Rugby
The Irish team to face France in this weekend’s Six Nations tie in Paris is set to be named at lunchtime today, although realistically it looks unlikely that even head coach Joe Schmidt can finalise his hand at this stage due to the current injury count.
One almost certain change will see the return of Seán O'Brien, who has trained fully since Tuesday - although the fate of Andrew Trimble (shoulder), Simon Zebo (knee), Keith Earls (concussion) and Rob Kearney seems less certain. As ever Gerry Thornley has picked his possible Irish team, and he sees both O'Brien and Kearney coming into the XV.
Soccer
West Brom progressed into the fifth round of the FA Cup last night after a penalty shoot-out win over Peterborough. Meanwhile Liverpool's owners, the Fenway Sports Group have backed down in their ticket row with fans - penning an open letter of apology and freezing prices for the next two seasons following the mass protest at Anfield last weekend.
Women in Sport
Sonia O'Sullivan says in her column this morning that the revelations from China should not be buried by the IAAF - after she's spent over 20 years wondering how her rivals in Stuttgart managed to run so fast. She finished second to Liu Dong at the World Championships in 1993 -
“So when we arrived in Stuttgart all the talk was about the Chinese athletes. They were staying across from the Irish block, and every morning headed off running in formation, dressed in full tracksuits, arms straight down by their sides, as if carrying a shopping bag in each arm. This was totally alien to the athletics world, where everyone tries to express their individuality. Only this Chinese team ran as one, ate as one, kept everything to themselves...”
Looking ahead to this summer's Rio Olympics, and after the coach of British gold medallist Jessica Ennis-Hill said she should consider whether to defend her Olympic heptathlon title because of the viral threat of Zika - Irish rower Sinead Jennings believes the risk of infection is currently low.
Jennings, who has qualified for Rio with Claire Lambe in the lightweight double sculls, is also a medical doctor and believes that the risk to healthy non-pregnant athletes from the insect-borne virus is not yet serious.
What to watch out for
After Blackrock and Belvedere's high quality draw yesterday, Roscrea and Gonzaga do battle in their Leinster Senior Cup quarter final today.
Setanta from 2.55pm
The California Pebble Beach Pro-Am first round begins today with Paul Dunne, Shane Lowry and Padraig Harrington all in action.
Sky Sports 4, 8pm-11pm
