It’s early days yet in rugby’s Champions Cup, and as Leinster learnt last season, beating La Rochelle in the earlier stages of the competition is no guarantee the journey will end with silverware. But, writes Gerry Thornley, “few away wins can have been as hard-earned, as rewarding, or as significant as Leinster’s tense 16-14 win in the Stade Deflandre on Sunday”.
Caelan Doris conceded that Leinster were “far from perfect”, but “you have to win ugly sometimes”. Not that Ronan O’Gara is waving a white flag. “I think they’re definitely harder to play against, but are they better? We’ll see in May,” he said, hopeful that his side will get “another crack” at Leo Cullen’s crew later in the season, ideally in the final in Cardiff.
It was a good weekend for Munster, John O’Sullivan in Thomond Park to see them beat Saracens, but Ulster suffered their third successive Champions Cup defeat, this time away to Leicester. Connacht had a happier time of it on home turf against Lyon, their 52-24 win securing a last 16 spot in the Challenge Cup.
In Gaelic games, Gordon Manning was in St Conleth’s Park to witness “one of the most dazzling All-Ireland semi-final performances by any pair of brothers in the history of the game”, Ruairí and Darragh Canavan’s brilliance sending Errigal Ciarán in to next Sunday’s club final. There they will meet Cuala who saw off Coolera/Strandhill in their semi-final, King Con O’Callaghan playing no small part in their success.
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And Malachy Clerkin was in Croke Park for the Junior and Intermediate club hurling finals. “These days are the GAA with its nail polish scraped off,” he writes, but both finals were “crackers”, St Lachtain’s and Watergrasshill going home with the trophies.
At the rate Arsenal are going, they’ll be ending the season trophy-less, Ken Early giving his thoughts on their FA Cup defeat to Manchester United on Sunday. Mikel Arteta, he reckons, needs to “back off a little bit and let them play football” – “in Arsène Wenger’s favoured phrase, Arsenal are playing with the handbrake on”. They could do with buying a striker, too.
And in his Tipping Point column, Denis Walsh looks at how, in all sports, players and managers are treading a fine line with match officials, wondering how far they can push them and “bend them to their will”. His solution is simple: start enforcing the rules. “The only way to catalyse meaningful change is with painful consequences.”
TV Watch: The Australian Tennis Open is up and running, Eurosport bringing nigh on unending live coverage from the tournament … although the hours, it being Oz, aren’t exactly handy for ourselves. Along with BBC2, they’re also covering snooker’s Masters through the day, while your football offering this evening ... gird your loins ... is the FA Cup meeting of Millwall and Dagenham & Redbridge (Premier Sports 1 and ITV4, 7.30).
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