With a trip to Twickenham next in the schedule for Ireland, Gerry Thornley is wondering what impact England’s defeat by Scotland will have on Steve Borthwick’s team. Has it “left a few stones under the Sweet Chariot and made them more vulnerable?”, or will the wounded lions take out their frustration on Ireland and, well, devour them?
England, says Owen Doyle, were “sliced and diced”, but he wasn’t entirely convinced by Ireland in their outing against Italy. “Something tells me the better team lost,” he says. How did referee Hollie Davidson fare? “Very good” in the first half, but some of her second half calls were, he says, “perplexing”.
In light of the length of Andy Farrell’s injury list, Jamie Osborne’s return from his own injury is timely. Gerry talks to the Kildare man who has been producing “secure and quietly effective performances”.
Meanwhile, the legend that is Keith Wood gives his thoughts on the current Irish team during a wide-ranging chat with Donald McRae. “We are in a dip, without a shadow of doubt,” he says. “We need to bring younger, more powerful players through.”
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In football, while the FAI is considering whether to play October’s home Nations League fixture against Israel on neutral territory, the Israelis are pushing for their team to be allowed play on their own turf once more. Gavin Cummiskey has the latest on a story that will, you suspect, run and run. And run.
Our Gaelic games crew, meanwhile, pick out five things they learned from last weekend’s league action, Malachy Clerkin saluting Armagh manager Kieran McGeeney for “bringing the word piggery to a wider audience”. And Malachy is also trying to come to terms with the rare sight of Ciarán Kilkenny being taken off when a Dublin game was in the balance.
But despite an unconvincing start to their league campaign, Seán Bugler is still convinced that Dublin can win the All-Ireland this year. “We have a lot of new lads that are finding their feet and really pushing on,” he tells Gordon Manning.
Cormac Comerford did well to find his feet at the Winter Olympics on Monday. Out of 95 starters in the slalom, only 44 made their way safely through a blizzard, Comerford one of them. Ian O’Riordan talks to him after his 31st place finish.
In golf, Philip Reid looks ahead to this week’s Genesis Invitational in Los Angeles where Rory McIlroy and Shane Lowry will be in the field, McIlroy aiming to shake off the rustiness that saw his scorecard marred by three doubles and a triple bogey in Pebble Beach last weekend.
Speaking of rustiness. “Reigning Cheltenham Gold Cup champion Inothewayurthinkin has to buck up his ideas if he’s to try to defend his title at the upcoming festival,” writes Brian O’Connor, the Gavin Cromwell-trained star beaten by a total of 94 lengths on his first two starts of this season.
TV Watch: Ireland’s do-or-die T20 World Cup meeting with Zimbabwe got under way this morning, Sky Sports Cricket’s coverage continuing until 1pm, while BBC1, BBC2 and TNT Sports have yet more from the Winter Olympics through the day. And we also have the first legs of the Champions League knock-out play-offs, among the offerings Monaco v PSG (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 1) and Benfica v Real Madrid (Premier Sports), both games kicking off at 8pm.
