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GAA.ie Football Team Of The Week 3/8/2021

The GAA.ie Football Team of the Week for the Ulster and Leinster Senior Football Championship finals has been revealed.

Five players from the provincial champions, Dublin and Tyrone, make an appearance in the latest team of the week.

Three spots are awarded to Leinster runners-up Kildare who had some individual gems against Dublin on Sunday in Croke Park.

The final two spots are filled by Monaghan players after their spirited second-half display put Tyrone to the sword.

Monaghan goalkeeper Rory Beggan is one-half of his county’s representatives and earned his spot in the team after a magnificent display in the Ulster final.

The sweeper-keeper offered a different option to Tyrone counterpart Niall Morgan’s high press on kick-outs.

The Scotstown star was the 15th outfield player for his side in their first Ulster final since 2015 as he pushed up the pitch and offered himself as an extra man high up the pitch.

His work rate was evident in the fantastic steal he pulled off on Tyrone full-forward Conor McKenna, who was charging down on a Beggan-less net.

His ability to commit to this role so well and the impact it had on Monaghan makes him deserving of a spot in the team.

Padraig Hampsey is in at right corner-back after he shut down Monaghan danger man Conor McManus on the big stage.

The Tyrone skipper was up to the task and restricted McManus to just one point from play.

His leadership to organise the defence in the closing stages were also evident once again – Tyrone’s backs have formed the standout defence of this year’s Championship.

Kildare’s Kevin Flynn and Daniel Flynn appear in the left wing-back and centre full-forward spots respectively.

The pair were integral in Kildare’s competitive nature for much of the game.

Kevin Flynn’s high work rate imposed his authority on the Dubs while Daniel Flynn’s scoring ability and his fantastic goal was worthy of selection.

Dublin duo Ciarán Kilkenny and Niall Scully scored important points in the pivotal third quarter of the Leinster final to put the game beyond doubt.

Some of their work in defence was of a high standard too.

GAA.ie Football Team Of The Week – 3/8/2021

  1. Rory Beggan (Monaghan)
  2. Padraig Hampsey (Tyrone)
  3. Mark Dempsey (Kildare)
  4. Conor Boyle (Monaghan)
  5. Brian Howard (Dublin)
  6. Kieran McGeary (Tyrone)
  7. Kevin Flynn (Kildare)
  8. Brian Fenton (Dublin)
  9. Conor Meyler (Tyrone)
  10. Cormac Costello (Dublin)
  11. Ciarán Kilkenny (Dublin)
  12. Niall Scully (Dublin)
  13. Darren McCurry (Tyrone)
  14. Daniel Flynn (Kildare)
  15. Mattie Donnelly (Tyrone)

Olympic Golf: Maguire & Meadows Preview, Tee Times & Odds

The women’s Olympic golf tournament will begin on Wednesday night and will include two Team Ireland athletes – Leona Maguire and Stephanie Meadow.

The tournament follows the men’s tournament, which saw Team Ireland narrowly miss out on a medal.

Leona Maguire will begin the tournament off the back of some top form in the LPGA Tour this year.

Stephanie Meadows, on the other hand, will be looking for a change in her fortunes in 2021 with seven cuts to her name this season – two of them at majors.

Both golfers will return to the Olympic scene, having represented Team Ireland at Rio 2016.

Maguire’s most recent round of golf was one that is tied for the lowest-ever score at a major from both male and female golfers.

The 26-year-old’s incredible final round at The Amundi Evian Championship shot her up the leaderboard into her best-ever final position at a major, tied-sixth.

This round of golf showcased what she is capable of and also continued her great vein of form.

After missing the cut twice in the space of a month, the Cavan native has completed five tournaments since June with her lowest final position being tied-15th.

Maguire will not have a cut to avoid this weekend as the women’s tournament does not have one this year and, if she continues her form, she could find herself chasing a medal on the final day.

However, she is only seen as 12th-favourite by the bookmakers, with Team USA’s Nelly Korda having the best odds at 7/1.

The former world number one amateur golfer will tee-off at 11:52 pm in a group with Bianca Pagdanganan of the Philippines and Finnish player Matilda Castren.

Stephanie Meadow will make her second appearance at an Olympic tournament in the early hours of Thursday morning as she goes out onto the course in search of a medal once again.

Meadow has had a poor 2021 season and will be hoping for some good luck throughout her weekend.

Her seven cuts in the season include five in the last two months and a span of four cuts in a row.

The 29-year-old will get her second Olympics campaign started at approximately 2:47 am and will be in a group with Taiwanese golfer Min Lee, competing under Chinese Taipei, and French professional Perrine Delacour.

Meadow will have the earlier tee time of the Team Ireland golfers in round two, teeing-off at 0:52 with Maguire doing so almost an hour later at 1:47 am.

Team Ireland Golf Tee Times

Round One

Leona Maguire – 11:52 pm

Stephanie Meadow – 2:47 am

Round Two

Stephanie Meadow – 0:52 am

Leona Maguire – 1:47 am

Odds

Leona Maguire – 20/1

Stephanie Meadow – 400/1

Olympic Equestrian: Three perfect runs sends Ireland to final

Team Ireland had three more riders and horses competing in the Jumping Individual Qualifiers in Tokyo this morning

These Irish athletes had high hopes of achieving good scores coming into this event. Darragh Kenny riding Cartello was first for Ireland, next was Bertram Allen on Pacino Amiro and lastly Cian O’Connor on Kilkenny. Shane Sweetnam riding Karlin

These three were competing against 70 other riders and horses at 19:00 in the Equestrian Park in Tokyo.

Ireland had some of the highest ranking riders in the competition and with the best 30 athletes qualifying for the final, we were right to be optimistic.

First up for Team Ireland was Kenny as the eighth athlete. The man from Offaly along with his horse, Cartello, were ranked eighth in the world.

As he completed the course, it was clear why he was so highly ranked. He finished his run with zero penalties in the fastest, at the time, of 82.01 seconds. It was great to see how he rode with speed, style and tenacity to leave his mark on the opening round.

Eventually, Kenny had his position cemented as the second fastest going into the final.

Next up was Ireland’s youngest showjumper, Allen rode in 16th. He Enniscorthy man, riding Pacino Amiro was ranked in 29th in the world in early July.

He continued Ireland’s stellar form as he made another perfect run. He finished with zero penalties and only three seconds slower than Kenny to make him the second faster rider so far.

This was a major task for the young man and it was important for him perform strongly on his Olympic debut. His place in the final was quickly confirmed  and he may even be in with a shout for a medal finishing as sixth fastest today.

Lastly for the Irish was O’Connor riding in 25th on horse, Kilkenny. Many will remember the Meath man for his comeback bronze medal in London 2012, making Ireland’s only equestrian medallist at this Games.

He took a slightly more cautious approached than his teammates but managed to complete Ireland clean sheet for the opening session. He finished the course in a time of 88.66 seconds leaving him in good standing to reach the final.

O’Connor had to wait until late in the competition until his place was secured but he made it as one of those with zero penalty points.

The three Irish riders had an agonising wait as almost 50 more riders had their turn before their positions were confirmed.

Team GB’s Ben Maher riding Explosion W finished as the fastest qualifier while Israel’s Ashlee Bond on Donatello 141 was third behind Kenny.

The final will take place in the Equestrian Park tomorrow morning, Wednesday 4th August. This will start at 11:00 Irish time.

Team Ireland Sprinter Leon Reid Bows Out At Semi-Finals

Team Ireland sprinter Leon Reid has finished his Tokyo 2020 Olympic campaign after a seventh-place run in the semi-finals of the Men’s 200m event on Tuesday afternoon.

Reid was in a heat with Canadian speedster and Men’s 100m bronze medalist Andre De Grasse as well as Team USA’s Kenneth Bednarek and Eswatini native Sibusiso Matsenjwa, who got a second chance in the heats after a false start.

The Team Ireland athlete crossed the line in a time of 20.54 – just outside of the season-best he set in the heats on Tuesday morning.

Speaking to RTÉ after the race, Reid spoke of his disappointment at not being able to reach the final.

“It wasn’t enough,” the English-born Irish sprinter said. “I felt good but, I don’t know, that must be where I am right now.”

His almost-identical time to his run in the final heat was not enough to qualify for a place in the Men’s 200m final.

De Grasse on the heat with a time of 19.73 with Bednarek crossing the line in second after 19.83 seconds.

Jereem Richards rounded out the top three in the heat with a time of 20.10 – almost half a second faster than Reid.

The Menapians athlete backed up the season-best that he had set earlier on Tuesday but lamented that he wanted to go faster.

“I just wanted to go a little bit quicker, even if it was 20.4, it’s quite frustrating to be honest.”

He started the race strong once again but fell away after the bend in a race where the cream rose to the top.

“I didn’t have that kick and rhythm that I usually have [off the bend], so I just couldn’t turn over and go again.”

Reid will return home following his exit from the only event he had qualified and he will now focus on what lies ahead and the next Olympics, Paris 2024.

South Africa Side For Third Lions Test Announced

South Africa has announced the side that will face the Lions in the third and final test of the series this weekend.

The squad includes two changes to personnel and a positional switch in his starting XV for the final test.

2019 World Rugby Player of the Year Pieter-Steph Du Toit and scrum-half Faf De Klerk are both out of the series decider through injury.

Franco Mostert moves to flanker to cover for Du Toit while Montpellier scrum-half Cobus Reinack comes into the side in place of De Klerk, who has been ruled out due to a muscle strain in his leg.

Lock Lood de Jager is drafted into the starting XV to take Mostert’s original position.

Inside centre Damian de Allende will become the third Springbok in the Castle Lager Lions Series to reach the career milestone of 50 Test caps when he starts in Saturday’s decider in Cape Town.

De Allende will be paired with Lukhanyo Am and the duo in midfield.

Makazole Mapimpi and Cheslin Kolbe will play on the wings once again with Willie Le Roux offering support for them at full-back.

Jasper Wiese wears the number eight shirt for the second week running in the series and South Africa captain Siya Kolisi and Mostert will combine with him to form the back row.

De Jager will be joined by Eben Etzebeth in the second row while the front row will consist of Steven Kitshoff, Bongi Mbonambi and Frans Malherbe.

Head coach Jacques Nienaber opted to name three backs on the bench, with fly-half Morné Steyn joining Herschel Jantjies and Damian Willemse in the matchday 23.

It is the second time in the series that the coach has gone for a 5:3 split on the bench.

Springbok Squad v British & Irish Lions Third Test
15 – Willie le Roux (Toyota Verblitz) – 64 caps
14 – Cheslin Kolbe (Toulouse) – 16 caps
13 – Lukhanyo Am (Cell C Sharks) – 17 caps
12 – Damian de Allende (Munster) – 49 caps
11 – Makazole Mapimpi (Cell C Sharks) – 16 caps
10 – Handré Pollard (vice-captain, Montpellier) – 51 caps
9 – Cobus Reinach (Montpellier) – 15 caps
8 – Jasper Wiese (Leicester Tigers) – 2 caps
7 – Franco Mostert (Honda Heat) – 42 caps
6 – Siya Kolisi (captain, Cell C Sharks) – 53 caps
5 – Lood de Jager (Sale Sharks) – 47 caps
4 – Eben Etzebeth (Toulon) – 88 caps
3 – Frans Malherbe (DHL Stormers) – 41 caps
2 – Bongi Mbonambi (DHL Stormers) – 39 caps
1 – Steven Kitshoff (DHL Stormers) – 50 caps

Replacements:
16 – Malcolm Marx (Kubota Spears) – 36 caps
17 – Trevor Nyakane (Vodacom Bulls) – 45 caps
18 – Vincent Koch (Saracens) – 22 caps
19 – Marco van Staden (Vodacom Bulls) – 4 caps
20 – Kwagga Smith (Yamaha Júbilo) – 9 caps
21 – Herschel Jantjies (DHL Stormers) – 13 caps
22 – Morné Steyn (Vodacom Bulls) – 66 caps
23 – Damian Willemse (DHL Stormers) – 9 caps

Bundee Aki Set For Lions Test Debut As Squad Announced

The British and Irish Lions squad for the third and final test against South Africa has been announced with six changes to the side that lost 27-9.

Connacht centre Bundee Aki is handed a Lions test debut at inside centre with Henshaw occupying the number 13 shirt.

Munster scrum-half is dropped to the bench as Scotland’s Ali Price comes back into the team.

Wyn Jones returns to the starting XV after recovering from injury and makes his test debut for the side.

His Wales teammate Ken Owens also joins him in the side at hooker, coming in for England’s Luke Cowan-Dickie.

Liam Williams steps in for full-back Stuart Hogg and is joined in the back three by Wales winger Josh Adams, who earns his Lions test debut in place of Anthony Watson, and Duhan Van Der Merwe.

Dan Biggar stays at fly-half and will play alongside the aforementioned Ali Price.

The back five of the pack is unchanged with Jack Conan, Tom Curry, Courtney Lawes, Alun Wyn Jones and Maro Itoje all keeping their spots in the side.

Jones will earn his 12th consecutive test start for the British and Irish Lions and the player moves up to joint-third on the all-time appearances list, joining Irishman Mike Gibson and Welsh prop Graham Price.

Tadhg Furlong will make his sixth successive test start for the Lions at tighthead to round out the front row.

Adam Beard, Finn Russell and Sam Simmonds will feature in the matchday 23 for a Lions test for the first time.

Owen Farrell is out of a Lions test 23 for the first time since 2013 and Tadhg Beirne also misses out on a spot in the squad.

British and Irish Lions Squad v South Africa – Third Test

L Williams (Wales); J Adams (Wales), R Henshaw (Ireland), B Aki (Ireland), D van der Merwe (Scotland); D Biggar (Wales), A Price (Scotland); W Jones (Wales), K Owens (Wales), T Furlong (Ireland); M Itoje (England), A W Jones – captain (Wales); C Lawes (England), T Curry (England), J Conan (Ireland).

Replacements: L Cowan-Dickie (England), M Vunipola (England), K Sinckler (England) – subject to the outcome of his disciplinary hearing, A Beard (Wales), S Simmonds (England), C Murray (Ireland), F Russell (Scotland), E Daly (England).

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Inter reject Chelsea’s £85m plus player offer

Inter Milan have rejected Chelsea’s offer of £85 million-plus Marcos Alonso for striker Romelu Lukaku.

The Belgium striker has jumped back on top of Chelsea’s wanted list of strikers after talks for Erling Haaland has reached a dead-end.

It has been reported by many outlets that Chelsea have already had two ”secret” bids turned down for Lukaku.

Inter’s board turned down the player plus cash deal as they see Lukaku as ”untouchable”.

Thomas Tuchel is keen to sign a world-class striker after Timo Werner failed to deliver in front of the goal so far.

Borussia Dortmund striker Erling Haaland has been touted as Chelsea’s main priority this summer.

However, with Dortmund in no rush to sell and with a £150 million price tag, the deal for Lukaku is seen as a more realistic target.

The Italian side has already sold Achraf Hakimi to PSG to receive funds after financial difficulty held the club to ransom after the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chelsea, who have put Tammy Abraham up for sale, and have recently sold Oliver Giroud to AC Milan, are in much need of a clinical striker.

Other options such as Robert Lewandowski and Tottenham’s Harry Kane has been touted as potential signings.

The latter being unlikely, with Daniel Levy’s stance on selling to rivals.

Lukaku left Chelsea back in 2014, after being sold to Everton, and was on the verge of re-signing with the London side in 2017 before Manchester United came in last minute with a deal.

After the departure of manager Antonio Conte, Inter announced Simone Inzaghi as their new coach.

He (Lukaku) has held productive talks with Inzaghi and remains happy at Inter.

Despite the interest from his former club, Lukaku has not pushed for a move, and will likely wait to see if Chelsea does match Inter’s demands before the deadline shuts on the 31st of August.

 

Olympic Athletics: Coscoran qualifies for semi, Healy loses out by 0.07 sec

Team Ireland were back in action again in the Olympic Stadium this morning. The Irish events started with Andrew Coscoran in the 1500m and Phil Healy in the 400m

Men’s 1500m Round 1 (Heat 1) – 01:27 – Andrew Coscoran

At just before 09:30 in a wet, rainy Tokyo, Coscoran lined up to take part in a fast competitive 1500m heat.

The Irishman came into this race ranked 40th in the world for this event. He had high hopes of qualifying for the semi-final but faced a star studded line-up.

He would need to challenge with the world number two, Norway’s Jakob Ingebrigtsen and number four, Kenya’s Ronald Musagala. The top six finishers would qualify automatically and the next six fastest from the three heats.

 

Coscoran started his race fast and sat in seventh after the first lap, tucking into the inside lane. He is considered to run courageously with all his heart.

With 800m left he was in the middle of the pack. The 25-year-old has a very strong finish and as he heard to bell for the final lap, he produced a quick turn of pace.

In the final 100m he managed to overtake three more athletes and he finished the race in eighth. Although he was outside the outside automatic qualification but scored a very good time.

Team GB’s Jake Heyward finished the race in first while Ethiopa’s Teddese Lemi narrowly getting second.

Even though he was two seconds off his season best, the conditions proved tricky with three athletes not finishing the race.

Coscoran will now run in the semi-final on the morning of Wednesday, 5th August.

Women’s 400m Round 1 (Heat 5) – 02:17 – Phil Healy

Less than an hour later and Phil Healy was at the starting line of her third event of the Olympics. She previously ran in the 4x400m mixed relay final and got a personal best in the 200m heats.

The track had dried up slightly as she prepared herself for what is one of her strongest events. She was ranked at 41st in the world before the start which put her as the fourth favourite.

The world number three, Jamaica’s Stephenie Ann McPherson was also in lane two.

Only the top three fastest in each race plus the six fastest of the six heats would qualify for the semi-finals tomorrow.

 

Healy started the race strong but started to look tired, this would be understandable as it was her fourth race of the week.

In the final 150m she pulled an amazing amount of energy out of nowhere to push into fourth place in a time of 51.98 seconds.

With one heat left to go the West Cork woman was in a the qualification places but it would come down to the wire. In the most dramatic fashion, Cyrus’ Eleni Artymata beat out Healy by seven one hundredths of a second in the final heat to take her place.

This is the second time in as many days that Healy has missed out on a semi-final by less than half a second but she remained in high spirits.

This is the end of her Olympic journey but she has made Irish history at this Games as well as her country proud.

Team Ireland Boxer Harrington Guaranteed Medal After QF Win

Team Ireland boxer Kellie Harrington has guaranteed herself a medal after a dominant victory over Algerian Imane Khalif in the Women’s Lightweight division (57-60 KG) on Tuesday morning.

The Irish boxer sealed a dominant 5-0 victory on the judges’ scorecards to ensure the fourth medal for Team Ireland at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Olympics’ top seed had a unanimous victory on four of the scorecards (30-27×4) with only one giving her a mark below the maximum (29-28).

The 31-year-old built on her impressive Olympic debut against Italy’s Rebecca Nicoli with another strong performance in the quarter-finals.

The amateur world champion started strongly with a commanding first-round that saw the Dubliner take an early lead on the scorecards with four of the five judges giving her the round.

Harrington made the lead an unassailable one, excluding a spectacular third round from Khalif, after a dominant second-round left all the judges without doubt.

Her speed proved too much for her Algerian opponent and her movement was on another level compared to Khalif.

A trip over her own shoelaces threatened to halt her momentum but the Portland Row native maintained her advantage.

A less dominant third round still saw the Irish woman take a 5-0 win on the scorecards to finish the fight.

Harrington was confident of her success directly after the fight, telling her corner that “[she had] a feeling” that her performance would guarantee her at least a bronze after just two Olympic boxing matches.

Harrington will now face Thai boxer Sudaporn Seesondee in the semi-final after her progression to the next round.

The fight will be a rematch of the 2018 AIBA World Boxing Women’s Lightweight title fight in New Delhi.

Harrington edged Seesondee in the title fight to take home gold with a 3-2 points win after amassing three five-nil wins on the way to the final.

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