Stephen Kenny's reign begins with a disappointing draw in Sofia, but the new Ireland manager feels his team dominated more than enough of last night's game to deserve their late equaliser. Captain for the night, Shane Duffy got on the end of Robbie Brady's 90th minute corner with a bullet header to secure a 1-1 draw against Bulgaria in their Nations League opener. Ken Early (Subscriber Only) early reflects on the opening night of a new era, beginning with the oldest of old-school equalisers: "As the team tries to develop new ways to attack, it was comforting to be reminded that there's at least one old way we can still fall back on."
Gerry Thornley believes a more clinical Leinster have greater room for improvement and is backing them to beat Munster in tonight's Pro14 semi-final at the Aviva Stadium. In his match preview and prediction he explains: "while Munster may benefit in some respect from an unchanged backline for the third game running, Leinster may have more scope for improvement." The midfield battle between Chris Farrell and Garry Ringrose will be key - read John O'Sullivan's head-to-head guide of the two in-form Irish centres here. Patrick Madden has gathered all the team news, TV details, kick-off time, betting and weather latest, all you need to know and you can read it here.
Rory McIlroy says it will be the "icing on the cake" if he can retain his Tour Championship title just days after becoming a father for the first time. The fortuitous timing of his daughter Poppy's birth meant that McIlroy could make a somewhat reluctant late arrival in Atlanta where – under the controversial handicap system – he will begin the Tour Championship (the conclusion of the megabucks FedEx Cup) on three under par, seven shots behind FedEx Cup leader Dustin Johnson. With the dark clouds spitting out rain, Simon Thornton produced as fine a finish as you'd see, as he rolled a 35-footer from off the first green to defeat Colm Moriarty at the first hole of sudden-death to claim the Irish PGA Championship. Jonathan Caldwell was the best of the Irish golfers on a tough day for scoring at the Andalucia Masters on Thursday, while France's Julien Quesne holds the first round lead at the Northern Ireland Open at Galgorm Castle with Conor O'Rourke from Kildare leading the home challenge with a solid 69 to lie just three shots adrift.
Meanwhile, in the Tour de France Irish rider Sam Bennett comfortably defended his green jersey, the Deceuninck-QuickStep rider gaining another three points on his rival Peter Sagan after finishing ahead of him at the intermediate sprint at St-Hippolyte-du-Fort at 125.5km. Nicolas Roche also made Thursday's presentation podium as the most combative rider of the day – the "antargaz" – which is decided by a jury of four cycling experts shortly before the stage finish.
