1. #NATIONS CUP The inaugural Carling Nations Cup kicks off with Ireland versus Wales in the Aviva Stadium this evening.

Ciaran Clark and Seamus Coleman have both been handed their international debut by Giovanni Trapattoni, while Shay Given will captain the side in Robbie Keane’s absence. Yesterday, Michael Maher gave us the lowdown on how the Irish lads got on in the Premiership over the weekend.

We’ll be covering the game later on this evening.

2. #FORE The weather played havoc with the Waste Management Phoenix Open over the weekend, with the final day of play deferred until yesterday. Mark Wilson eventually ran out the winner, defeating Jason Dufner with a birdie on the second play-off hole.

Over in Doha, it was all about Thomas Bjorn who picked up the victory in the Qatar Masters.

Neil Cullen will be along presently with his weekly column, so we’ll say no more for the moment …

3. #SIX NATIONS Jamie Heaslip is expected to train with the Irish side this morning ahead of Sunday’s crucial Six Nations match against France. We’ll be keeping on close eye on proceedings to let you know how the big number eight is getting on.

4. #ON YER BIKE Details of this year’s An Post Rás were announced yesterday. Cillian Kelly has all the details for any of you who may have missed it.

5. #SIX NATIONS Tournament favourites England take on Italy on Saturday afternoon. James Simpson-Daniel and Alex Corbisiero were called up yesterday as cover, but who will make Martin Johnson’s starting 15?

6. #I DON’T LIKE CRICKET After losing out to Zimbabwe in their first World Cup warm-up on Sunday, the Irish cricket team are back in action this morning when they take on Kenya.

With the start of the World Cup less than two weeks away, we figured we might as well take the opportunity to wheel out this glorious highlight.