Irish coach Marco Tardelli has warned his World Cup hopefuls that they will need to be on full alert for the two legs of their playoff against France.

Think you know everything about the Emerald Isle? Think again! Here are 10 facts that just might throw you for a loop.

Story / Ireland draws France in World Cup playoff / Click here Giovanni Trapattoni has pointed to his team's resilience against Italy as a benchmark of their strength and determination as they now face

Muhammad Ali is in Ireland and getting ready for his fundraiser dinner in Dublin Monday night. The sporting icon landed in Dublin Monday morning local time and said he was excited about being in the Emerald Isle.

Argentina will be the first team to take on the Republic of Ireland at the new Aviva Stadium, the FAI have announced.

The Economist magazine has pronounced Ireland dead. The official diagnosis cites injuries sustained as the result of a collision with a runaway construction boom. But the results are still the same; the magazine reckons the country is dead.

10 surprising facts about Ireland - guarantee you've never heard 'em before!

New England boss Martin Johnson believes Declan Kidney can lead Ireland to a first Six Nations championship this season - but he still wants to spoil the party in Dublin this Saturday. Six years after he insulted President Mary McAleese and the nation at Lansdowne Road, Johnson will be back in town again with an English rugby team. Captain in 2003 when he refused to move the England team down the red carpet and stood his ground in Dublin 4, Johnson will doubtless come in for stick from the home crowd this weekend.

Ireland 30 France 21 Declan Kidney's Ireland are up and running as one of the favorites for the elusive RBS Six Nations title and even the Grand Slam itself after a thrilling 30-21 win Croke Park win over France on Saturday. Man of the match Jamie Heaslip, captain Brian O'Driscoll and comeback hero Gordon D'Arcy scored the tries that mattered as the home team finally beat the French for the first time in eight games. Not since the 2003 Six Nations game at Lansdowne Road had an Ireland side tasted such a win in the five championship fixtures and two World Cup games that have followed.

The young daughter of a very good friend - his name is John Kelly and her name is Lucy - has an infatuation with the R word that is on the top of every lip this side of the Big Apple, but it's not the R word as the rest of us know it. While the rest of us are weighed down with the recession, Lucy prefers to call it the reception which, if you think about it, isn't such a bad alternative. In Lucy's world, at least, the recession doesn't exist, which is more than can be said for an institution as sacred as Irish sport.

A GREAT football man left the field of life this week with the passing of coaching legend Noel O'Reilly in Dublin's Mater Hospital on Friday evening.

A truly remarkable character, Noel was involved in some of the greatest days in Irish football as right hand man to underage supremo Brian Kerr.

A balding eagle if ever there was one, O'Reilly was one of those jovial characters who lived for the game and only for the game.

OKAY, so I am angry and I am going to let that anger drift into this column, a column normally devoted to the world of Irish sport.

We'll get to the sport presently. I'll even share my views on Ireland's latest World Cup adventure against Cyprus last week and our chances of getting to South Africa.

SOMEONE in the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) is doing a seriously good job on Declan Kidney's public image and his relationship with the media.

A private man, Kidney has never been comfortable in front of the cameras or the massed ranks of an industry now covering rugby in its droves.

Like all Irish sports, the oval balled game has witnessed a dramatic increase in the coverage of its activities over the last 20 years.

THE quote was designed to sum up life as an All-Black from one of world rugby's legends, but it could just as easily have come from the mouth of Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni or Kerry footballer Aidan O'Mahony.

Jonah Lomu was in Dublin for the past week, ostensibly in his new role as an ambassador for the sportswear firm Adidas but just as much to enjoy his new life as a New Zealand rugby fan.

The giant of a man, once described as a freak of nature by an English commentator, made for great company as we sat for almost an hour over coffee in the Fitzwilliam Hotel that graces one side of St.