Today’s rugby landscape is abuzz with several updates, both at the club and international levels, to dive into. Gerry Thornley anticipates Caelan Doris being announced as the permanent captain of the Irish team when the roster for the forthcoming Autumn Nations Series is revealed later today. Thornley also attempts to predict the composition of the squad, indicating that young Leinster hooker Gus McCarthy could be a potential surprise inclusion.
In other significant news, it’s reported that Johnny Sexton has been asked by the Irish administrators to undertake a part-time mentoring role for the Irish fly-halves. Concurrently, his ex-Leinster manager, Leo Cullen, has consented to a fresh two-year contract extension to hold his role as the head coach of the province until the culmination of the 2026-27 season.
The early-season performance by RG Snyman for Leinster has been so impactful that the region may be tempted to extend his contract until 2037, an opinion expressed by Gordon D’Arcy, who is impressed by the player’s performance, citing his growing importance to Leinster’s game.
Graham Rowntree would probably love to have Snyman back in red, particularly as his presence could be instrumental in resolving Munster’s line-out issues. Rowntree is looking forward to a significant enhancement in this field when they face off against the Sharks in Durban this Saturday. Concurrently, Ulster is eyeing their third consecutive URC victory in Cardiff this coming weekend; Richie Murphy perceives a few of his team members have shown their prowess for Irish selection.
In related news, the Republic of Ireland’s football team will have to cope without Louise Quinn and Megan Connolly in their Euro 2025 playoff semi-final duel against Georgia. However, Aston Villa’s Anna Patten is fit and raring to go. She anticipates a thrilling match-up, the initial leg commencing in Tbilisi on Friday.
Former Irish sportsperson Karen Duggan, despite feeling exhausted from her victory at the Kilkenny senior camogie championship on Sunday, expressed her concerns about the separation between the Irish football league and the national team. Duggan commended Ciarán Kilduff for his public remarks on this matter, following his part in leading Athlone Town to win their title recently.
Turning to Gaelic sports, journalist Gordon Manning has reported that the Gaelic Players’ Association continues to support the cancellation of the pre-league competitions scheduled for January, even though there’s a growing demand for their revival. Manning also highlighted another scheduling conflict issue; this time, 10 players from Abbeydorney were forced to decide whether to participate in either a football or camogie semi-final in Munster on the upcoming Saturday.
In the realm of golf, Portmarnock is on the path to making history as potentially the first club in the Republic of Ireland to hold The Open for both men and women, following the Cabinet’s endorsement of their application. More details on this are provided by Philip Reid.
On the television front, today’s top Champions League match seems to be between Barcelona and Bayern Munich (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 4, 8.0). Also on the schedule, Celtic are playing against Atalanta (Virgin Media Two and TNT Sports 4, 5.45), and later at 8.0, we have Leipzig v Liverpool (RTÉ 2 & TNT Sports 1) and Manchester City v Sparta Prague (Virgin Media More & TNT Sports 2).