After 13 years in football's top division, Dublin will play in Division Two of the national league in 2023. Jack McCarron's late heroics preserved Monaghan's eight-year residency in the division, and that final act in Clones ended with Dublin being joined by Kildare on the down escalator, leaving Division One without a Leinster team for the first time in the history of the GAA's hierarchical league structure. Roscommon secured their promotion to Division One with a five point win over Galway, while Cork played their get out of jail card as they edged a dramatic clash against Offaly, with the latter relegated. Waterford ripped Wexford asunder as they coasted to an eventual 19-point victory in Sunday's totally one-sided hurling league semi-final.
Plans that would enable clubs to qualify for the Champions League based on historical performance and not their league position are back on the table, a year after the collapse of the European Super League. In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Ken Early explains a draw against the world's top-ranked side, Belgium is a cause for cheer for Stephen Kenny's Ireland team, but tighter defensive play is required. "Just a few short years after Martin O'Neill was explaining that Ireland could never achieve anything without "a prolific goalscorer", Irish optimism is approaching the heights of 2002," he writes. "We feel like we have a future again. It's the sweetest illusion in football, so enjoy it while it lasts."
Following their heavy URC defeat to Leinster on Saturday, Connacht find themselves at a low ebb. And with the defining part of their season upon them, head coach Andy Friend knows it: "I'm a bit flat to be honest but listen I've been in this game long enough. I won't hang onto that for too long. I'll wake up tomorrow and the sun will shine and we'll go again. We live to fight another day. That's our job to pick them up and we'll definitely do that." English Rugby Football Union chief executive Bill Sweeney has revealed that an English candidate would be the overwhelming preference to replace Eddie Jones when his contract expires after the 2023 World Cup.
Meanwhile, Max Verstappen claimed the first victory of his title defence at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following a thrilling battle with Charles Leclerc which went to the wire. Lewis Hamilton, who started only 15th following one of the worst qualifying performances of his career, finished 10th on an evening to forget for the seven-time world champion.
