11 games down and the wait still goes on for Stephen Kenny to win a match as Ireland manager. Last night's 1-1 draw with Qatar – which saw Ireland start well and score early through James McClean before fading in the second half – certainly revealed some more positives than Saturday's loss to Luxembourg but the fact is that Kenny will have to continue answering these questions until his efforts with this team finally pay off with a win. But answer the questions he will and last night he showed that he's not afraid to hit back a little when he came out defiantly in his post-match press conference. "There are people coming out of the woodwork wanting to kick us while we are down. That's been very evident and maybe it is to be expected but it doesn't hurt me because I don't care," he said. It's a mark of just where this Ireland team is at no matter what manager is in charge that just four of the starting 11 from last night play in the Premier League and, at that, three of those play for teams in the bottom six. There is plenty of work to be done and two friendlies in June during a training camp in Spain might give us an indication of whether that's coming to fruition. For more on last night's match you can read our player ratings, while Mary Hannigan writes that, at the current time, we'll take what we can get.
Moving on to rugby and in his column this morning Gordon D'Arcy writes that Johann van Graan's performance as Munster coach must come under stern review with a team which D'Arcy says he has no reason to hate anymore – and that's a problem. "To be honest, I am quietly rooting for them to be better than their latest inept display because this rivalry, at its worst, generates feelings of hatred between the players and the fans," he writes. After that loss last week it's a wounded Munster who will face Toulouse in the Champions Cup this weekend but Stephen Larkham was keen yesterday to stress the positives. For Leinster the success just keeps on coming and whether they can match it in European competition is now the next question. One man who will be key to that is the increasingly impressive Hugo Keenan who, Johnny Watterson writes, is proof that Sevens into 15 does go.
On the Covid-19 front it was announced yesterday that golf courses in Ireland can reopen next month but not until April 26th – further lengthening what is the longest closures any courses around the world have faced. While we await specifics from Golf Ireland on how play will resume clubs at least now have a set date for reopening their doors while tennis clubs will also be allowed to open again on the same date. A week before that GAA intercounty training is allowed to resume and last night the Association warned teams that there is no room for jumping the gun and starting early. In his column this morning Seán Moran writes that the GAA is again set to make the best of historically challenging times as intercounty fixtures will have to overshoot the return of club activity.
