In his column this morning Gordon D'Arcy has picked the bones out of Ireland's defeat to England last weekend, and has suggested a change of personnel is necessary if Andy Farrell's side want to avoid the same fate when they travel to Paris in the final round of the Six Nations. He writes: "It was all too predictable. The same pack, and largely the same team, that failed at the 2019 World Cup could not turn the page," and he says that, "change was advisable before this moment, now it is inescapable." D'Arcy believes that while Farrell should avoid anything knee-jerk, he must freshen his side up before the trip to the Stade de France on March 14th - especially in the backrow: "Instead of stewing over who should make way from Stander, O'Mahony and van der Flier, how about sitting them all down and taking a good look at Doris, Max Deegan and Will Connors?" One player who is beyond reproach however is James Ryan, who delivered another mighty performance in the face of an English onslaught: "Ryan was picking all the fights and, to my eyes above the halfway line, he was the only angry Irish man. That's not good enough at Twickenham."
Elsewhere and Ireland's penultimate Championship clash against Italy on Saturday March 7th is under threat due to fears over the coronavirus, with Minister for Health Simon Harris recommending the game be postponed. Harris's recommendation came on the RTE Six One news yesterday evening with the IRFU later releasing a statement saying they were seeking "an urgent meeting with the Irish government to discuss the matter further." That meeting is set to take place today, with fears arising over the 2,500 tickets which have been sold to Azzuri fans as well as the high number of flights from Dublin to affected areas in Italy. If the game does go ahead, Ireland will be without prop Cian Healy, who will miss the rest of the Six Nations with a hip injury he sustained in the 24-12 defeat at Twickenham.
Chelsea's European campaign is all but over after they were comprehensively outplayed and outclassed by Bayern Munich last night, the German champions running out 3-0 winners at Stamford Bridge. Frank Lampard's side reached half-time with the game goalless but a quick-fire double from Serge Gnabry and a third from Robert Lewandowski saw the Blues blitzed, with Bayern all but securing their place in the Champions League last-16. Marcos Alonso's late red card added insult to injury. In the night's other game, Antoine Griezmann earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw away to Napoli with his second half strike. Tonight Juventus travel to play Lyon and Manchester City are away to 13-time winners Real Madrid. Pep Guardiola's side could be playing their penultimate game in the competition until 2023, after the two-year Champions League ban handed down by Uefa for breaking financial fair play rules.
In his column this morning Seán Moran has given his assessment of the Football and Hurling seasons so far - including the start of Dessie Farrell's Dublin tenure. He writes: "Progress on the field has been fitful but performances resilient. Reminiscent of 2017, when Dublin extended their unbeaten run to a record 36 matches, but along the way scrambled three draws to preserve that status, the current campaign has seen bad starts needing to be overcome and breathless finishes. But Farrell isn't giving the impression that this is his priority."
And with less than two weeks to go until the 2020 Cheltenham Festival, Irish racing authorities have said they have had no contact from their British counterparts in relation to any measures which might have to be put in place due to the coronavirus. The Festival starts on Tuesday March 10th.
