It's almost got lost in the flood, but there's actually a game of rugby to be played on Saturday.
The Owen Farrell disciplinary saga has dominated the rugby discourse of the last week, pushing this weekend's World Cup warm-up game between Ireland and England aside.
It's a second warm-up game for Ireland and a third for England; Andy Farrell's side were comfortable winners against Italy at the Aviva Stadium a fortnight ago, while England have shared a win and a defeat in a series of games with Wales, neither of which will go down as classics.
Kick-off at the Aviva Stadium is a 5.30pm.
TV
Ireland v England is live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Coverage begins at 4.45pm.
RADIO
Listen to live commentary on RTÉ Radio 1
ONLINE
Follow a live blog on RTE.ie/sport and the RTÉ News App followed by report and reaction from the Aviva Stadium.
WEATHER
A showery Saturday morning in Dublin is expected to clear up by early afternoon, with dry conditions expected for the 5.30pm kick-off. It's likely to be warm, with temperatures around 20C, with winds of around 25km/hr.
The mood around the teams could hardly be more different coming into the World Cup.
Ireland are on an 11-game winning run dating back to July 2022, having won a Test series in New Zealand, a Six Nations Grand Slam, and had victories against Australia and South Africa along the way.
England, meanwhile, are in desperate need of a performance. After replacing head coach Eddie Jones with Steve Borthwick in December they struggled in the Six Nations, winning just two of their five games, before losing again to Wales in the first of their warm-up games.
They rallied against the Welsh at Twickenham a week ago, coming from 17-9 down to pick up a badly-needed win, and while their attitude to come from behind - at one stage with 12 men - was admirable, they still look to be struggling for cohesion in attack.
With their two toughest pool games first up against Argentina and Japan, finding a performance is arguably more important than the result this week.
As such, it's no surprise to see Borthwick selecting a strong squad for this weekend's game in Dublin, making six changes from last week's win, as Anthony Watson and Manu Tuilagi come in for their first appearances of the summer.
Watson replaces Henry Arundell on the right wing, while Tuilagi's place in the centre is at the expense of Ollie Lawrence who drops to the bench.
Borthwick has left Farrell out of his team after the distraction of this week's disciplinary hearing, with George Ford coming in at out-half, and Courtney Lawes captaining the side.
Ben Youngs starts at scrum-half replacing Jack van Poortvliet whose tournament hopes have been ended by injury.
In the pack, Ellis Genge and Dave Ribbans start at loosehead and second row respectively.
Ireland are also close to full-strength, with a fully-changed starting XV from their win against Italy. It shows just four changes from the side that took to the field against England back in March in the Six Nations though with Garry Ringrose, Ross Byrne, Tadhg Beirne and Cian Prendergast the four to come in.
Prendergast's inclusion is notable, with the versatile Connacht back row making his first Test start, earning his third cap. He comes in at number 8, a position he occasionally played for his province last season. A good performance from the 23-year-old may just be enough to secure his place in the final World Cup squad, which will be announced on Monday 28 August.
Tadhg Beirne and Tadhg Furlong start, having come off the bench against Italy, while the remaining 12 players in the starting side will be making their first appearances of the summer series.
Among the replacements is Keith Earls (below), with the Munster man set to earn his 100th cap off the bench.
Ireland: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Garry Ringrose, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Ross Byrne, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan (capt); Peter O'Mahony, Josh van der Flier, Cian Prendergast.
Replacements: Rob Herring, Jeremy Loughman, Finlay Bealham, Joe McCarthy, Caelan Doris, Conor Murray, Jack Crowley, Keith Earls.
England: Freddie Steward; Anthony Watson, Joe Marchant, Manu Tuilagi, Elliot Daly; George Ford, Ben Youngs; Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart; Maro Itoje, David Ribbans; Courtney Lawes (capt), Ben Earl, Billy Vunipola.
Replacements: Theo Dan, Joe Marler, Kyle Sinckler, Ollie Chessum, Jack Willis, Danny Care, Marcus Smith, Ollie Lawrence.
Referee: Paul Williams (NZR).
Andy Farrell [Ireland head coach]: "There are lessons learned from every game and one of the lessons from the Italy game was that we did pretty well as far as territory and possession and creating opportunities, but how clinical we was on the back of that is something that you need to be good at at the World Cup. Points matter, bonus points matter etc, so tidying that up is something that we are aware of."
Steve Borthwick [England head coach]: "It is a great challenge against the number one ranked team in the world and we are all excited for this fixture. The game will be excellent preparation for us ahead of the Rugby World Cup."
LAST FIVE MEETINGS
Ireland 26-19 England (Aviva Stadium) 18 March 2023 - Six Nations
England 15-32 Ireland (Twickenham) 12 March 2022 - Six Nations
Ireland 32-18 England (Aviva Stadium) 20 March 2021 - Six Nations
England 18-7 Ireland (Twickenham) 21 November 2020 - Autumn Nations Cup
England 24-12 Ireland (Twickenham) 23 February 2020 - Six Nations
Ireland's meeting with England tomorrow is one of five World Cup warm-up games taking place throughout the day.
Ireland's Pool B opponents South Africa are also in action, taking on Wales in Cardiff at 3.15pm.
At 5.30pm another of Ireland's opponents continue their World Cup preparation, with Romania away to Italy
Georgia host USA at 4pm, while the final game of the day sees France entertain Fiji in Nantes at 8.05pm Irish time.
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