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Ireland need to win in Andorra; McIlroy pulls out of Memorial pro-am

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Tonight’s international friendly between Ireland and Andorra kicks off at 5pm (live on RTÉ Two). Photograph: Bagu Blanco/Inpho

Stephen Kenny's Ireland team go in search of the first win of his tenure against Andorra tonight. Anything but a victory for Kenny's side and the wolves will be at the door. It's a great chance to arrest the team's alarming decline in goalscoring - since 2018, Ireland have a meagre return of 21 goals from their 30 games played. From next season fans in the Republic of Ireland will be able to watch every Champions League match free-of-charge via the LiveScore app after the company announced a three-year deal.

Serena Williams' bid for a record 24th Grand Slam rolls into the third round of the French Open after a gritty three-set victory over Mihaela Buzarnescu. It remains to be seen whether she can play herself into form over the coming days and rise to become a true contender for the title, but her effort alone cannot be faulted. In the men's draw Stefanos Tsitsipas was left frustrated despite a 6-3 6-4 6-4 success against Spaniard Pedro Martinez.

Rory McIlroy cited "personal reasons" for pulling out of the pre-tournament pro-am and cancelling a scheduled press conference ahead of the Memorial Tournament. Pádraig Harrington and Shane Lowry are also in the field at Muirfield Village – the Irish duo will be hoping to carry on the momentum which saw them take a share of fourth place ar Kiawah Island last month.

Meanwhile, IRFU performance director David Nucifora says that despite the national team and the provinces appearing to have reached a plateau of sorts in the Six Nations and Champions Cup, Irish rugby "is in reasonably healthy shape".