It's still just less than three months away but build-up to the Rugby World Cup is slowly beginning to creep up on us with the Ireland squad gathering at Carton House to go through some fitness and team-building exercises before the real stuff starts with a training camp in Portugal and August's warm-up games. Yesterday Joey Carbery was speaking to the media about how he feels that playing in the fullback position has allowed him to see more of the game and has therefore helped when he reverts to number 10. Meanwhile, Devin Toner confirmed yesterday that the medial ligament tear suffered in May has all but healed and he is ready to go "hell for leather" in the upcoming months. The towering Ireland lock also gave a mention to the standards Leinster players must hold themselves to in the wake of the controversy over Seán O'Brien and former Leinster player Stan Wright.
On to GAA and this weekend Kilkenny will look to end what could potentially be the longest barren spell in the provincial championship since Brian Cody took over. If the Cats can't beat Wexford on Saturday it'll be the first time during Cody's reign that they have gone three years without getting their hands on the Leinster title and a man who will look to play a central part is 20-year-old Adrian Mullen. The 20-year-old has long been touted as the next big thing in Kilkenny, Mullen is the current Club Hurler of the Year after his exploits for Ballyhale Shamrocks in winning the All-Ireland in March. In his statistics column this morning, Eamon Donoghue takes a closer look. Meanwhile, Kevin mcManamon spoke yesterday of how he refutes the idea that Dublin's continuing success and dominance of the Leinster football championship is down to over-funding. "I don't know, I don't know the [FINANCIAL]figures. I don't know anything about it," said McManamon. "I'd leave that up to John Costello and the lads in the county board, but does it affect us? It's hard to know. Obviously if you say those figures it makes it sound like it does. I don't feel it or experience it."
In soccer, Fifa has confirmed that it has opened disciplinary proceedings against Cameroon after their conduct during the defeat to England which saw them crash out of the Women's World Cup but, this morning, Joanne O'Riordan writes that the reaction has been way over the top and an insult to the women's game. Why is it that women's sport is getting the burden of being a perfect and pure game with its sole purpose to inspire future generations of pure and wholesome players, she asks. Meanwhile Jack Clarke is set to become Spurs' first summer signing in a deal with Leeds that could be worth €12.8m. The 18-year-old will undergo a medical today and becomes Mauricio Pochettino's first signing in over a year after Spurs last season became the first Premier League club ever not to sign a single player during the entire campaign.
Elsewhere, Sonia O'Sullivan looks at what the motivation is behind a charity run while Dave Hannigan explores the sordid double life of former NFL star Kellen Winslow jnr.
