The World Cup is back, after a two day break that felt a lot longer, with France and Belgium vying for a spot in this weekend's final. They play in St Petersburg this evening at 7pm, and Emmet Malone is there to report on neighbours going head to head for a place in the biggest game of all: "Belgium are the more inclined to retain possession and attack but will be aware that this approach may suit their opponents as it did when Argentina tried it and got hit by a succession of quick breaks."
Fueled by the "Newbridge-or-nowhere" saga, Kildare are suddenly the great white hope for the Super 8s. That's according to Jim McGuinness, who writing in his weekly column explains; "A cornered animal is a dangerous thing. Kildare had found their cause, and it fuelled and inspired them and, on the field, transported them. There was a moral obligation on them to deliver a performance and they certainly did that." The GAA has confirmed the Super 8s and All-Ireland hurling quarter-final fixtures for this weekend.
Ulster Rugby have moved to solve their problems at outhalf by signing Billy Burns on a two-year deal from Gloucester. The 24 year-old is a younger brother of England and Bath outhalf Freddie, he has made over 100 appearances for Gloucester since making his debut as a 17-year-old and completed his move on Monday. He is Irish qualified.
"Roger Federer's first set against Adrian Mannarino was a mid-tournament glimpse at the spectrum of shot making that has given him eight Wimbledon titles" - Johnny Watterson is at Wimbledon this week and yesterday he watched Federer's 6-0 7-5 6-4 straight set victory in the Round of 16. Rafa Nadal and Novak Djokovic also qualified for the quarter-finals, as did Serena Williams who "continues to freight the women's draw with a sense of invulnerability and menace."
Ten aces against Evgeniya Rodina in a 6-2 6-2 dust down that took a couple of minutes over the hour saw the 36 year-old safely through to face Camila Giorgi today, who moves into her first Grand Slam last eight.
Greg Van Avermaet beat Geraint Thomas to the yellow jersey but Team Sky used Monday's 35.5km team time trial at the Tour de France to eradicate many of the losses Chris Froome suffered on the opening day - finishing second in the first major test.
