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Contrasting emotions for Munster and Ulster; GAA does not blink in face of schedule clash

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Stade Toulousain's Alexandre Roumat (left) and Munster's Shane Daly in action. Photograph: Niall Carson/PA Wire

David Gorman's face
David Gorman
Mon Dec 12 2022 - 06:59

Same result but contrasting emotions for Munster and Ulster after opening defeats in the 2022/23 Champions Cup on Sunday as Graham Rowntree is upbeat after a solid performance while a Sale hammering sends Ulster back to the drawing board. Munster at least salvaged a losing point in what was an absorbing 18-13 loss to the five-time winners Toulouse amid a thickening blanket of icy Limerick fog, whereas Ulster host reigning champions La Rochelle next Saturday on the back of a demoralising 39-0 loss away to Sale Sharks.

Gavin Coombes is keeping the faith in Munster’s progress despite the Toulouse defeat, the number eight is aware that Munster performed admirably according to a number of metrics but still made crucial errors. The French side had the upper hand at breakdown, maul and scrum to secure a significant victory. For Ulster, Sale’s power game and the visitors’ ill-discipline, as well as travel disruptions were key to embarrassing defeat. On Saturday, Leinster made a statement with their dominant Racing win in Le Havre as Leo Cullen’s side scored six tries to power their way past their French counterparts.

In today’s subscriber only piece, the clash between hurling and the World Cup final is not a zero-sum game, writes Denis Walsh, as the GAA has decided to make fixtures less flexible, which means more choice for sport lovers. “The GAA came round to the view that they had nothing to gain from blinking in the face of an onrushing ratings juggernaut from another sport,” he writes. In the Ulster club football championship, Malachy O’Rourke and Glen will savour a historic Ulster success. In 2021 the former Monaghan manager took the club to a first Derry title. They will now spend this Christmas as two-in-a-row Derry champions and also as kings of Ulster.

The World Cup semi-finalists are set and after Morocco’s brilliant story, reaching the semi-finals and becoming the first African side to do so, the Moroccan-Irish have said “It’s like Italia 90 but without the drink. It is time to show the French what we can do. We have a long history with them. It is a bit like Ireland versus England. We have something to show them and we know that the whole world will be behind us,” Aziz Khrouch, head chef in a Moroccan restaurant says. To do so, they will have to overcome a strong French side where Antoine Griezmann’s ingenuity could be key to France defending the World Cup. The attacker’s creativity is undimmed despite his positional change, as proven by his two assists against England.

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Nicholas Griggs is disappointed he just couldn’t hold on at the European cross-country championships. The 17-year-old from Tyrone was in that gold medal winning position with the finish line fast approaching in the Under-20 race at the European Cross-Country Championships in Turin. Then, just as that line appeared, he stumbled ever so slightly and with that Britain’s Will Barnicoat came sweeping past to take the win by a single second. It was that close. Meanwhile, the women’s team led a record medal haul for Ireland at the event. Twins Eilish and Roisin Flanagan ran identical times to set up podium finish. And finally, for something different, Irish climber Rory McHugh details climbing Mount Vinson: the closest we’ll ever get to climbing on another planet. Antarctica is the coldest, windiest, driest, highest and most isolated continent on earth.