Ireland kick off their Uefa Nations League campaign tonight with a trip to Cardiff to face familiar foes Wales. With a long list of Irish injures to factor in (Preston's Alan Browne became the latest player to be ruled out of the game on Wednesday), Martin O'Neill says his team intend on winning but would be pretty happy to head for home with a solitary point. First things first though, how does the Nations League even work and what's it got to do with qualifying for the next Euros? Patrick Madden explains all . . .
Kevin McStay has stepped down as Roscommon senior football manager, after meeting with county board officials earlier on Wednesday, and afterwards releasing a 1,400-word statement outlining his reasons. This week's GAA Statistics column looks at how Gaelic football has changed over the past 10 years: "The highest number of passes in a single play in the 2008 final was nine. On only six occasions did either team make more than five consecutive passes. This year Dublin made 29 passes in one run of possession – which ended with Brian Fenton's second point."
Europe's Ryder Cup captain Thomas Bjorn has named Paul Casey, Sergio Garcia, Ian Poulter and Henrik Stenson as his four "wild card" picks to complete his 12-man line-up to face the United States at Golf National in Paris later this month. Philip Reid explains, "rather than going for a mix and match, or adding some spice to old ingredients, Bjorn stuck with a generation of his peers."
The IRFU have confirmed Ireland's pre-Rugby World Cup schedule - they will play four fixtures in August and September 2019 in preparation for the competition in Japan. The series opens with one against Italy in Dublin, a second against England in London and two against Wales, home and away.
In her column this morning, Sonia O'Sullivan asks when is it not okay to assist another athlete in distress? She's reflecting on an incident she encountered during the recent Australian national cross-country championships: "What I couldn't understand is why any young athlete, falling to the ground, pulling herself up and eventually crawling across the finish line, would even care if she was disqualified, a race she would probably rather forget than be reminded of because her name still appears in the results."
