Gordon D’Arcy takes a trip down memory lane in his column today, back to the days when rugby turned professional and Ireland’s international performances were still being filed under “plucky”. Rugby – and Ireland – has come a long way, the Six Nations now valued at €4 billion, but Gordon worries that the drive to find new revenues and audiences will come at too high a cost. “We must tread carefully to protect the values that made the sport special in the first place,” he writes.
Besides, when you’re playing England at home in the opening match of the Six Nations “everything fades into the background ... all the money in the world won’t help you make that pass, tackle or kick”. Tadhg Beirne would attest to that, the Munster captain talking to Johnny Watterson in advance of the game.
There’s no little pressure on “deputy dawg” Simon Easterby as he slips in to Andy Farrell’s shoes, but as Robert Kitson puts it, while the world of “the back room boss” is a precarious one, “what an opportunity this is for Easterby to enhance an already quietly impressive CV”.
England, meanwhile, have already named their team for the tussle, and their back row should be spicy enough considering it features two Currys – Tom and Ben will make history as the first twin brothers to represent England.
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In Gaelic games, Seán Moran looks at the impact of the new football rules, particularly at the effort to stamp out dissent or abuse of referees. That 50m punishment should zip a few lips, many accepting that “draconian punishment was needed to confront a long-running issue”.
And Gordon Manning has news of TG4’s request to broadcast Saturday’s Hurling League fixture between Cork and Limerick which, for now, won’t be shown live on TV. They’re awaiting a response from Croke Park.
In golf, David Gorman reports on the effect of Storm Éowyn on several of Ireland’s courses, many of them left battered and counting the cost of significant damage. Chairman Shane Quigley has been a member of Castlebar Golf Club for 35 years and he has never seen the level of destruction the storm caused, with more than 100 trees felled.
And in racing, Brian O’Connor tells us that Willie Mullins has a reasonable chance of enjoying a successful Dublin Racing Festival – not least because over a quarter of the entries are his.
TV Watch: It’s a big night in the Champions League (all matches starting at 8.0) with the conclusion of the inaugural league phase of the competition, 25 of the 36 teams still with plenty to play for. Manchester City will be eliminated if they don’t beat Club Brugge (RTÉ 2, TNT Sports 2 and Premier Sports 1), and there’s plenty at stake too in the Aston Villa v Celtic game (Virgin Media More and TNT Sports 1) ... although the permutations are so complex, you’d need a lie down after reading them.
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