The golf “overshadowed everything over the weekend”, writes Darragh Ó Sé who was “glued” to events in Augusta, and he has a notion that they might well have contributed to the low attendances at some of the Championship games. “The GAA sometimes gets overtaken by bigger things,” he says. There should be a fair old throng in Páirc Uí Chaoimh on Saturday night, though, when Cork’s footballers take on Kerry. “Despite my usual best efforts,” he says, “I just can’t make an argument for Cork getting anywhere close to Kerry.” They’ll be pinning that on their dressing room wall.
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Seán Moran, meanwhile, looks ahead to the start of the hurling championship with Munster once again expected to produce the fireworks, the province equalling the record last year for the most successive MacCarthy Cups. “A new record [of eight] is more than likely to be established this July.”
In rugby, there is some big transfer news as Leinster are set to bring in All Blacks centre Rieko Ioane on a six-month deal. An interesting move for a player that has some, em, let’s call it history with Leinster legend Johnny Sexton.
Elsewhere, Gordon D’Arcy is wondering if Leinster can do a McIlroy. “There are sporting parallels between McIlroy’s 11-year wait and Leinster’s quest for a fifth star on their jersey,” he says, although he concedes it’s hard to know just how good Leinster are after the wash-outs that were their last two knock-out games. The future can, he believes, be bright for Munster, but they’re in need of reinforcements, injuries and competing across two competitions exposing the current squad’s limitations.
Next up for Leinster is the visit of Ulster to Dublin for Saturday’s URC game, “a daunting task,” admits Ulster coach Richie Murphy. Munster play the Bulls on the same day in Thomond Park and could give debuts to new signings Michael Milne and Lee Barron. Connacht, though, are without a raft of players for their trip to South Africa for their URC double-header against the Stormers and Lions.
John O’Sullivan brings news that the IRFU has increased the provincial contribution for all national player contracts from 30 to 40 per cent, effective from August next year. It’s unlikely, though, that there’ll be enough money in their coffers to host a rugby World Cup any time soon, Gerard Meagher looking at how staging the tournament has become increasingly unviable for the likes of Ireland, South Africa and New Zealand.
And Andy Bull salutes Justin Rose’s contribution to an historic day at Augusta, and his magnanimity in defeat. “He was the first to hug McIlroy close in the moments after he had made the winning putt. ‘Listen,’ he told him, ‘I was glad I was here on this green to witness you win the career grand slam.’” “If you can’t be a great winner, you can still be a good loser,” he writes.
TV Watch: After Aston Villa fell just short of staging an aggregate comeback against Paris Saint-Germain last night, can Real Madrid overturn a 3-0 first leg deficit in their Champions League quarter-final against Arsenal? Tune in to Premier Sports 1 or TNT Sports 1 to find out. And Inter Milan take a 2-1 lead in to their second leg on home turf against Bayern Munich (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 2). Both games kick off at 8pm.
