Johnny Sexton practices his kicks during Ireland's Captain's Run at Twickenham earlier today. Dan Sheridan / INPHO Dan Sheridan / INPHO / INPHO

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• ‘I’d be sued for slander’, says Johnny Sexton as he responds to the media casting a relentless spotlight on his succession of head injuries.
• Ireland coach Joe Schmidt is paying little attention to Eddie Jones‘ mind games ahead of tomorrow’s showdown at Twickenham.
• 38-year-old Peter Stringer has extended his stay with Sale Sharks by signing a one-year contract with the Aviva Premiership side.

• Gary Ringrose and Ben Te’o will again partner each other in midfield for Leinster’s game with Zebre this weekend.
• Anthony Foley has rung the changes for Munster as they prepare to take on Treviso in Italy.
• Paddy Jackson will captain Ulster in their Pro12 clash with Cardiff on Sunday.
• In the Fitzgibbon Cup semi-finals, Limerick inter-county star Declan Hannon was the stand-out performer as Mary Immaculate got the better of Davy Fitzgerald‘s Limerick IT.
• Mary I will now face the University of Limerick in this year’s decider after Tipperary senior John McGrath scored two goals on their way to a win over UCD.

Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO Lorraine O'Sullivan / INPHO / INPHO

• UCD are the 2016 Collingwood Cup champions as Mark Boland‘s late winner sees off the University of Limerick at the Mardyke in Cork.
• Rory McIlroy looks set to miss the cut at the Honda Classic in Florida after a second successive 72 leaves him on 4-over for the tournament.

Away

• In what promises to be a mouth-watering tie, Liverpool and Manchester United have been drawn to face each other in the last-16 of this season’s Europa League.

Michael Probst / AP/Press Association Images Michael Probst / AP/Press Association Images / AP/Press Association Images

• Meanwhile, in what was a relative surprise, Gianni Infantino is the new president of Fifa after today’s election in Zurich.
• Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry continues his incredible NBA season and edges ever closer to a league record.

The Best Thing We Shared

Remember the little boy who wore a plastic bag with ‘Messi 10′ written in pen on the back of it? Well, he’s just received a pretty special gift from his idol.

On The Record

Who knows? It could be six months or six years. I’ll just have to go and see how I enjoy it and take it from there. I’m not going to put an end-date on it when I don’t know what it’s going to be like.”Rory O’Carroll has been talking to Ryan Bailey about walking away from the Dublin football camp and heading for New Zealand. 

Where We Were Today

Murray Kinsella was at Twickenham to watch the Irish Captain’s Run.

PA WIRE PA WIRE

The Fixture List

A massive weekend ahead.

• The focus is on the RBS 6 Nations and Ireland’s crucial visit to Twickenham on Saturday. Kick-off there is at 4.50.

It’s preceded by Scotland’s trip to Rome’s Stadio Olimpico – that gets underway at 2.25.

The Irish Women are also in action against England, immediately after their male counterparts. Kick-off at Twickenham is 7.15pm and the game is being streamed online via RTE.ie and the RFU YouTube site.

• In GAA, the National Football League returns for Round 3 and Dublin host Monaghan at Croke Park on Saturday evening at 7pm.

The final of the Fitzgibbon Cup takes place on Saturday as Mary Immaculate clash with the University of Limerick and that has a 3pm throw-in.

• In football, Liverpool and Manchester City battle it out for the Capital One Cup on Sunday afternoon with a 4.30 kick-off at Wembley.

Before that, there’s an exciting Premier League showdown between Manchester United and Arsenal at Old Trafford from 2.05.

Showbiz, Baby!

An ex-English cricketer turning out as a hurler for Tipperary club Borris-Ileigh? A brave man is Steve Harmison.

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