Following Leinster's Champions Cup defeat to Saracens, the next fear is that Ireland will be exposed in the same brutal fashion at an empty Twickenham on November 21st in a rivalry that has swung their way since February 2019. But in his column this morning, Gordon D'Arcy explains; "the 'here we are again' perspective after Leinster's maul and scrum were dismantled presents a seemingly insurmountable problem for Irish rugby. I don't buy that. There are multiple reasons for the season ending so abruptly last Saturday." France's successful bid for the 2023 Rugby World Cup, beating off competition from Ireland and South Africa, is understood to be part of the investigation by French financial police which led to the FFR president Bernard Laporte being called into their Parisian offices for questioning earlier on Tuesday. The organisers of the Pro14 will reveal the fixtures for the first 11 rounds of the 2020-21 campaign, which begins the weekend after next, this afternoon. In order to complete those fixtures, each squad will be obliged to travel separately from the general public, which will mean hiring private charters. Saracens flanker Michael Rhodes's citing for headbutting Leinster centre Robbie Henshaw in their Champions Cup quarter-final match last Saturday has been dismissed, leaving him free to play in this weekend's semi-final.
The Donegal SFC final between Naomh Conaill and Kilcar has been put postponed from next Sunday and will now go ahead in Ballybofey on Wednesday, October 7th. Kilcar confirmed on Monday that a member of their panel had returned a positive Covid-19 test, while the entire Donegal panel are in isolation after one of their squad also tested positive. There are eight players on the Donegal squad from the two county finalists. Tyrone midfielder Colm Cavanagh has announced his retirement from intercounty football, cutting the last link with the All-Ireland winning team of 2008. Seán Moran explains why the fallout from the Tyrone senior football final celebrations will concern the GAA: "this isn't just a problem for Tyrone. What happened in Omagh was amplified by the social media pile-on but after an encouragingly efficient club season, the GAA has entered the period of county finals, where temperatures will run higher than in previous rounds."
Marcus Rashford and Mason Greenwood came off the bench to put some gloss on Manchester United's 3-0 Carabao Cup win over Luton last night. Juan Mata had scored the opener from the penalty spot. West Ham also progressed to the next round of the competition with a 5-1 win over Hull, but prior to their London Stadium kick-off manager David Moyes, Ireland international midfielder Josh Cullen, and defender Issa Diop were sent home after testing positive for Covid-19. Earlier on Tuesday, Leyton Orient's game against Tottenham did not go ahead after the League Two club returned a number of positive tests. Click here for a round-up of all the night's Carabao Cup action. Tonight, Chelsea, Newcastle, Burnley, Fulham, Brighton and Everton are all in action while Leicester take on Arsenal in the biggest clash of the third round - that kicks off at 7.45pm. Live TV coverage of every Premier League match is expected to continue into October after the British government announced the suspension of plans to return fans to stadiums.
Meanwhile, a "readymade" digital passport system to ensure movement of horses in Europe is being lined up if the European Union and UK government can agree a Brexit deal. Today's Guinness Kerry National at Listowel could make an already memorable 2020 even more significant for trainer Eric McNamara, with his son, Conor, on board Internal Transfer for the Listowel festival's €150,000 highlight. Normally a crowd of over 25,000 could be expected to throng into Listowel for the National, which this year will instead be run in front of a maximum of 200 owners.
