Apocalypse? “Not after all,” writes Gerry Thornley in his mid(ish)term report on the Six Nations, which is taking a week off to catch its breath. “There will be further ups and downs before the next World Cup, but Ireland 2.0 under Andy Farrell’s watch are taking shape.” They’re even back up to third in the world rankings, so there’s life in them yet. Not that Garry Ringrose ever lost his faith in this team, even after that ordeal in Paris. “I know maybe the result wasn’t there, but the belief always is,” he tells Gerry.
Among Ireland’s big performers in Twickenham on Saturday was James Ryan, John O’Sullivan looking at how his game, which “has a harder edge to it now than in the formative years”, has developed in recent times
Some of Farrell’s squad have returned to club duty this week ahead of the resumption of the URC, Munster welcoming back Michael Milne and Edwin Edogbo ahead of their game against Zebre at Thomond Park. “Just seeing the guys put the green jersey on, it’s what we want as coaches and what we want as a club,” says Munster forwards coach Alex Codling.
Similarly, Leinster have Harry Byrne to call upon for their meeting with Cardiff, while Robbie Henshaw and Jimmy O’Brien, both omitted from the Six Nations squad due to injury, could also feature in that game. Johnny Watterson hears from Leo Cullen who is also hoping to have Hugo Keenan available again soon.
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Owen Doyle, meanwhile, gives his thoughts on the standard of officiating in last weekend’s Six Nations games. He was especially happy to see Ireland leaving it to Caelan Doris to raise matters with the referee, rather than “yapping” in his face as England did. And Owen really doesn’t like that yapping lark.
In Gaelic games, our crew pick out ‘Five things we learned from the weekend’s GAA’, Gordon Manning focussing on 18-year-old Kobe McDonald’s impressive senior debut for Mayo. “Rather than be straitjacketed by the talk of his emergence, he played with an unbothered lightness and adventure.”
And Seán Moran looks back at the hurling weekend, a “highly consequential” one for Kilkenny, as it proved. They might have lost “so many generational talents” in recent years, leading to that All-Ireland-winning drought, but still, “they contest nearly everything”.
In his Different Strokes column, Philip Reid has the latest from the golfing world, Rory McIlroy heading for Augusta National this week to “work on some things” ahead of returning to tour life at next week’s Arnold Palmer Invitational.
And in racing, “even by his own lofty standards” JP McManus looks to have “a notably powerful team of stars” heading to Cheltenham in a fortnight. He’s already the most successful owner in festival history, Brian O’Connor looking through the contenders who might just extend that record.
TV Watch: The Champions League us back today, among your viewing options Atletico Madrid v Club Brugge at 5.45pm (Virgin Media Two & TNT Sports 3) and at 8pm, Newcastle v Qarabag (Premier Sports 1 and Virgin Media Two) and Inter v Bodø/Glimt (TNT Sports 1).
