Flags, emblems and tunes have caused us no end of bother on this island down the years, although, writes Johnny Watterson, the IRFU has done an effective job in marketing Ireland’s Call as a sports anthem that has largely worked as a compromise – even if it’s not universally loved. There hasn’t been a hint of a compromise, though, on the choice of flag Northern Ireland athletes will use for this summer’s Commonwealth Games. In NI politics, after all, “conciliation is weakness”.
Jamison Gibson-Park has been belting out Ireland’s Call since Andy Farrell gave him his debut back in 2020. Now 33, he has become “the heartbeat of the Leinster and Ireland teams,” Gerry Thornley talking to the scrumhalf who says he’s feeling better now than he did when he was in his mid-20s.
Nathan Johns turns his analytical eye to the state of Leinster’s defence this season. Thus far, they’ve conceded an average of 21.5 points per game, almost seven worse than last season. He examines that “dwindling defensive performance”.
There’s a fair load of turmoil in New Zealand rugby this weather, Scott Robertson stepping down as the All Blacks coach following an internal review of the team’s performances. He has, writes Robert Kitson, been “swallowed up and spat out after only 27 Tests”.
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In football, Gavin Cummiskey takes a look at Troy Parrott and Evan Ferguson’s contrasting fortunes of late, while Nick Ames met up with triple Ballon d’Or winner and former Uefa president Michel Platini. He found the 70-year-old to be “caught between moving on and settling old scores”.
Ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland senior club hurling final, Gordon Manning talks to Ballygunner’s Pauric Mahony who prefers to focus on getting the better of Loughrea than dwell on why the Waterford side has, so far, managed just “a single dance on club hurling’s biggest day”.
In golf, Rory McIlroy, armed with new clubs, picked up from where he left off last season at the Dubai Invitational, his opening round of 66 giving him a one-shot lead. Philip Reid has all the details.
And Brian O’Connor writes about how Horse Racing Ireland’s “deep-rooted complacency” could leave it in an even deeper financial mire, its notion that “the good times wouldn’t end” looking increasingly presumptive.
TV Watch: The second round at the Dubai Invitational got under way earlier this morning (from 7.30am) but you can catch the highlights at 4pm (Sky Sports Golf). And you can tune in to the second round of the Sony Open in Hawaii at 5pm (Sky Sports Golf), Séamus Power starting brightly on Thursday with a three-under-par 67 in his opening round. And this evening, Kildare and Westmeath’s footballers square up in the O’Byrne Cup final (TG4, 7.30pm).
