Was Peter O’Mahony upset by a fair chunk of Murrayfield booing him off the pitch when he was replaced in Sunday’s triumph, the “little bit of history with Munster and Glasgow” possibly prompting the, eh, ovation? It was, he said, “potentially one of the biggest compliments of my career …. so, thanks Murrayfield!”. That’s a no, then. Not even if they’d hollered “awa’ a bile yer heid”, as John McSullivan puts it, would he have been bothered.
O’Mahony and Co are now, of course, the only ones who can win a Grand Slam, although Gerry Thornley advises caution when it comes to the notion that France losing to England was a good result for Ireland. “The bottom line is that Ireland will probably face a French team in round four which will be even more motivated to atone for their sloppiness in Twickenham last Saturday.”
Before then, a spoilt-for-choice Simon Easterby has to decide whether to make major changes to his startling line-up for the trip to Wales, Gerry sensing from the head coach’s response on that issue that they will be kept to a minimum.
Easterby saluted Sam Prendergast for the maturity of his performance against Scotland, as did Leo Cullen when Johnny Watterson spoke to the Leinster coach. He warned, though, about the vagaries of the game, pointing to Ciaran Frawley being the name on everyone’s lips not so long ago, but he now finds himself behind Prendergast and Jack Crowley in the outhalf pecking order.
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And in his Whistleblower column, Owen Doyle likens Ireland’s Murrayfield triumph to a Willie Mullins’ horse romping home “without having to raise a ferocious gallop down the home straight”. The game, he says, was “won at a canter”. The performance of referee James Doleman wasn’t to his taste, though, his “over-explaining of his decisions” ending up like “a running commentary”.
In Gaelic games, it’s been a sobering start to the league season for Wexford’s hurlers, the “icy reality” of life in the top division hitting home. Seán Moran looks at the challenges facing manager Keith Rossiter, retirements and players unavailable due to injury and travel hardly helping the cause.
Seán also previews an RTÉ documentary that focuses on the pressures facing intercounty match officials, professional therapist Justin Campbell, who was asked eight years ago by the GAA to talk to referees about mental health issues, describing it as one the biggest threats to the association.
Philip Reid, meanwhile, brings us news from the world of golf in his Different Strokes column, including Graeme McDowell’s hopes of playing in this year’s Open at Royal Portrush receiving a boost thanks to the R&A announcing a new exemption category.
TV Watch: It’s the first night of the knock-out phase of the Champions League, and there’s a fair chance that most eyes will be on the meeting of Manchester City and Real Madrid (Premier Sports 1, 8.0), the combined cost of the teams greater than a heap of nations' GDP.
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