In his column this morning Gordon D'Arcy has suggested Ireland need to "come up for air," after what has been a largely suffocating first three rounds of the 2019 Six Nations. Joe Schmidt's side have battled their way past Scotland and Italy following an opening weekend defeat to England, and D'Arcy puts this down to dwindling confidence among an injury-depleted squad. He writes: "Losing to England this month, in the manner it happened at the Aviva stadium, sucked the confidence out of Ireland. They have yet to recover. Remember these guys live from contract to contract. Some of them are playing for their very careers. When the collective stumbles it means several individuals are struggling, badly." Ireland have two difficult fixtures remaining in the tournament - France at home followed by Wales away - and D'Arcy believes while the prospect of the defending champions now losing three matches is realistic, there is still a chance to steady the ship. He writes: "It's very hard to turn it around inside the tournament. Maybe Ireland needed this to happen now. We hope so. Maybe they need to bin the 2019 Six Nations. Ideally not. Ideally, the French will bring out a resilience we know they possess."

There were four Premier League fixtures last night, and new Leicester City boss Brendan Rodgers looked on from the stands as his side beat Brighton 2-1 at the King Power Stadium, following his appointment earlier in the evening. Rodgers has been replaced at Celtic by Neil Lennon, who will take charge for tonight's Scottish Premiership trip to play Hearts in Edinburgh. Elsewhere Everton picked up a much-needed 3-0 win away to Cardiff City, while Newcastle United boosted their survival hopes with another victory, at home to Burnley. There was also a rare win for Huddersfield Town, who beat Wolves 1-0 at home. Tonight an injury-hit Manchester United face a tricky trip to Crystal Palace, while Manchester City welcome West Ham to the Etihad. Chelsea face Spurs at Stamford Bridge, Liverpool play Watford at Anfield, Bournemouth travel to Arsenal and Southampton face Fulham at St Mary's.

In his column this morning Seán Moran has looked at the debate over whether or not All-Ireland champions Dublin should be allowed two matches in Croke Park during the Super 8s - one a home fixture, one a neutral fixture. And he writes that while quarter-finals in Croke Park brought in huge crowds and revenue for the GAA during the 2000s, the new Championship format means it no longer has the same pull. "The type of counties who typically make the last eight are no strangers to Croke Park so it's not of itself an attraction. Strip out the sudden death element of the quarter-finals and there's even less reason to attend, especially with two potentially more convenient rounds still to come."

And Henry De Bromhead is yet to decide whether to send Monalee to the Gold Cup or the RSA at next month's Cheltenham Festival, with the type ground awaiting runners at Prestbury Park still a mystery. He said: "We still have to sit down and make a decision, and I'd say we will put it off for as long as we can. I'd say the ground will be a factor. The softer it will be the more likely he'll go for the Ryanair."