Now is not the time to cut Italy adrift; Vera Pauw’s Ireland back in action

It didn't take long for the annual debate on Italy's Six Nations participation to resurface, just two defeats in fact. Gerry Thornley's column this morning delves into all the reasons why the idea of replacing them with South Africa is wrong on so many levels. It doesn't help that the sport is not played in Italian schools, there has been a lack of investment in academy structures and that other Italian sports have been booming while the rugby side languishes in an awful losing run, but there are still green shoots to be found. In today's other rugby column, Owen Doyle revisits some of the more interesting officiating decisions form Ireland's defeat to France, including the try-scoring pass from Romain Ntamack to Antoine Dupont that looked forward, but wasn't actually: "Many, many passes are caught well in front of the point at which the pass was delivered - it's all about the physics law of relative velocity, with the ball travelling forward through the air simply because the passer is running forward."

Vera Pauw's Ireland are back in action today in the Pinatar Cup, taking on Wales in the tournament's third-place playoff. Despite the competition at times allowing for opportunities to test out new faces and combinations in the side, Pauw is treating this final fixture in the same way she would one of Ireland's upcoming qualifiers: "Tuesday we go for the win and we go for the best team with the best balance. It will be a team that we would line up for a qualifier." One new option who is likely to still be in the side is goalkeeper Megan Walsh who has impressed since linking up with the squad from England. Over in the Premier League, Romelu Lukaku's record low of just seven touches against Crystal Palace displays that Thomas Tuchel still hasn't cracked how to get the best out of his Belgian striker.

Rory McIlroy made headlines on Sunday night after appearing to give the last rites to the breakaway Saudi tour once it emerged that both Dustin Johnson and Bryson DeChambeau committed to the PGA Tour. However, he went one step further with comments on Phil Mickelson, the highest profile player still linked with the new tour, emerging yesterday. Mickelson of course courted controversy when publicly acknowledging Saudi Arabia's poor human rights record while still seeming to suggest that his gripe with the PGA Tour came before that in terms of importance. McIlroy did not hold back in his reaction to his colleague's strange words: "Naive, selfish, egotistical, ignorant . . . it was just very surprising and disappointing, sad. I'm sure he's sitting at home sort of rethinking his position and where he goes from here."

The move for the integration of the GAA, LFGA and Camogie Association gathered further steam yesterday when Tom Parsons, chief executive of the GPA, outlined his support for Motion 33: "The motion is about integration, but also to ensure equal opportunity for every GAA player, girl or boy, man or woman. Morally and culturally it's the right thing to do, but it also creates great opportunities, to further propel the GAA as one of the greatest sporting organisations in the world. The one thing that's holding the GAA back is that it represents boys and men only."