“And then there were three,” Scotland’s one point defeat by England at the weekend knocking them out of the Six Nations title race. And having scored three tries to England’s one, Gerry Thornley has some sympathy for them, but, ultimately, the victors’ kicking game prevailed. And, he notes, “Ireland have morphed into less of a possession-based and more of a kicking-orientated side” themselves, although with a little more “method”.
Johnny Watterson, meanwhile, wonders if France will deploy their “Le Bombe Equipe” when they come to Dublin on Saturday week, their 7-1 bench split allowing them use 15 forwards in the course of their trouncing of a “hapless” Italy.
Jack Boyle was among those who came off the bench for Ireland in Cardiff, Gerry talking to the 22-year-old about the thrill of making his debut. “It gives me a taster of what it’s like to play for Ireland. It only makes you hungry for more in the end.”
And in his Whistleblower column, Owen Doyle has praise for Christophe Ridley, who took charge of the Wales v Ireland game, but he’s not happy with the replacement law that allowed the red-carded Garry Ringrose be replaced by Bundee Aki after 20 minutes.
Owen Doyle: Ireland were major beneficiaries of the new 20-minute red card against Wales
Five things we learned from the GAA weekend: Football is for forwards again, and Mayo find some x-factor
Jude Bellingham’s red card sparks debate on the intricacies of swearing
Sam Prendergast is both enthralling and enraging and everything else we learned from Ireland’s win over Wales
In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey previews the Republic of Ireland’s Nations League game away to Slovenia this afternoon, the key riddle for new manager Carla Ward one that her three predecessors never quite solved: where to play Katie McCabe to get the best out of her.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran gets the thoughts of Paul Earley, one of the GAA’s most qualified coaches, on the new football rules, with the Football Review Committee due to make its final recommendations soon on which of them should be applied in this year’s championship. Restricting the movement of “the roaming ‘keeper” would, Earley believes, help address excessive handpassing in the game.
And Malachy Clerkin takes a closer look at the new kick-out rule in light of Derry’s struggles in that area at the weekend. “It was Dublin’s complete domination of the Derry kick-out that turned the game the home side’s way,” he writes.
Philip Reid brings us the latest news from the world of golf, including the appointment of Anna Nordqvist as Europe’s captain for next year’s Solheim Cup. And in horse racing, Brian O’Connor looks at the big decision facing JP McManus’s team ahead of the Cheltenham Festival - will they go for broke with Fact To File in the Gold Cup, or opt for the Ryanair Chase? It is, says Brian, “a tricky stick-or-twist scenario”.
TV Watch: There’s no end of football on your screens today, starting with the Republic of Ireland women’s Nations League trip to Slovenia (RTÉ 2, 5.30). Later, TNT Sports and Premier Sports have coverage of the Crystal Palace v Aston Villa, Brighton v Bournemouth and Wolves v Fulham Premier League games, all kicking of at 7.30, and the 8.15 meeting of Chelsea and Southampton. And Celtic will attempt to bounce back from Sunday’s defeat to Hibs when they host Aberdeen this evening (Sky Sports Football, 8pm).
