Rugby: Six Nations
Jamie Heaslip's inclusion in yesterday's Ireland squad for Sunday's Six Nation's match against England raised a few eyebrows. The number eight is clearly unavailable having cracked three vertebrae in his back against France - nonetheless the management team have decided to keep him within the camp to work closely on his injury, but also to allow him to adopt a mentoring roll, especially in terms of advising whoever gets the nod to replace him at eight.
That looks increasingly likely to be Leinster’s Jordi Murphy who put in a solid shift in the position against Italy and according to fellow backrow forward Peter O’Mahony has ball carry ability as well as being able for the “grunt work” which the role requires.
In his press conference yesterday Munster captain O'Mahony used the word "physical" or "physicality" fully ten times - that tells us everything about what the Irish team have faced in their two games to date and what he expects on Sunday.
Word from Pennyhill
Gavin Cummiskey was behind enemy lines yesterday, marvelling at the facilities available to the English team at Pennyhill Park in Surrey, as they go in search of a fifth straight win over Ireland in what could well be their last venture off their own island in this World Cup year.
England assistant coach Graham Rowntree refused to be drawn on the topic of comments from Leinster scrum coach Marco Caputo claiming that Cian Healy was Dan Cole’s “bogeyman”, but the sheer fact that ten players were released from their 26-man squad to prove their fitness (including Tom Wood, Courtney Lawes and Geoff Parling) demonstrates his team’s strength-in-depth and the subsequent task at hand.
Rowntree has also been stressing the importance of minimising the influence of both Johnny Sexton and Conor Murray, praising the "diligent" Paul O'Connell and "great coach" Joe Schmidt, and speculating that Murphy "a similar fit to Heaslip" will fill Ireland's backrow vacancy.
Soccer: Champions League
Lionel Messi passed up the chance of serving a killer blow to Manchester City’s Champions League ambitions with a missed penalty, and an uncharastically missed rebound attempt, but Luis Suarez’s clinical double still has City on the ropes ahead of the away second leg.
For a while here the champions of England weren't just outplayed they were presented with a team playing an entirely different kind of game altogether, they trail 2-1 in this double legged affair.
GAA: Mayo to maintain standards
Keith Higgins wants his Mayo players to maintain the standards set by outgoing manager James Horan under the new tenure of Pat Holmes and Noel Connelly.
Late last year the All Star defender broke Mayo hearts in announcing his mock retirement via Twitter, only to reveal a couple of hours later that his account had been hacked. To the relief of Mayo fans. “No one will believe me now, when I really retire. Hopefully that won’t be for a while yet.”
Golf: Ryder Cup
Davis Love has been confirmed as the US Ryder Cup captain to lead the Americans against Darren Clarke's Europe at Hazeltine in 2016. With that comes a chance at redemption after what happened at Medinah in 2012, when during his first stint as captain the US let a 10-6 lead slip in the final day.
Cricket: Live Blog
Ireland are currently in the midst of their World Cup Pool B clash against the UAE at The Gabba in Brisbane - Emmet Riordan is live blogging as we speak, as Ireland go in search of two wins from two. At the end of the first innings Ireland were chasing 279 to win.
What to watch out for:
For those of you who missed out on the early drama in Brisbane, UTV have highlights of Ireland versus UAE from 11.30pm.
The Leinster Under 21 football championship starts tonight as Wefors take on Laois, Louth and Carlow do battle and Wicklow visit Longford. All three games are at 7.30pm.
The Champions League continues tonight as Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger faces his former team Monaco at the Emirates.
RTE 2 from 7.30pm.
While in the nights other game Bayern Leverkusen take on La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.
Setanta from 7.30pm
