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Sporting Calendar – List of the main sports events in November 2020

A usually timid month for sport, this year there is more than ever to look forward to. This is a breakdown of every major sporting event to look out for in November 2020.

7th: Rugby – The Southern Hemispheres’ version of our 6 Nations begins in November. Instead of the usual tour to Europe by the likes of New Zealand, Australia, Argentina, and South Africa, the Rugby Championship will provide games. Australia won their bid to host the tournament over New Zealand. Yet, it is still unconfirmed whether South Africa will join the competition. Full fixtures yet to be released.

12-15th: Golf – The US Masters avoided total cancellation and will instead be played this November. Still, the winter date for this Major will make it an open competition.

13/14/15th: Rugby – The inaugural 8 Nations Tournament starts on the 13th of November. To begin, Ireland vs Wales kicks-off on Friday the 13th. Following that, every team will open their campaign over the weekend.

GAA Heats Up

14/15th: GAA – The Connacht Football Final will take place this weekend. With New York out of this year’s fixtures and London’s participation subject to travel guidelines, it is easily the shortest of the Provincial Championships.

14/15th: GAA – In Hurling, both Provincial finals are scheduled for this weekend. Both the Leinster and Munster competitions will be completed. As a result, the two winners advance to the semi-finals. Meanwhile, the runners-up face a qualifier in the quarter-final.

15-22nd: Tennis – ATP Finals, London.

15th & 18th: Soccer – The Nations League has two rounds in mid-November. Firstly, Ireland travel to Wales. Then, they host Bulgaria in Dublin to complete the group stage.

21st/22nd: GAA – In the football Championship, the Leinster, Ulster, and Munster finals take place. This year, there is no back-door stage. Therefore, the three winners will go straight to the semi-final.

21st/22nd: Rugby – Round two of the Autumn Nations Cup. Ireland play England away.

21st/22nd: GAA – The Hurling Championship plays its ‘quarter-finals. The two Provincial runners-up play the two qualifiers.

24th – 6th December: Snooker – UK Championship, York Barbican.

28/29th: GAA – The Hurling Championship reaches its semi-final stage.

28/29th: Rugby – The final round of Pool games from the Autumn Nations Cup. Ireland play Georgia.

Rugby and GAA fans have loads to look forward to in November 2020.

http://34.245.76.62/rugby/8-nations-rugby-championship-fixtures-and-pools/

http://34.245.76.62/rugby/8-nations-rugby-championship-fixtures-and-pools/

https://twitter.com/TheMasters/status/1293563068765667329

Republic of Ireland U-21 vs Italy U-21 Preview

The Republic of Ireland U-21 squad take on Italy U-21’s in Pisa on Tuesday evening. Jim Crawford’s team currently sit top of the group, three points ahead of their opponents Italy. However Italy have a game in hand meaning this is a crucial game for both sides. Iceland are just one point behind Italy and are up against bottom of the group Luxembourg.

Preparations haven’t been straight forward for Crawford. A calamitous week for the senior squad resulted in five players missing the draw against Wales on Sunday afternoon due to COVID-19 protocols. Consequently, Jason Knight and Dara O’Shea have left the U-21 training camp and joined Stephen Kenny’s squad.

Crawford admits that his team’s “preparations have been scuppered”. Not only due to squad alterations, but also because he is in the dark of with regards to the team Italy will field. The Italians’ game against Iceland was postponed on Friday after two players tested positive for COVID-19.

Nevertheless, there is still a selection of high quality players to choose from. Bohemians winger Danny Grant has been called up on the back of recent form. He replaces Shamrock Rovers’ Neil Farrugia who missed out through injury. Conor McCarthy of St. Mirren also steps in to replace Dara O’Shea. Premier League players Will Smallbone, Conor Coventry (see graphic below) and Michael Obafemi are all expected to feature.

Jim Crawford is not underestimating the significance of the fixture: “We know just how important this game is in terms of the Group but also in terms of our chances of qualifying for the finals tournament”. The winner of the group will qualify for the U-21 European Championship in 2021.

Republic of Ireland U-21 vs Italy U-21 kicks off at 4pm Irish time.

FAI to investigate second potential false positive test

The FAI has confirmed that a member of Stephen Kenny’s Ireland squad has returned a negative result from a second COVID-19 test today after first returning a positive result from a UEFA test undertaken on Sunday evening.

The player – who cannot be named at this time – first received a positive result from the UEFA testers on Monday morning in the latest round of UEFA testing for COVID-19 ahead of the Nations League game against Finland in Helsinki on Wednesday.

The FAI medical team then organised a second test for the player which returned a negative result this afternoon.

The player will now be retested as soon as possible before the team’s flight to Finland on Tuesday morning. The HSE and UEFA have been informed of this result.

This latest issue follows confirmation by the HSE on Sunday that an FAI staff employee who was tested positive in a UEFA test in Bratislava last Wednesday – a test later deemed to be a ‘false positive’ result – is now COVID-19 free.

Interim CEO of the FAI Gary Owens said: “This negative result following a positive has been reported to UEFA and the HSE and we are in communication with both UEFA and the HSE regarding the player’s availability for the Finland game.”

Sanita Puspure wins gold in European Women’s Single Sculls Final

Sanita Puspure won the gold medal in the Women’s Single Sculls at the 2020 European Rowing Championships in Poznan on Sunday.

Puspure, who retained her European Championship, won the race ahead of Magdalena Lobnig and Anneta Kyridou.

The Irish rower was competed against crews from Austria, Denmark, Germany, Greece and Switzerland.

She finished with a time of 7:36.040, making her a Double World and European Champion in the Women’s Single Scull.

More Irish medal winners in Poznan

Fintan McCarthy (LM1x), Ronan Byrne and Daire Lynch (MX2), Fiona Murtagh, Eimear Lambe, Aileen Crowley and Aifric Keogh (W4-) all won bronze Medals in their A Finals.

Fintan McCarthy won bronze in the Lightweight Men’s Single A Final. He competed against crews from Norway, Italy, Greece, Hungary and Belgium.

Ronan Byrne and Daire Lynch won bronze in the A Final in the Men’s Double Sculls. The Irish crew competed against crews from Lithuania, Romania, Netherlands, Switzerland and Poland. Byrne and Lynch finished third with a time of 06:41.210.

Aifric Keogh, Eimear Lambe, Aileen Crowley and Fiona Murtagh won bronze in the Women’s Four A Final. The Women’s Four competed alongside boats from Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Romania and Russia.

The Irish Women’s Four finished third just behind the Italian crew with a time of 06:41.210 and just narrowly missed out on the silver to the Swiss crew.

Oisín O’Callaghan is Mountainbike Downhill Junior World Champion

Oisín O’Callaghan is Ireland’s newest World Champion.

The 17-year old from Limerick claimed the UCI MTB Downhill Junior World Championships Title in Salzburg, Austria, on Sunday morning.

O’Callaghan blasted down the 2.3-kilometre course, dubbed the “Speedster” as speeds approaching 65 km/h on the rough terrain to finish in a time of 4:02.142.

O’Callaghan finished ahead of the British pair Daniel Slack and James Elliott to win Ireland’s first ever Downhill world title at the Mountain Bike Championships.

Limerick’s Oisín O’Callaghan receives his gold medal and World Champion’s rainbow jersey. Credit: UCI.

Speaking after claiming the rainbow jersey, O’Callaghan said:

“I don’t think it’s sunk in fully yet, later on I think it will. It’s a bit overwhelming right now. I think every racer aims to win. But top five would have been really good.”

“Everyone has been sending me messages and hoping that I do well. I know lots of people were watching the live timing.”

Teammate Christopher Cumming posted the second fastest time in qualification on Friday, but had to settle for 21st in Sunday’s final.

Legendary trainer John Oxx announces retirement

Leading Irish racehorse trainer John Oxx has announced his retirement at the end of season.

“In 2021, I will not be renewing my trainer’s licence. It has been my good fortune to have enjoyed a lot of success and trained some great horses,” the statement read.

“I am extremely grateful to all the owners who have sent me those horses to train since 1979, to all the great jockeys who rode them and to all the exceptional staff who have worked for us over the last 41 years.

“Over the years and right up to date I have been privileged to have some wonderful owners and I will greatly miss training for them but now is a good time for me to stop.

“My concern at the moment is that our staff can find alternative employment as our training business will cease at the end of this turf season in November.”

Oxx has trained some of the best horses ever to run with Sea The Stars topping the list. Other horses include Eurobird, Petite Ile, Timarida, Ridgewood Pearl, Sinndar, Alamshar, Azamour.

10 Fermanagh players test positive for Covid-19 leaving some tough decisions

Fermanagh’s upcoming clash with Clare has been cast into further doubt due to 10 Fermanagh players testing positive for Covid-19. In total, 17 players have now been affected, as a further 7 are self-isolating. This news follows the postponement of all GAA activities in Fermanagh by the county board last Wednesday. The game is scheduled to be played in Cusack park, Ennis at 1pm on Sunday 18th October.

This is set to be a crucial game in the battle for survival in Division 2, as Fermanagh sit bottom of the table and Clare currently reside in 6th. However, so far it has been hugely overshadowed by this issue. 

Fermanagh boss Ryan McMenamin confirmed this development on RTE’s Sunday Sport programme, as he struggles to get a team together in time for Sunday’s match-up. Several players are set to finish their isolation period a day before the game.

“There is a lot forgotten about in this pandemic that these lads have actually contracted something”, McMenamin said. “People probably think, ‘ah well, you’ll have the 10 boys back.’ But I can’t expect 10 players to just come back in and play a league game. According to McMenamin his affected players are “totally wrecked”.

 

Competitive Fairness or fulfilment of fixtures at all cost?

The issue here is that it would be unfair to expect players to play a day after an isolation period. Players may have had Covid symptoms and obviously could not train with the group. In the interest of player welfare, it may not be a fair option to play this game on Sunday. However, in a year of uncertainty competitive fairness cannot always be achieved if the GAA is to see out its fixture schedule for 2020. Tough decisions are going to have to be made. It will either result in a disadvantage to Fermanagh with a make-shift squad on Sunday or postponing the fixture which will have a knock on-effect to both of these teams (and probably others) down the line. 

Fermanagh are between a rock and a hard place at the moment, even before we consider that they are bottom of the division on two points. The Erne men deserve a fair chance to stay up, but the GAA will be looking to avoid fixtures chaos before games even get started next weekend. Hopefully a forfeiture of the fixture by Fermanagh will be last resort as it would result in relegation. It will be interesting to see how this situation develops in the coming days.

Jim McGuinness Links up with Galway

Donegal’s 2012 All-Ireland winning manager Jim McGuinness links up with Galway for a training session in Tuam yesterday as shown in a video taken at St. Jarlath’s Park. It is understood that McGuinness was working with the Galway footballers as part of an informal agreement. But, manager Padraic Joyce has not ruled out using the experienced coach again.

At a press conference in Galway GAA’s training centre at Loughgeorge, Joyce commented on the inclusion of McGuinness at the session.

“We’ll have to wait for the feedback, the session only took place yesterday at 2 o’clock, it was over at 4. We need to do an analysis of the session and a feedback from the player and see what way it’s working.”

The video offers no major insight to what McGuinness was working on with the footballers. In fact, it merely shows the players executing a simple hand-passing drill. However, viewers were quick to criticise as there were several dropped balls in the 37-second clip. Contrastingly, it will be no surprise to see the use of this drill spike across the country in the next 12 months.

Mental Toughness

Joyce and McGuinness are old friends. In 1999, the pair were a part of IT Tralee’s Sigerson Cup winning team. Now, in a time when Galway are facing a relentless return to action following a seven-month break, Joyce seems keen to make use of McGuinness’ roots in Sports Psychology.

“The mental aspect in the game is huge nowadays. I just felt that looking round the county he’s in my eyes the best performance coach that’s in the country. He’s been there, he’s done it and he’s very relevant to GAA as you know. He’s won it as a manager himself. I just thought it was a perfect fit, it was a no-brainer for me.”

McGuinness boasts a seriously impressive CV that would be a great addition to any outfit. Specifically, he has added to his two All-Ireland medals (as player and as manager) with stints in the professional game. For example, a spell with Celtic was followed by jobs in China and the US where he put his UEFA A License to use. On the other hand, McGuinness has had no inter-county involvement since the 2014 All-Ireland final loss to Kerry.

Currently, Galway are top of Division 1. Therefore, two good results in their remaining games will see the westerners crowned champions. But, these remaining two games are two of the toughest they’ll have in the league. Firstly, rivals Mayo are the opposition. Secondly, five-in-a-row Championship winners Dublin will attempt to stop Joyce from guiding Galway to a first League title since 1981.

If McGuinness links up with Galway for the remainder of the year, he will provide the players with some valuable mental steel. In a year with a knock-out Championship and ongoing uncertainty over fixtures, this will be a valuable asset.

https://3.249.64.60/gaa/football-league-division-1-final-rounds-preview/

https://3.249.64.60/gaa/football-league-division-1-final-rounds-preview/

https://twitter.com/thomasniblock/status/1315312533574692865

Players called up to Ireland squad for Finland encounter

Five players have been called up to the senior squad amid squad depth crisis

Following Sunday’s meeting with Wales, Stephen Kenny announced he would be calling up additional players for Wednesday’s fixture. “I do, yeah I do… we’ll be addressing that in the next couple of hours” said the Ireland manager after being asked if he would have to make additional call ups. The players that received the call have now been revealed as Dara O’Shea, Jason Knight, Adam Idah, Ryan Manning, Ronan Curtis.

It is Jason Knight’s first call up to the senior squad. The Derby midfielder had previously been selected for the u21s. He will be hoping to get his first cap as well as Ryan Manning and Dara O’Shea, whose form last season will have caught the attention of Stephen Kenny.

Adam Idah had previously been included in the squad before being removed due to close contact with a member of staff who tested positive for covid-19. He has been recalled to the squad following clearance from the HSE. A much needed boost for Stephen Kenny.

The call ups come as a result of 10 players becoming unavailable for selection. The circumstances surrounding the absentees come as a consequence of injury and covid-19 precautions, following positive cases within the camp.

Despite a depleted match day squad, Kenny’s men came out of Dublin with a respectable draw against a Bale-less, but strong Welsh side. Kenny will be hoping he can notch up the first win of his managerial reign against Finland, something he failed to do in their previous encounter. The match takes place at 5 o’clock on Wednesday evening and will be played at the Bolt Arena in Helsinki. Unfortunately for viewers in Ireland, the match will not be shown free to air on Irish television. The match will however be shown live on Sky Sports.

This is the Ireland squad as it stands:

Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (West Ham United), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (Bournemouth).
Defenders: Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Enda Stevens (Sheffield United), Shane Duffy (Celtic, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Kevin Long (Burnley), Cyrus Christie (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Fulham), Dara O’Shea (West Bromwich Albion).
Midfielders: Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa), James McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Jeff Hendrick (Newcastle United), Jayson Molumby (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers), Robbie Brady (Burnley), Josh Cullen (Anderlecht), Jason Knight (Derby County), Ryan Manning (Queens Park Rangers).
Forwards: James McClean (Stoke City), Daryl Horgan (Wycombe Wanderers), David McGoldrick (Sheffield United), Sean Maguire (Preston North End), Shane Long (Southampton), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Ronan Curtis (Portsmouth)

Aaron Connolly rejoins Ireland squad

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Brighton striker Aaron Connolly has rejoined the Irish squad ahead of their Nations League game against Finland on Wednesday.

The 20 year old along with Adam Idah was left out of the squad for the play off against Slovakia due to Covid 19 protocols. The two players were deemed to be close contacts of a non playing member of staff who tested positive in Bratislava.

The case was subsequently found to be a false positive so after consultation with the HSE, Connolly has been granted permission to rejoin the squad as they search for Stephen Kenny’s first win in charge of the senior men’s team.

Idah had already rejoined the squad in the wake of the 0-0 stalemate with Wales on Sunday, while Dara O’ Shea, Jason Knight, Ryan Manning and Ronan Curtis have also been added to the squad for the game in Helsinki on Wednesday.

Updated Rep of Ireland squad vs Finland

Goalkeepers: Darren Randolph (West Ham United), Caoimhin Kelleher (Liverpool), Mark Travers (Bournemouth).

Defenders: Matt Doherty (Tottenham Hotspur), Enda Stevens (Sheffield United), Shane Duffy (Celtic, on loan from Brighton & Hove Albion), Kevin Long (Burnley), Cyrus Christie (Nottingham Forest, on loan from Fulham), Dara O’Shea (West Bromwich Albion).

Midfielders: Conor Hourihane (Aston Villa), James McCarthy (Crystal Palace), Jeff Hendrick (Newcastle United), Jayson Molumby (Brighton & Hove Albion), Jack Byrne (Shamrock Rovers), Robbie Brady (Burnley), Josh Cullen (Anderlecht), Jason Knight (Derby County), Ryan Manning (Queens Park Rangers).

Forwards: James McClean (Stoke City), Daryl Horgan (Wycombe Wanderers), Sean Maguire (Preston North End), Shane Long (Southampton), Adam Idah (Norwich City), Ronan Curtis (Portsmouth), Aaron Connolly (Brighton and Hove Albion).

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