Ireland made it two wins from two in their Euro 2020 qualifying campaign, beating Georgia 1-0 at the Aviva last night. Emmet Malone reports that, amid the tennis ball protests and chants against John Delaney, Mick McCarthy's team played with energy and passion for sure, but they also passed the ball a lot. Ken Early was also impressed with the performance: "Overall it felt like the performance of a team tentatively reconnecting with supporters and with the concept of optimism, and with maximum points from the first two games we can say, for the first time in nearly two-and-a-half years, that things are going our way." Adding to the positivity, Denmark's late comeback seen them draw 3-3 with Switzerland - a great result for Ireland in Group D. Read Patrick Madden's Irish player ratings here.
In his column this morning, Seán Moran explains why next year's new hurling league format is regressive and unfair. He asks: "why dismantle something that may well have been helping level the competitive pitch and install a system that unfairly disadvantages developing counties to serve the interests of the strong?" The Cork county board have confirmed details of this evening's Kieran O'Connor Benefit Game between Cork and Kilkenny, old hurling rivals, set for Páirc uí Rinn at 7.30pm, read more about them here.
Gordon D'Arcy's column this week (subscriber only) asks, who'd be a coach? Only the rarest of souls: "There is constant talk about play-makers like Johnny Sexton being an on-pitch coach, but that's too simplistic a notion to guarantee Johnny's future as an actual "coach". There are plenty of men from my playing days who opted out of attempting the transition. For starters, there are barely any jobs in Ireland, and the hours are unending to the point of insanity. You can never really switch off." Ahead of their Champions Cup quarter-final clash with Leinster this weekend, Ulster captain Rory Best says his team will not be targeting Johnny Sexton.
Meanwhile Tiger Woods will take on Rory McIlroy in the last 16 of the WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play this week if they can both progress from their respective groups. The tournament gets underway today with Woods up against Aaron Wise, Patrick Cantlay and Brandt Snedeker and McIlroy facing Matt Fitzpatrick, Justin Harding and Luke List. Here's everything you need to know about the WGC - World Matchplay.
