1. Ireland are aiming to win their third successive Six Nations title. Who were the last team to win three outright titles in a row?

   1. Wales

   2. France

   3. England

   4. It has never happened before

2. If Ireland are to win the championship, they will have to do it without their head coach Andy Farrell. Why is he missing the Six Nations this year?

   1. He has taken a year off to live in New York and play chess with Garry Kasparov

   2. He is preparing to coach the Lions on tour in Australia later this year

   3. He has taken a short-term role with the Green Bay Packers

   4. He is taking charge of Ireland women’s team in their Six Nations tournament

3. The Six Nations celebrates its 25th birthday this year. Since Italy joined in 2000, which player has made the most appearances in the competition (69)?

   1. Sergio Parisse

   2. Alun Wyn Jones

   3. Rory Best

   4. Brian O’Driscoll

4. Jannik Sinner won another Australian Open title at the weekend. The Italian is not just a great tennis player. In which other sport did he become a national champion when he was a kid?

   1. Skiing

   2. Table tennis

   3. Padel

   4. Pole vault

5. Who are the only remaining unbeaten team in Europe’s top five leagues?

   1. Liverpool in the Premier League

   2. Atlético Madrid in La Liga

   3. Inter in Serie A

   4. PSG in Ligue 1

   5. Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga

6. What do Keira Knightley, Hugh Grant, Adrien Brody, Michael Fassbender, Kate Beckinsale, Andrew Garfield and Benedict Cumberbatch have in common?

   1. They are all starring in the forthcoming biopic about Jamie Vardy

   2. They are performing a short play during the Super Bowl half-time show

   3. They have all attended Como matches this season in Serie A

   4. They've all invested in Red Bull Hollywood, a new football team in LA

7. In which country did 71,500 fans attend a second-tier football match last weekend?

   1. England

   2. Germany

   3. Brazil

   4. Argentina

8. Steve Smith hit his 10,000th run in Test cricket this week. Who holds the all-time record, with 15,921 runs?

   1. Joe Root

   2. Ricky Ponting

   3. Alastair Cook

   4. Sachin Tendulkar

9. Denmark have won the last three men's World Cup finals and are favourites to make it four in a row this weekend. In which sport?

   1. Handball

   2. Field hockey

   3. Volleyball

   4. Water polo

10. Which club set a new world transfer record when they signed Naomi Girma for $1.1m?

    1. Barcelona

    2. Manchester City

    3. Chelsea

    4. LA Galaxy

11. Scottie Scheffler is back on the golf course after recovering from an injury he sustained over Christmas. What happened?

    1. He sliced his hand open while trying to roll and cut pasta with a wine glass

    2. He fell while trying to put decorations at the top of his Christmas tree

    3. He dressed up as Santa for his kids but had an allergic reaction to his costume

    4. He pulled his groin while dancing at his wedding party

12. Teams from which two US states will contest the Super Bowl next month?

    1. Kansas and California

    2. Missouri and Pennsylvania

    3. Massachusetts and Texas

    4. New York and Maryland

13. Abdukodir Khusanov has become the first Uzbekistani to play in the Premier League. Players from 126 countries have appeared in the league. What is the biggest country (by population) never to have provided a Premier League player?

    1. Thailand

    2. Ethiopia

    3. India

    4. China

14. Neymar has left Al-Hilal after 17 months at the club. How many goals did he score for them?

    1. One

    2. Five

    3. 20

    4. 50

15. Which of these football teams has kept clean sheets in their last seven league matches?

    1. Barcelona

    2. Borussia Dortmund

    3. Bayern Munich

    4. Burnley

16. The Watford player Annie Rossiter was sent off this week after she had an argument with the referee about …

    1. … whether she had to take off her wedding ring

    2. … the length of her studs

    3. … whether she could remove a corner flag from the pitch

    4. … the size of her shin pads

17. Which footballer has earned their place in this list: Mike Newell, Andy Cole, Michael Owen, Alan Shearer, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck, Harry Kane, Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford?

    1. … Keira Walsh

    2. … Morgan Rogers

    3. … Angel Gomes

    4. … Ollie Watkins

Solutions

1:D - Ireland have won the last two championships but France are the favourites this year. , 2:B - Simon Easterby, who has been part of the Ireland coaching staff for the last decade, is stepping up while Farrell is away., 3:A - Cian Healy will match Parisse’s record if he plays in all five of Ireland’s fixtures this year., 4:A - Sinner’s parents worked in a ski lodge, so he had plenty of practice. He became a national giant slalom champion when he was eight years old., 5:D - PSG have been imperious in Ligue 1 this season, winning 14 and drawing five of their 19 games so far. They've warmed up in the Champions League too., 6:C - The Stadio Giuseppe Sinigaglia has become something of a destination for famous faces this season., 7:B - The second division in Germany is thriving this season. Last weekend there were 71,500 fans at the Hertha Berlin v Hamburg match, 62,278 at Schalke v Nuremberg and 49,800 at Cologne v Elversberg., 8:D - Smith is the 15th batter in history to reach 10,000 Test runs, and the fourth Australian after Allan Border, Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting., 9:A - If Denmark beat Portugal in the semi-finals they will face either France or Croatia in the final on Sunday. , 10:C - Girma is the first million-dollar footballer in the women's game. , 11:A - Scheffler, who won the Masters and Olympics last year, required surgery on his hand. “It did hurt pretty badly,” he said. “I was mad at myself because I was like ‘gosh, that’s so stupid’, but you just don’t think about it when you’re in the moment.”, 12:B - The Kansas City Chiefs from Missouri and the Philadelphia Eagles from Pennsylvania. , 13:C - The most populous country on the planet is yet to be represented in the league., 14:A - He made seven appearances, scored once and set up two assists. Not a great return for his £86m transfer fee and huge wages., 15:D - Burnley have only conceded nine goals in 29 league games this season. Despite having the best defensive record in England, they are only third in their league., 16:C - There was a puddle in the corner of the pitch, so Rossiter removed the flag to get to the ball. The referee objected to her moving the flag – and her attitude – so sent her off. “The game was probably spoiled by some officiating decisions,” said Watford manager Renée Hector., 17:B - These are the English footballers who have scored a hat-trick in the Champions League.

Scores

1. 1 and above.

   Ah well, better luck next week

2. 2 and above.

   Ah well, better luck next week

3. 3 and above.

   Ah well, better luck next week

4. 4 and above.

   Ah well, better luck next week

5. 5 and above.

   Ah well, better luck next week

6. 6 and above.

   Nice work. Have a great weekend

7. 7 and above.

   Nice work. Have a great weekend

8. 8 and above.

   A great score. Well played. Have a good weekend

9. 9 and above.

   A great score. Well played. Have a good weekend

10. 10 and above.

    A great score. Well played. Have a good weekend

11. 11 and above.

    A great score. Well played. Have a good weekend

12. 12 and above.

    A great score. Well played. Have a good weekend

13. 13 and above.

    An incredible score. Well played. Have a great weekend

14. 14 and above.

    An incredible score. Well played. Have a great weekend

15. 15 and above.

    An incredible score. Well played. Have a great weekend

16. 16 and above.

    An incredible score. Well played. Have a great weekend

17. 0 and above.

    Ah well, better luck next week

18. 17 and above.

    An incredible score. Well played. Have a great weekend