Ireland
Five wins, each by a margin of 10 points or more, demonstrate just how dominant Andy Farrell's side have been. Immediately after victory against England cemented their fourth grand slam - and first to be won in Dublin - they were looking towards the World Cup with confidence, embracing the expectation that has traditionally laid heavily. This is not a criticism but there is something brutally mechanical about Ireland. A system working with maximum efficiency. There is strength in depth, too burnished on the five-game tour of New Zealand last summer - and, though their route is daunting, they have every right to head to the World Cup as favourites. But, while it is a truism, they will need a slice of luck with Johnny Sexton's fitness if they are to become only the second side from the northern hemisphere to be crowned world champions.
France
この記事は The Guardian の March 20, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です ? サインイン
この記事は The Guardian の March 20, 2023 版に掲載されています。
7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、8,500 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。
すでに購読者です? サインイン
London calling for Lopetegui West Ham confirm Moyes will leave and close in on Spaniard
West Ham are closing in on the appointment of Julen Lopetegui after confirming that David Moyes will leave his post as manager when his contract expires at the end of season.
Olise works his magic to deepen Ten Hag's misery
If Erik ten Hag's future at Manchester United remained up for debate then surely this removed any lingering doubts for Sir Jim Ratcliffe. Even amid a season in which his team have lurched from one disaster to another, a scintillating performance from a Crystal Palace side inspired by the magical feet of Michael Olise delivered one of the most embarrassing evenings of the Dutchman's tenure.
'A lot of Dutch coaches didn't succeed in England...this man can'
With a dream tenure at Feyenoord drawing to a close, Arne Slot can savour a job well done - and a new role at Liverpool which will require the same Midas touch
Wilson holds off Jones's late charge to claim world title for the first time
Snooker has a new grandmaster of the baize: but unlike so many of his predecessors, the story of Kyren Wilson has been far from a straightforward one.
The parent trap Men in football get full rein to pursue their dreams while women compromise
Famously, when Emma Hayes was agonising last autumn over whether to leave Chelsea and take the US national team job, she sought the advice of her son, Harry, at bedtime.
Universal Music Group investors urged to vote down €139m CEO pay
Universal Music Group could become the latest firm to face an embarrassing shareholder revolt this AGM season, after an influential advisory firm urged investors to reject an \"excessive\" €139m (£119m) payout for the chief executive, Sir Lucian Grainge.
Liquid gold: low harvests send olive oil prices sky-high
Olive oil prices are set to climb further this year, heading to more than £16 a litre for a bottle of extra virgin, amid a drop in global production to the lowest level in more than a decade.
'A racket': anger in Paris over Olympic price rises on Métro
Paris's public transport authority has been accused of initiating \"a bit of a racket❞ after raising the price of Métro tickets by 85% and doubling the cost of bus tickets during the Olympic and Paralympic Games this summer.
Prado to show lost work by Caravaggio that almost got auctioned for 1,500
A lost Caravaggio painting of the scourged and thorn-crowned Christ that was misattributed and almost sold for just €1,500 (£1,290) is to go on show at the Prado Museum in Madrid three years after its discovery shocked the art world and made headlines across the globe.
Defamation suits in Italy 'being used to silence intellectuals'
The government of Giorgia Meloni is making strategic use of defamation suits to silence public intellectuals, a philosopher who is being sued by the Italian prime minister's brotherin-law has claimed.
