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Six Nations Opportunity Knocks for Ireland

 

So where do we stand in the Six Nations? What is the state of the parties when the competition resumes on the 24th of October? 

Despite the pessimism after another bitterly disappointing World Cup campaign, there is light at the end of the tunnel for new Irish head coach Andy Farrell.

Ireland had stumbled through its first three  Six Nations fixtures. In the opening fixture, they were fortunate not to start the campaign on the back foot.  Stuart Hogg was the Scottish pantomime villain. He failed to touch down for what appeared to be a certain try, to gift the home side a fortunate victory.

Their best display came against a jaded looking Welsh outfit. Then they were lucky to escape Twickenham without suffering a heavier defeat. So far so bad. The cards may, however, have fallen nicely for the 2018 Grand Slam winners. Next up is a home banker bonus point against Italy. It could also send their scoring points difference soaring. 

Paris has never been a happy hunting ground for traveling Irish sides. Still, memories of 2018’s epic win are still fresh in the mind. The improving French side is still hugely inexperienced when it comes to winning at this level. There is a tendency for French sides to blow hot and cold. That means they are no certainty to take advantage of home comforts in the Stade de France.

While England are still in the mix, if Ireland wins their last two fixtures they will be crowned champions.  Also, a French loss to Ireland will end their hopes.  Wales and Scotland look set for lower table mediocrity. Italy is guaranteed its perennial wooden spoon.

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS FOR IRELAND
The reality is Ireland is still in pole position to land the latest version of rugby’s Home Nations competition for the 15th time. Ireland has not become a bad side overnight.  

Any side containing the likes of Johnny Sexton, James Ryan, Conor Murray, Peter O’Mahony, Gary Ringrose, and Tadgh Furlong et al, simply has to be respected. Consistency and execution are key for Ireland. Also a fit and firing Sexton and Conor Murray axis.  are key to their hopes of getting the Andy Farrell era off to a winning start.

Beating the French would be just the tonic for the World Cup blues. There is a huge chance for redemption in Paris. It is an opportunity the visitors may well grasp with both hands.

 

Jim Crawford names Republic of Ireland U-21 Training Camp Squad

Republic of Ireland U-21 Head Coach Jim Crawford has named a 25-man squad for a training camp ahead of the crucial qualifiers in October and November. 

The 25-man squad will report for a four-day training camp in Northern Ireland from Monday, August 31 to Thursday, September 3.

Ireland U-21s have three crucial qualifiers in October and November against Italy, Iceland and Luxembourg and the training camp will provide crucial preparation time.

St. Patrick’s Athletic defender Luke McNally receives his first U-21 call-up as well as Southampton duo Will Ferry and Will Smallbone. Watford striker Ryan Cassidy will also report for the U-21s for the first time.

Republic of Ireland U-21 Squad

Goalkeepers: Caoimhín Kelleher (Liverpool), Gavin Bazunu (Rochdale, on loan from Manchester City), Ed McGinty (Sligo Rovers).

Defenders: Lee O’Connor (Tranmere Rovers, on loan from Celtic), Danny McNamara (St. Johnstone, on loan from Millwall), Darragh Leahy (Dundalk), Conor Masterson (QPR), Liam Scales (Shamrock Rovers), Luke McNally (St. Patrick’s Athletic), Nathan Collins (Stoke City), Dara O’Shea (West Bromwich Albion), Thomas O’Connor (Southampton).

Midfielders: Dan Mandroiu (Bohemians), Jason Knight (Derby County), Jack Taylor (Peterborough United), Will Ferry (Southampton), Will Smallbone (Southampton), Conor Coventry (West Ham United), Connor Ronan (Grasshoppers Zurich, on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers).

Attackers: Michael Obafemi (Southampton), Danny Grant (Bohemians), Jonathan Afolabi (Celtic), Zach Elbouzedi (Lincoln City), Neil Farrugia (Shamrock Rovers), Ryan Cassidy (Watford).

Brendan Lawlor to debut on European Tour on Thursday

Irishman Brendan Lawlor will make his European Tour debut when he tees up in the inaugural ISPS HANDA UK Championship at The Belfry on Thursday.

The final event of the UK Swing will see the fourth ranked player in the World Rankings for Golfers with Disability (WR4GD) compete at a regular tour event for the first time.

Lawlor, who has a rare condition called Ellis-van Creveld syndrome, a disability characterised by a shorter stature and shorter limbs, turned professional in September last year having made a huge impact globally on the disabled golfers’ circuit, including winning the 36-hole EDGA Scottish Open in 2019, which was played over the same course as the professionals at the Renaissance Club, concurrently with the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open.

The Dundalk man also competed in the ISPS HANDA Disabled Golf Cup, played alongside the 2019 Presidents Cup in Melbourne, where twelve of the world’s leading golfers with a disability, played the same course and conditions as the pros.

Lawlor has since received a tournament invite on behalf of his sponsor and tournament title partner, ISPS HANDA, as they continue to collaborate with the European Tour in raising the profile of golf as an accessible sport for all through their long-term support of global golf initiatives.

“I am really looking forward to making my European Tour debut at the ISPS HANDA UK Championship and competing alongside some of the best players in the world,” said Lawlor.

“To have the opportunity to represent disability golfers across the world is a fantastic honour and I hope to have a solid few rounds, to showcase that disability golfers are talented in their own right. I can’t thank Dr Handa and ISPS HANDA enough for this wonderful opportunity and for their long-term dedication to disability golf” Lawlor added.

Dr Haruhisa Handa, Founder and Chairman of ISPS Handa, said:

“We are delighted to play a part in Brendan Lawlor’s debut on the European Tour when he competes in the inaugural ISPS HANDA UK Championship. The vision ISPS Handa shares with the European Tour for inclusivity is represented through our incredibly talented ambassador in Brendan Lawlor. We are excited for the inspiration he will bring to many households across the world through the UK Swing’s ‘Golf for Good initiative’.

The ISPS HANDA UK Championship follows the ISPS HANDA Wales Open won by Romain Langasque at The Celtic Manor Resort in Newport last week.

The Belfry is a venue rich in Ryder Cup history having played host to four contests – with Europe triumphing in two (1985 and 2002), the US having won in 1993, and with the 1989 match ending in a 14-14 tie.

Ulster Rugby identified “a number of Covid-19 cases” within its Academy squad

Ulster Rugby has this evening confirmed that it is assisting a group of Academy players after a number of COVID-19 cases were identified within the Academy squad.

Upon identifying the cases, Ulster Rugby states it immediately stood down all training of both the Academy and Senior squads and sought to identify any potential close contacts. All individuals potentially exposed to the virus have already commenced self-isolating.

Ulster Rugby Medical Director, Michael Webb, said: “Following confirmation of multiple Academy players testing positive for COVID-19, we are closely following public health advice in line with the IRFU’s Return to Play protocols. As a result, we have taken a number of precautionary measures as we await the results of further testing. We are supporting the individuals involved and all will continue to be medically monitored.

“Our top priority is to ensure the health and safety of our players and staff, and we will continue to work closely with both the IRFU and PHA as we look to make a safe and measured return to rugby.”

It has also been confirmed that one senior squad member has been identified as a potential contact and has already starting self-isolating.

PCR testing, part of the IRFU’s Return to Play protocols, took place with the Senior squad on Wednesday, with results due to be released tomorrow in line with existing processes in place from previous testing rounds.

Ulster were due to play Leinster at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.

Could Ireland have played better under the Charlton Era?

During the difficult summer, we have had this year, it has brought back nostalgic moments of the Jack Charlton Irish soccer era of the late 1980s and early to the middle of the 1990s.  Ireland was going through a major recession in the 1980s and people’s morale was low.  Jack Charlton lifted the country through football which hadn’t been done before.  

Jack Charlton came in and got Ireland to play in a certain way which he believed was rough but would get the results because that was all that mattered.  Ireland played a long ball and pressed the ball into the opposition half putting them under pressure to make mistakes which would create goals for Ireland.  This worked as Ireland qualified for their first tournaments which were Euro 88, Italia 90, and USA 94.

Though it said that Jack Charlton only believed that Ireland could play a certain way and was criticised by Eamon Dunphy after the Italia 90 draw against Egypt.  They said that Ireland had better players who could play better without diminishing the results instead of playing a certain style.

Jack Charlton sometimes fell out with some of the best Irish players and then left them out of the squad such as David O Leary because he missed an Iceland tournament.

Jack Charlton though picked players on their strengths and improved Irish player’s careers for example bringing in Ray Houghton of Oxford United and John Aldridge of Oxford United who then got bought for Liverpool because of their good Irish performance.  

It’s very easy in hindsight to find criticisms in past sporting decisions, but the truth is that Jack Charlton pushed Ireland’s soccer team into a whole new realm of sports achievement on the world stage.

How The GAA Calendar Can Benefit From 2020’s Improvised Version

In Mayo, the beginning of a standard GAA club football calendar year is marked by the toil of pre-season running sessions in January and early February.

These early training sessions have become such a habitual part of the return to football routine that the question of ‘What are we training for?’ is often overlooked or dismissed. In Mayo, and indeed in all counties, the most common answer will be ‘Championship’. Well for players in Mayo this means a two-month slog from the beginning of February to the first week in April for a single championship game. Following this championship often disappears until the late summer or early Autumn when the inter-county team’s own championship ends.

This has made the improvised 2020 calendar somewhat refreshing. When it seemed unlikely that club players would have any action at all only a couple of months ago, the fact that Mayo’s senior championship will have the quarter final stage this weekend is a revelation of how the season can be played both competitively and concisely. In that same time frame last year there was just two league games for the county’s senior club teams. Granted, there was six games played prior to this but that only adds up to seven games between league and championship in the six months since most teams started training. That leaves almost half of the league games and the majority of the championship to be played in the time between the typical August restart and the middle of October when the senior championship final was played in 2019.

The lack of an inter-county championship in 2020 has proved to be a huge benefit to the already popular club championships across the country. Without inter-county games, all attention is on average club players who put in huge hours just to play football and hurling at the most competitive level they can. This year they have finally been rewarded with just attention. Prior to the decision on August 18th to place all sporting events behind closed doors, people were flocking to local club games. Even after the decision to prevent fans from attending games, RTE and TG4 both provided fans of the GAA with games they can watch.

These complaints are nothing anyone in the GAA has not heard before as it’s long been documented that club players are undermined by the profitable inter-county season. However, if the GAA hierarchy is paying attention this year they will realise that the club championships have the potential to be just as important and profitable to the sport. Not only are there far more games, but when these club championships get the attention they deserve it benefits countless more of the

GAA’s 500,000+ members and recognises the effort both players and volunteers put into the game.
A model of using club leagues as a pre-season that can run parallel to inter-county competitions and then allowing club championships across the country to be played and given deserved prominence would likely yield very few complaints from the average club player. This gives players frequent games and honours their dedication to the game when the championship becomes the centre of attention. It would also allow the GAA club championships to grow to new heights and perhaps even replicate the international popularity that inter-county has gained in recent seasons.

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Cunning Connacht Claim Bragging Rights Over Ulster

Edinburgh’s victory over Glasgow on Saturday night confirmed that Ulster had secured a place in the Pro14 semi-finals which seemingly translated into a sense of security on the pitch and Connacht took no hesitation in exploiting this.

NEW EXPERIENCES 

This was the first time these two teams had faced each other outside of Belfast or Galway and despite the absence of a live audience, a fixture in the headquarters of Irish rugby was a sense of occasion not lost on the westerners. 

Connacht overcame early pressure from Ulster to open the scoring in the 11th minute. Effective carrying and handling from the experienced Dillane and Buckley created space for Jack Carty to release man of the match John Porch, who went over unopposed. It was Porch who again impressed in the 22nd minute by sliding in Marmion with a clever kick to finish a breakaway move. Former Connacht man John Cooney kept Ulster in touch with two successful penalties to leave it 14-6 at half time. 

TIGHT SECOND HALF

After the interval, it was again Ulster who started with more promise and this time converted pressure into points when Burns spun an eye-catching pass to Stockdale who scored a try not dissimilar to Porch’s opener. Burns kicked the conversion himself but left the pitch just three minutes later to mark the second coming of forgotten man Ian Madigan. This was Madigan’s first appearance for an Irish outfit since he left Leinster for Bordeaux in 2016. Madigan was welcomed back to Irish rugby by Bundee Aki who celebrated his 100th Connacht appearance by crashing through the former Bristol Bears man to go under the posts. Madigan did have a chance to highlight his strengths though when he slotted a conversion efficiently after Timoney replied to Aki’s five-pointer. 

Madigan’s return only supplements the wealth of options Ireland currently have for the out-half position. No doubt Madigan will hope to add to his 31 international caps, but he will have to outperform serious competition. At Ulster though he has a great opportunity to forge a partnership with John Cooney who himself is pushing hard for a green Jersey. 

CONNACHT SEAL VICTORY WITH DEBUT TRY

Connacht rounded off a well-balanced performance by sealing their bonus point in the 78th minute thanks to Jack Aungier, another debutant. This win means Connacht can go within a point of Munster in Conference B if they manage to steal a bonus point win against them on Sunday. Meanwhile, Ulster have the freedom to take on Conference A leaders Leinster on Saturday knowing that their semi-final place is secure. 

Bayern Munich win their sixth Champions League final

Bayern Munich won their sixth UEFA champions league title on Sunday the 23rd of August 2020 after they defeated Paris St German 1-0 at the Estádio da Luz stadium in Lisbon, Portugal.  The club also won their second continental treble since the 2012-2013 season winning the Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, and UEFA Champions League.

For the first time ever the match was played behind closed doors because of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Paris St German were hoping to win their first-ever UEFA champions league title on Sunday in their first final appearance, but no doubt it won’t be their last appearance. 

In a close evenly matched contest Bayern Munich scored the only goal of the game through former Paris St German and French international Kingsley Coman.

Hans-Dieter Flick had decided to change his starting side after three games to place his trust in winger Kinglsey Coman instead of Ivan Perisic who had impressed throughout the competition, and Coman was the difference in a close game.

Bayern also had their captain Manuel Neuer to thank with a world-class performance on the night as he pulled off important saves from Neymar and Mbappe in the first half which would have given PSG the lead, and in the last 20 minutes of the game again saving Bayern when Marquinhos looked certain to equalise from close range.

Bayern Munich manager Hans-Dieter Flick never lifted the Champions League trophy before having only appeared in the final once in 1986-1987 as a player losing to Porto 2-1.

Bayern Munich is now the fourth most successful club in the competition’s history level with last year’s winners Liverpool 6, and behind AC Milan 7, and Real Madrid 13.

Players spoke about their delight on Twitter after the win.

https://twitter.com/JeromeBoateng/status/1297659319039725569?s=20

Sir Dragonet purchased to run in Australia

The Aidan O’Brien-trained 4-year-old Sir Dragonet is set to join the Ciaron Maher David Eustace team in Australia, with the son of Camelot set to be aimed at the Group 1 Cox Plate and a potential Melbourne Cup tilt in November.

The Group 3 Chester Vase winner of last year was purchased for an undisclosed amount by Maher and owner Ozzie Kheir who reached a deal with Coolmore to secure the Group 3 winner who was fifth in the Epsom Derby and fourth in the Doncaster St Leger in 2019.

The horse, who will go into quarantine in September ahead of his move Down Under, was second in the Listed Devoy Stakes at Naas, second in the Listed Wolferton Stakes at Royal Ascot and was also second in the Group 3 Alleged Stakes at The Curragh on June 27.

“He’s got a massive pedigree,” said Ciaron Maher’s Racing Bloodstock Manager Will Bourne, before adding “He’s from the family of Galileo and is highly rated. It’s a quality purchase and we couldn’t be more excited.”

Women’s National League – Week 4 Reports

Treaty United celebrated an historic first win in the Women’s National League as they overcame DLR Waves, while Peamount United and Shelbourne also won at the weekend.

Athlone Town 0-3 Shelbourne
On her first start of the season, Noelle Murray put Shels ahead at Athlone Town Stadium when she scored a penalty, awarded following a foul on Jessica Ziu.

The Reds went into this game-week as League leaders and ensured that would remain the same as substitutes Niamh McLaughlin and Kate Mooney added further goals late on.

Dave Bell’s team have started to find their rhythm in their general play but there is still more to come from them with a difficult game against Wexford Youths to come next.

Athlone knew that this was always going to be a massive test for their young side and they will be better for it in the long term.

Bohemians 0-3 Peamount United
Áine O’Gorman continued her quest to win the Golden Boot award for the third time in her career after scoring a brace moved her to four goals for the season.

The Republic of Ireland veteran got the League champions off the mark just before half-time when she converted a penalty past Bohs goalkeeper Courtney Maguire.

Eleanor Ryan-Doyle put Peamount further ahead when connecting with a pass from Sabhdh Doyle before O’Gorman wrapped up the win with a late finish.

While Bohs have lost four straight games, there were signs of improvement and if they trust in manager Sean Byrne then the newcomers should turn things around.

DLR Waves 0-2 Treaty United
A first League win of the season for Treaty United was fully deserved as Dave Rooney’s side played with a real determination to get off the mark.

It was actually the home team who started brightest with the quartet of Katie Malone, Niamh Prior, Kerri Letmon and Nadine Clare all going close in the first period.

Treaty simply responded by applying more pressure and that resulted in them creating some chances of their own with Chloe Connolly threatening to break the deadlock just three minutes before she actually did when scoring from close range.

Almost straight away Treaty got their second goal when Aoife Horgan – a lively striker who is a menace for opposing defenders – slotted in. To make matters worse for DLR, Nicole Keogh was sent off late on.

Wexford Youths’ clash with Cork City was postponed and will be rescheduled in due course.

This week’s fixtures
Tuesday, August 25
Treaty United v Cork City, Markets Field, KO 19:30

Saturday, August 29
Shelbourne v Wexford Youths, Tolka Park, KO 14:00
Peamount United v Athlone Town, PRL Park, KO 18:30

Sunday, August 30
Cork City v DLR Waves, Bishopstown Stadium, KO 14:00
Treaty United v Bohemians, Markets Field, KO 14:00

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