The Stagcom 27th March Round Up

The clocks went forward at the weekend and we lost an hour of our precious weekend! Fortunately, to soften the blow, the sun was shining as we said goodbye to the long and cold wintery nights.

There was also plenty of sport to catch over the weekend, with the return of Formula 1 to our screens and a whole host of international football to watch. Here, we give you the lowdown on everything that happened.

International Weekend

Over the course of the weekend, all the home internationals were involved in 2018 World Cup Qualifiers.

Friday night saw Republic of Ireland host Wales at the Aviva Stadium, but the game failed to live up to the hype and was overshadowed by a horror tackle from Neil Taylor on Irish skipper, Seamus Coleman.

It was a game of few chances, with both teams looking more afraid of losing than wanting to win. Gareth Bale was fortunate to stay on the pitch after a late tackle on John O'Shea; but the forward did receive a yellow card and will now miss Wales' next qualifier. Shortly after, Taylor was shown his marching orders for an unsavoury tackle on Coleman, which left the Everton defender with a double leg-break. The goalless draw puts Ireland in second spot, four points ahead of Wales.

The other home nations were in action on Sunday and England recorded a routine 2-0 win over Lithuania at Wembley. Jermain Defoe and Jamie Vardy grabbed the goals either side of half-time to cement England's lead at the top of Group F.

Also in Group F, Chris Martin scored a last gasp winner for Scotland as they beat Slovenia at Hampden Park. It was thought that anything other than a win would have signalled the end for Gordon Strachan, but Martin's late winner gives the Scots a glimmer of hope at reaching the play-offs.

Northern Ireland are in a play-off position in Group C after an impressive 2-0 win over Norway at Windsor Park. Jamie Ward and Conor Washington scored early goals for Michael O'Neill's side and they held on to their lead with an assured display.

Shock Start

The new Formula 1 season started with a surprise as Sebastien Vettel beat Lewis Hamilton to win the Australian Grand Prix.

Hamilton started in pole position, but Ferrari's Vettel took advantage after a better pit stop and was then able to hold off the challenge of last season's runner-up.

The first race of the season showed that Mercedes may not have the stranglehold over the other teams that they have had in previous seasons.

All Four

World number one Dustin Johnson won the World Match Play to become the first player to win all four World Gold Championships.

The American defeated Jon Rahm on the final hole at the Austin Texas Club to reaffirm his number one spot in the world rankings.

Impressively, it was Johnson's third successive tournament win after winning the WGC in Mexico earlier this month and the Genesis Open, last month.

Image credits: Football Tweet, Seb Vettel News, Dell Technologies, Sky Sports