Ireland's Six Nations campaign got off to a losing start yesterday, as they were beaten 21-16 by Wales in Cardiff. Andy Farrell's side were left with a mountain to climb after Peter O'Mahony was shown a straight red card in the 14th minute, and yet still came away ruing a number of missed opportunities to seal an improbable victory at a barren Millennium Stadium. O'Mahony was given his marching orders after he made contact with the head of Welsh prop Tomas Francis with his shoulder as he recklessly steamed in to clear out a ruck - he could be suspended for next weekend's clash with France and the third round trip to Rome. While Ireland's Championship hopes have taken a major dent there were positives to take from the performance of their 14-men in the Welsh capital, with Hugo Keenan in particular emerging with credit in the bank, while the Irish lineout looked much improved - the fingerprints of new forwards coach Paul O'Connell all over the set-piece. On Saturday France had started their tournament with a ruthless 50-10 beating of Italy, while Scotland ran out deserved 11-6 winners at Twickenham.
Manchester City won at Anfield for the first time since 2003 yesterday, as they thrashed a sorry Liverpool side 4-1 to move five points clear at the top of the Premier League table. Pep Guardiola's side took the lead early in the second-half through Ilkay Gundogan before Mohamed Salah converted a questionable penalty in the 63rd-minute. However the visitors then turned the screw, with Gundogan, Raheem Sterling and Phil Foden all on the scoresheet. And in his column this morning, Ken Early suggests Liverpool are in need of a rebuild: "Great teams seldom last longer than three years, and if you take the signing of Virgil van Dijk in January 2018 as the moment when this Liverpool side made the leap from good to potentially great, they passed the three-year mark last month." In the day's other games Tottenham steadied the ship with a comfortable 2-0 win over West Brom, Wolves and Leicester played out a stalemate at Molineux and Chelsea were 2-1 winners over Sheffield United at Bramall Lane.
Tom Brady has his seventh Super Bowl ring, after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers dismantled the Kansas City Chiefs in a 31-9 victory on home soil late last night. The 43-year-old Brady threw for three touchdowns as he outshone opposite number Patrick Mahones and lifted the Vince Lombardi Trophy once again, as the Bucs comfortably dethroned the defending champions.
Kemboy put the seal on a golden weekend for Willie Mullins at the Dublin Racing Festival yesterday, as he earned the trainer an 11th Irish Gold Cup. The Cheltenham omens for Mullins are good, with Appreciate It and the seemingly limitless Monkfish justifying odds-on prices to secure Grade One glory.
The Australian Open tennis is underway today - the year's first Grand Slam being played under alien conditions in front of crowds in Melbourne. As Brian O'Connor writes this morning, the tournament can provide "a rare slice of sporting solace."
And Brooks Koepka is back to winning ways after a final round of 65 saw him secure a one-stroke victory in the Phoenix Open in Arizona. Rory McIlroy finished six off the pace despite carding a 64 on Sunday.
