It's been an interesting few weeks for Irish rugby and the IRFU in particular as the fallout continues from the letter sent by 62 current and former women's players to the Government about the standard of treatment they have received playing for Ireland. In his column this morning, Gordon D'Arcy writes that Irish rugby can't change the past but it can do things differently in the future. "What is apparent from the Women's World Cup qualification fiasco is that simply throwing money at a problem doesn't guarantee a desired outcome. Without proper investment and vision in our club game, men's and women's, we will always be punching with one hand tied behind our back," he writes. Yesterday, Covid-19 once again played havoc with Leinster's best-laid plans as their St Stephen's Day match against Munster was called off due to a further spread of cases in the Leinster squad.
Moving to soccer and Arsenal swept aside Sunderland in the League Cup quarter-finals last night thanks to a hat-trick from Eddie Nketiah who put down a marker for himself in the forward line with uncertainty still surrounding the future of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. Tonight Tottenham meet West Ham in the quarter-finals and yesterday Antonio Conte didn't hold back in his anger with Uefa for removing Spurs from the Europa Conference League after they were unable to fulfil their fixture against Rennes due to Covid cases. Elsewhere, Liverpool were left disappointed by the decision taken by Premier League clubs not to postpone one round of games during the festive schedule to alleviate pressure on squads caused by rising Covid infections while, in Scotland, the pandemic is hitting the league hard again with clubs now calling for the winter break to be moved forward after it was announced that crowds would be restricted to just 500 people at all matches.
In racing, Irish jockey Freddy Tylicki yesterday won his high court claim against fellow jockey Graham Gibbons for negligent riding which caused Tylicki to fall and suffer life-changing injuries in 2016. The 35-year-old was trampled after falling from his mount, Nellie Deen, during the 3.20pm race at Kempton Park and is now paralysed from the waist down. On Monday, Brian O'Connor wrote the decision in the case could reverberate around sport.
On to cricket and this morning Nathan Johns speaks to Andrew Balbirnie about Ireland's upcoming tour of the US as well as the captain's hopes for an improvement in facilities available to young players in Ireland. "We've banged down the door numerous times about these concerns. We're a full member by name and that's pretty much it in my opinion, for whatever reason that is. I'm not at the top table, I just bring a team onto the pitch and try to win and we have our good days, but we also have our bad days," he says.
