The news came as a shock to teammates and fans alike yesterday when CJ Stander revealed that this Saturday's Six Nations meeting with England would be his last in an Ireland jersey before he retires at the end of the season. The South African admits that the lure of home is too much after nearly nine years wearing the red of Munster. In his column this morning Gordon D'Arcy writes that Stander has been central to all of Ireland's great days since 2016 and his making the three-year residency rule a genuine success is one of his greatest achievements. "Getting paid to play rugby is not indefinite. The automatic assumption is that you play for as long as possible. It is refreshing to see a player step away when they are ready, and with no regrets," D'Arcy writes. Saturday's match could see the return of Stander's Munster teammate Peter O'Mahony who has finished his three-match suspension and says that the red card he received against Wales can't take away from the physicality of his game.
On to racing and day two of the Cheltenham Festival will get underway on our liveblog at 1pm today with the Champions Chase set to take centre stage. It's the only major race Willie Mullins still does not have on his CV and that may change today if Chacun Pour Soi lives up to billing at Prestbury Park. Meanwhile, it's also a potentially big day for fan favourite Tiger Roll who bids for a fifth success at the festival but with doubts surrounding how much longer the horse will race for. "With four previous Cheltenham victories already to his credit, including twice in the Cross-Country, the festival looks the ideal test of whether the little star's heart is still in the game," writes Brian O'Connor. Yesterday Rachael Blackmore made history by storming home on Honeysuckle to take the Champion Hurdle and afterwards the Irish jockey said such success was beyond even her wildest dreams.
In soccer, Manchester City booked their Champions League quarter-final spot yesterday with a comfortable win over Borussia Mönchengladbach thanks to goals from Kevin De Bruyne and Ilkay Gundogan at the Puskas Arena in Budapest. In the night's other match Real Madrid looked equally as comfortable in seeing off Atalanta to seal their spot in the last eight.
Moving to golf and Tiger Woods has returned home to Florida after his surgery and subsequent rehabilitation following a near-fatal car crash in Los Angeles last month. Woods, who was treated at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center as well as Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, thanked his medical team as well as his fans for their well wishes.
Finally to athletics and Ian O'Riordan writes this morning that the September completion date is still on the cards for the new UCD athletics track, a year later than planned and nearly 10 years since the track suddenly closed.
