaker Johnny Sexton is expected to be fit shortly, but Ireland can ill afford to lose either of their main backline pivots. They open their World Cup by taking on Scotland on September 22.

Johnny Sexton has missed out on Ireland's World Cup warm-up clash with England at Twickenham on Saturday. The fly-half sat out of training at the start of the week in Portugal.

Ireland and Wales will smash into each other in the final World Cup warm-up of the summer, despite the lingering risk of cruel last-minute injuries. Both sides are almost at full strength for Dublin Test.

Warren Gatland insisted that Rhys Patchell would travel to the World Cup on Wednesday despite suffering a worrying concussion in Wales' defeat to Ireland.

Fly-half Rhys Patchell will be assessed ahead of Wales' World Cup departure on Wednesday after he was concussed during their final warm-up game.

Get your Rugby World Cup 2019 sweepstake kit here. Simply print out the sheet, then cut the names into individual pieces of paper, fold them and put them into a hat ahead of the tournament on 20 Sept.

SCRUM'S THE WORD WORLD CUP DIARY: Rhys Carre, Wales fiery-haired loose-head prop, has one extra item in his bag - the 'Love Spoon'.

Over a long and distinguished career, Brian O'Driscoll became adept at dealing with everything and anything thrown his way.

Scotland's World Cup hopes have suffered a third major blow in as many days after scrum-half Ali Price was ruled out for the remainder of the tournament.

RORY KEANE IN SHIZUOKA: Johnny Sexton has challenged Ireland to channel the hurt of the loss to Japan into their final pool games with Russia and Samoa. 

With prop Demba Bamba out with a thigh problem, France announced on social media that Uini Atonio (below) would replace him. But they deleted the tweet after discovering he was injured.

RORY KEANE IN FUKUOKA: Fourteen-man Ireland sealed their place in the World Cup quarter finals with a seven-try victory over Samoa here in Fukuoka, but Bundee Aki's red card will be a worry.

Tadhg Furlong has warned that to switch off even for a second against New Zealand will cost Ireland the chance of a maiden World Cup semi-final.

Johnny Sexton has questioned the 'strange' negativity around Ireland's World Cup campaign, insisting Joe Schmidt's men are ready to peak for the All Blacks.

All Blacks boss Steve Hansen lit the fuse on a potentially explosive week on Monday by vowing to lay false traps for Ireland's master tactician and head coach Joe Schmidt.

'Sean aggravated a pre-existing neck muscle complaint and has been ruled out of the remainder of RWC19,' read an Irish Rugby Football Union statement.

NIK SIMON IN TOKYO: Hansen owns a share of Nature Strip, who will run in the $14million sprint race in Sydney. Coach is focused on the All Blacks' quest for a third straight World Cup title.

The Rugby World Cup kicked off four weeks ago today and now, via 50 pool stage matches, we are down to eight teams. Sportsmail tells you all need to know about the quarter-finals.

Johnny Sexton has predicted that New Zealand will be cleaner in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Ireland following a bruising encounter in Dublin three years ago.

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 IN TOKYO: Ireland have a shot at history here on Saturday, with the All Blacks standing in the way of a place in the World Cup semi-finals.

All Blacks take on Ireland in their Rugby World Cup quarter-final clash in Japan as they look to progress to the semi-final to take on either England or Australia. Follow LIVE ACTION RIGHT HERE.

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.

Sportsmail provide you with everything you need to know for Rugby World Cup 2019 including knockout stage fixtures, channel and results in Japan.

Conor Murray admits the father-son dynamic between the Farrells will be strange when Ireland face England on Sunday, but hopes his coach can provide crucial insights into his son's game.

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.

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

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.

The deadly epidemic has swept through northern parts of Italy and there have been calls to prevent the disease reaching the shores of Ireland with the game set to take place on March 7.

EXCLUSIVE BY OLIVER HOLT: There is a picture on the walls of the Lord Bagenal Inn that shows a group of men and women standing proudly in the main street beside a horse called Different Pace. 

HUGH MacDONALD: It is a testament to the power of sport in Ed Chamberlin's life that it both consoled and excited him as he laboured under the shadow of death.

More than two dozen people, including the trainer of champion Maximum Security, have been charged in a widespread international scheme to drug horses to make them race faster.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW BY MIKE DICKSON: The BBC's voice of racing is in the final furlong of his career with the corporation, and admits it will hurt when he crosses the finish line.

EXCLUSIVE BY MATT HUGHES: The 77-year-old is very well-connected in racing circles and has good relationships with key figures at ITV, where he was first employed as a pundit in 1971.

Sire Du Berlais led home a Gordon Elliott one-two as he recorded back-to-back victories in the Pertemps Network Final Handicap Hurdle at Cheltenham.

Chosen Mate was victorious in the sixth of Friday's races at Cheltenham after seeing off Us and Them and Maracuja in a packed field to take home the Grand Annual Handicap Chase.

Some of Britain's biggest Flat meetings, headed by the June jewels of Royal Ascot and the Epsom Derby, are shrouded in uncertainty after racing was shut down until the end of April.

Racing leaders said on Wednesday that they are putting together a financial submission for Government aid to try to avert a desperate financial crisis.

Writing on the GoFundMe page, Dettori said: 'Being here in the UK, it's difficult not to feel helpless as I see the impact the pandemic is having on the people of Italy.'

Considering Hong Kong borders mainland China, from where Covid-19 emanated, it might sound surprising that jockey Neil Callan feels he is currently 'in the safest place in the world'. 

Horse racing will be ready to resume in five weeks just in time for the first two Classics of the flat season, according to top trainer Ralph Beckett. Beckett believes acing can resume behind on May 1.

The beneficiary is SASH, charity for East Surrey Hospital and all the services provided by Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, local to Lingfield racecourse.

Last year Newmarket-based trainer Haggas hatched a plan to target the Group One Queen Elizabeth Stakes with Addeybb and the Group One Schweppes Sydney Cup with Young Rascal.

The son of Giant's Causeway was yesterday sadly euthanised at Kildangan Stud as a result of health issues, and brought an illustrious career at stud to an end.

Leading rider Jamie Spencer is facing sometime out of the saddle following an accident on the Newmarket gallops on Friday. The 39-year-old Irishman was returning to the David Simcock stable.

The four-day Festival was staged as planned in front of 250,000 people, with additional hygiene measures in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, and concluded on March 13. 

A series of explosive emails from trainers calling for Nick Rust's resignation over the handling of the sport's response to the COVID-19 outbreak were published in a Sunday newspaper.

SAM TURNER (Robin Goodfellow) spoke to some successful horse racing professionals and sports bettors about their views and methods they endeavour to employ on a daily basis.

The tight guidelines of the strictest scenario for a possible return to racing have been underlined with the selected racecourses operating as almost sealed sites.