There are just a few days to go now until the domestic rugby season restarts after a long hiatus with Leinster set to face off against Munster at en empty Aviva stadium on Saturday. In France, Ronan O'Gara has had to adapt to the new circumstances at La Rochelle and he says the changed environment Irish teams will now face could be a case of prosper or perish. Saturday's match may have been one of the last in a Leinster jersey for Fergus McFadden but that is now off the table after it was confirmed yesterday that he will be out for six weeks with a calf injury, therefore putting in doubt whether he will line up in a blue jersey again. Moving on and in this week's rugby column, Gavin Cummiskey writes that the IRFU have changed their approach with World Rugby set to extend the residency rule to five years at the end of 2021. He writes that irish rugby is set to evolve with Kiwis and South Africans mostly replaced by English kids with Irish blood flowing through their veins.
Yesterday's news that Barcelona manager Quique Setién is set to be sacked came as no surprise to most but the replacement in the form of Ronald Koeman was perhaps not what most would have expected. However, the former Dutch international is set to take over the job in the coming days with a job of work on his hands at a club that looks to be in turmoil. Meanwhile, Inter Milan booked their place in the Europa League final with ease on Monday night as they breezed past Shakhtar Donetsk to set up a final against Sevilla.The Spanish club knocked out Manchester United on Sunday evening and this morning Jamie Jackson writes that United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer still has a lot of unfinished business on his hands to turn his side into one that wins trophies.
On to golf and Shane Lowry will need to sort out his driving issues at this week's Northern Trust if he is to finish high enough to advance to the second FedEx Cup playoff event, the BMW Championship, next week. Lowry resorted to using 3-wood and on occasion 5-wood in his efforts at the Wyndham, but that tactic won't be feasible at this week's event at TPC Boston in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, in our worst sporting moment series, Malachy Clerkin looks back at the rain-drenched 2010 Ryder Cup which showed off the more farcical, money-racket side of the event at Celtic Manor.
Finally to GAA and the Fixture Calendar Review Task Force will meet tomorrow to look at potentially splitting the club and county season after some recent high profile support for the idea. Last week, GAA president John Horan advocated for the idea and the Club Players Association, which first floated the idea of a split season, also weighed in by calling on this week's meeting to endorse the proposal. Meanwhile, a single Covid-19 case does not require a club to shut down says Dick Clerkin, chair of Croke Park's medical, scientific and welfare committee. "We are not stating that on the basis of a single case, a club goes into lockdown, which we do see on an ad hoc basis. There are also many clubs who don't," Clerkin said.
