Rugby’s bomb squad? In Owen Doyle’s view, it’s time to defuse it. He agrees with Keith Wood’s analogy on its use, it being like a fresh fighter entering the ring in a heavyweight contest, just as some inroads were being made against the initial but tiring opponent. World Rugby’s specialist group is studying the whole issue of replacements, and Owen is very much hoping they’ll call a halt to the practice of packing benches with fresh forwards. “The current use of the bench in the form of bomb squads is the unintended consequence of over-generous replacement laws,” he writes. “When these laws were framed, nobody envisaged where it would end up.”
Gerry Thornley, meanwhile, looks at the current state of play in the battle for Leinster and Ireland’s number 10 shirt. “Based on Andy Farrell’s summer choices, the pecking order in green is Jack Crowley, Ciarán Frawley and Sam Prendergast, in that order.” Has that changed in recent weeks?
After his trip to South Africa with Emerging Ireland, Prendergast is an option to start against Connacht next Saturday after Tyler Bleyendaal, Leinster’s new backs coach, checked on his condition. “I asked him: ‘Mate, are you still walking?’ He looked at me and said: ‘Yeah, not a problem’.”
Ireland’s footballers, alas, have limped through much of their Nations League campaign, Gavin Cummiskey hearing from Heimir Hallgrímsson after the defeat to Greece. “It was Christmas in October again,” said the manager of yet more costly errors, “we’re giving too many gifts.”
Your complete guide to all the festive sporting action including TV details
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Back home, we have a league title race that nobody appears to want to win, Arthur Duffy in attendance when Derry City were the latest challengers to stumble in their 1-1 draw at home to Sligo Rovers.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran hears from Pádraic Joyce ahead of him leading Connacht in to this weekend’s trialling of the new rules proposed by Jim Gavin’s Football Review Committee, and he also talks to Loughmore-Castleiney manager Eamonn Kelly after his side’s Tipperary hurling triumph. And Paul Keane gets Michael Fitzsimons’ thoughts on the challenge Cuala face when they come up against Kilmacud Crokes in the Dublin Senior Football final on Sunday.
In athletics, Ian O’Riordan reports on the efforts being made to ensure that this month’s Dublin Marathon will be a clean race, two of its recent champions provisionally banned for doping offences in August. And in horse racing, trainer John ‘Shark’ Hanlon is awaiting a decision on his appeal against a 10-month suspension, Brian O’Connor updating us on the case.
TV Watch: It’s D-Day for the Republic of Ireland under-21 team who take on Italy in Trieste in the final game of their Euro 2025 qualifying campaign (RTÉ 2, 5.30). They’re three points behind the Italians but a win would see them top the group on their head-to-head record - a defeat would leave them looking over their shoulders at Norway who would overtake them if they beat Turkey, thereby securing second in the group and a play-off place. Light your candles.
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