The days when Republic of Ireland managers could pack their squads with players from the elite clubs in England’s top flight are, alas, long gone, as Gavin Cummiskey notes “the sight of Irish men at Old Trafford and Anfield year in, year out, are becoming statistical anomalies”. In all, just five of interim gaffer John O’Shea’s squad for tomorrow’s friendly against Belgium have hit double figures in Premier League appearances this season, and four of them are involved in relegation battles. This international window might, then, be a welcome break from that grind, although coming up against the world’s fourth ranked side – admittedly shorn of a star or two – will hardly make it a relaxing one. Gavin previews the game, with Leixlip – in the form of Andrew Omobamidele and Nathan Collins – likely to provide Ireland’s central defensive pairing.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran takes us through the permutations going in to the final weekend of the football league, with Derry and Dublin the most likely pairing for the Division One final, while Gordon Manning hears from Limerick hurling manager John Kiely ahead of their semi-final against Kilkenny. Injury has ruled Kyle Hayes out of the game, but he will be back in action soon enough, Kiely insisting that he wasn’t condoning the player’s actions when he provided a character reference for him during his recent trial for violent disorder.
In rugby, Daire Walsh previews the Irish women’s Six Nations opener away to France, while John O’Sullivan looks ahead to Munster’s URC game away to Ospreys this evening. And Johnny Watterson asks what exactly is a “real rugby fan” in light of our readers’ recent takes on the issue of the Aviva Stadium experience during the Six Nations.
Brian O’Connor, meanwhile, reflects on this year’s Cheltenham Festival and wonders if “jump racing’s greatest meeting is losing its lustre”. “Far too much of last week smacked of the humdrum,” he writes. “In terms of atmosphere and anticipation the sport’s biggest dates were muted to a once unimaginable extent.”
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And in athletics, Ian O’Riordan talks to Sharlene Mawdsley about her recent World Indoor Championships experience, when she was controversially disqualified having thought she’d made the 400m final. She’s put it all behind her, though, and has her sights firmly fixed on qualifying for Paris this summer.
TV Watch: The Republic of Ireland under-21 side, who are one point behind Italy in their group, are away to San Marino this afternoon in their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign (RTÉ News Channel, 5.0). In rugby, Munster are back in URC action with a trip to Ospreys (TG4 and Premier Sports 1, 7.35pm).
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