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“We should be able to have a good shot in a lot of stages here” says Sam Bennett

Monaco resident Sam Bennett will cycle on roads very familiar to him when the 2020 Tour de France gets underway in Nice on Saturday.

The Flanders, Belgium-born Irish rider will head the Deceuninck – Quick Step team along with Frenchman Julian Alapjilippe, the man who lead the 2019 Tour de France until the last Friday of the race.

Twenty-nine-year-old Bennett admits that the local roads will pose a test for the participants, jokingly admitting:

“Normally I should be looking forward to the Tour but I know how hard the roads are so it’s going to be difficult, but yes it’s very nice to be racing on ‘home’ roads, well second-home roads.”

With Bennett returning to La Grande Boucle for the first time since 2016, the Irishman feels a sense of excitement with the opening stage quickly approaching:

“I’m excited and looking forward to the race beginning. I’m really excited to be back in the Tour de France especially to be here with this team Deceuninck – Quick Step.”

Along with Julian Alapjilippe, Bennett will be joined on the Belgian outfit by Danes Kasper Asgreen and Michael Mørkøv, Belgians Tim Declercq and Dries Devenyns, Bob Jungels of Luxembourg and Zdenek Štybar from the Czech Republic

With three stage wins in the 2018 Giro d’Italia and two in the 2019 Vuelta a Espana, both for his former team Bora-Hansgrohe, on his palmarès, Bennett is hopeful of adding one at cycling’s biggest event:

“I know we have a fantastic team for this race and we should be able to have a good shot in a lot of stages here.”

According to the team’s directeur sportif Tom Steels, Bennett will, as expected contest the sprints, with the Belgian former professional warning against too high expectations for the Irishman due to the nature of this year’s course.

“In Sam, we have a contender for the bunch sprints,” says Steels, but admits “(it) won’t be so straightforward as in the past, the route being one of the toughest in recent memory. I think there are maximum four clear stages for sprinters spread over the three weeks.”

Michael Mørkøv will act as Bennett’s lead-out man when those few sprinting opportunities will arise. Tim Declercq is expected to be visible to the front of the daily peloton. Dries Devenyns will operate as Alaphilippe’s trusted domestique, with Štybar, Jungels and Asgreen expected to assist the team’s main players as well as look for their opportunity to take a stage victory.

Bennett, who cycled with the An Post-Seán Kelly Cycling Team from 2011-13, has already shown some good form in this interrupted season. He began 2020 winning the inaugural Race Torquay in Australia and also sprinted to the opening stage of the Tour Down Under, in the process becoming the first Irishman to both win a stage and wear the leader’s jersey in the race.

He then won the 164km fourth stage of the Vuelta a Burgos in Spain before successfully completing his Tour de France preparations when claiming Stage 4 of the Tour de Wallonie on August 18.

Bennett will be one of three Irishmen competing in the 2020 edition of the Tour when he will be joined on the starting line in Nice this weekend by cousins Nicolas Roche of Team Sunweb and Dan Martin of Israel Start-Up Nation.

Irish entries for Melbourne and Caulfield Cups

Aidan O’Brien, Joseph O’Brien, Willie Mullins and England-based Fermoy, Co. Cork-born trainer David O’Meara are among the European handlers with entries among the 174 nominations for the 3,200m 2020 Lexus Melbourne Cup which were released this morning.

The O’Briens alone account for 16 of the 30 internationally trained entrants for the 160th Lexus Melbourne Cup, with 25 Group 1 winners among the entries for the AUD $8 million race.

Joseph O’Brien, who became the youngest person ever to train the winner of “the race that stops a nation” when triumphing with Rekindling in 2017, has entered seven horses, five of which are owned by top Australian owner Lloyd Williams.

The Carriganóg handler’s full list of nominations is Bolleville, Buckhurst, Degraves, Master Of Reality (second past the post last year only to be demoted to fourth following an objection), Patrick Sarsfield, Pondus, and Twilight Payment.

Numerically Aidan O’Brien accounts for most of the overseas entries, with 9 nominations. They include 2019 Investec Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck as well as the 2019 and 2020 Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby victors Sovereign and Santiago. The Ballydoyle handler’s team is completed by Cormorant, Dawn Patrol, Mythical, Nobel Prize, Order Of Australia and Tiger Moth.

Ireland’s champion National Hunt trainer Willie Mullins has entered both last year’s VRC Queen Elizabeth Stakes winner True Self and Lonsdale Cup runner-up Stratum, while former jockey and now successful trainer David O’Meara has one nomination in Eagles By Day.

English trainer Andrew Balding’s Dashing Willoughby and Fabrice Chappet’s Australian-owned San Huberto are expected to contest both the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup for the first time this year. They could be joined by horses recently acquired by Australian ownership groups: the former Ger Lyons-trained Nickajack Cave, now with Peter Moody, and former Ballydoyle inmates Sir Dragonet, now trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, and Delphi, now handled by Anthony Freedman.

Australian trainer Danny O’Brien, winner of the 2019 Lexus Melbourne Cup with Vow And Declare, has entered last year’s victor as well as his leading Cup fancy Northern Hemisphere three-year-old Russian Camelot, winner of the South Australian Derby under Cork-born jockey Johnny Allen.

International stables have entered 34 horses for the 143rd Caulfield Cup with 29 individual Group 1 winners among the 177 entries for the AUD $5.15 million Stella Artois-sponsored 2,400m race.

Aidan O’Brien has 13 entries in the Caulfield Cup including six-time Group 1 winner Magical, Japan, Magic Wand and 2019 Epsom Derby winner Anthony Van Dyck. His tranche of nominations is completed by Armory, Dawn Patrol, Mogul, Mythical, Nobel Prize, Order Of Australia, Santiago, Sovereign and Tiger Moth.

Joseph O’Brien has the same seven horses entered for the Lexus Caulfield Cup as he has for the Lexus Melbourne Cup, namely Bolleville, Buckhurst, Degraves, Master Of Reality, Patrick Sarsfield, Pondus andTwilight Payment.

The Willie Mullins pair Stratum and True Self are nominated for the Caulfield feature, as is David O’Meara’s Eagles By Day.

Danny O’Brien leads the Australian charge with a number of high-profile horses including Vow And Declare, South Australian Derby winner Russian Camelot, along with Adelaide Cup winner King of Leogrance and VRC Oaks heroine Miami Bound.

The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained partnership have the most entries in both races with 19 in the Melbourne Cup and 16 in the Caulfield Cup, with Sydney Cup winner Etah James among those to feature in both, while eight of the top 10 placed horses in the 2019 Caulfield Cup have been entered for a tilt at the race again this year.

Weights for both races will be released on Tuesday, 8 September, with first acceptances for the Caulfield Cup on Tuesday, 22 September and the Melbourne Cup on Tuesday, 29 September. Late entries for both races close on Thursday, 3 September.

Irish Rugby set to benefit from Pro 14 revamp

CHEETAH’S AND KINGS OUT.

And then there were twelve. The pro 14 will receive another makeover this season. The South African additions the Kings, and the Cheetah’s exiting the competition for the foreseeable future. 

The announcement that the 14, was heading back to 12 teams came as little surprise. The current global pandemic issues were an obvious stumbling block. 

The Southern Kings, in particular, looked badly out of their depth. They managed to win just four of their 55 fixtures. That coupled with sparsely attended fixtures meant their departure was certainly on the cards. The loss of the Bloemfontein based Cheetah’s is a huge blow to the competition. Their cavalier brand of rugby had been successful in helping them secure a  playoff spot.

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NEW FORMAT RETAINED

The competition will likely retain it’s a much-maligned new format. It is likely to feature six teams in two separate conferences. This is one fewer than the Pro 14  version which had seven in each section. 

The top four in each conference will then contest quarter-finals in the last eight stages. Some former players have been rather scathing about the conference style competition. Welsh wing wizard Shane Williams labeling the format “Shambolic.” 

The latest Pro 14 restructure will likely lead to an eighteen game season. Irish is set to benefit in a big way, in an already jam-packed rugby calendar. Wales, Scotland, and Italy will also be delighted with the new development. The punishing workload on their international players has always been a concern.

The news will be less well received in England and France, where there are 22 and 26 games respectively. There have been many rumblings about the perceived easier seasons for the other competing Six Nations sides. The latest development will have done little to ease their frustrations.

The competition has certainly had a chequered history from its beginning in 1999. It has gone through numerous rebrandings and restructurings in its 21-year history. The arrival of the Kings and the Cheetahs were heralded as a bright new dawn. In truth, the competition has struggled to capture the public imagination.  Their departure will at least have a positive knock-on effect for Irish rugby.

 

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. 

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