Johnny Sexton's inability to kick creates a conundrum for Ireland. The experienced outhalf was held back from training on Tuesday at the Yumera Grounds in the isolated Iwata outpost of Shizuoka. And Gavin Cummiskey is calling for Joey Carbery and Jack Carty to both see game time against Japan, he writes: "That's the reality – at his third major tournament, Ireland's star turn is struggling with injury." Rob Kearney expects Japan to pose a bigger threat than Scotland did, while he says he was impressed by the performance of his deputy Jordan Larmour during that first win against the Scots. Gerry Thornley is intrigued by Ryohei Yamanaka's journey to his first Rugby World Cup at the age of 31 - he was suspended for two years after failing a random drugs test in April 2011. Yamanaka claimed to have used a cream containing steroids to grow a moustache. Keith Duggan was at the England press conference ahead of their second match against USA tomorrow morning. He heard from Eddie Jones: "the great survivor of rugby union is back in Japan for the long haul."
In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Gordon D'Arcy is focusing on the All Blacks - New Zealand are ahead of the curve again he believes: "Maybe we'll have to split New Zealand into two islands to deny them the drive for five." While former referee Owen Doyle explains why a red card is not a referee issue – it's a player/coach issue: "If a player merits a red card, then please don't shoot the referee – he is but the messenger. There must, of course, be a balancing factor here. If the referee gets it wrong then he should suffer a significant consequence."
Last night in the English League Cup there were penalty shootout wins for League Two teams Colchester and Crawley, against Tottenham and Stoke City respectively. While holders Manchester City were 3-0 winners at Preston - read the night's round up here. Young Irish striker Troy Parrott made his full debut for Tottenham in the defeat, but Emmet Malone explains, "it was no dream debut for the Irishman who couldn't quite convert the best opportunity to come his way over the course of the evening, a cross from Eric Dier in the 53rd minute that the young striker headed narrowly over." Michael Obafemi also got a start and an assist in Southampton's derby win over Portsmouth.
Meanwhile Ian O'Riordan is writing about the Doha World Championships - which open this Friday - and how they are presenting a unique set of challenges: "poor ticket sales, stifling heat and a general apathy towards the sport on the tiny Arab peninsula will be in direct contrast to the last World Athletics Championships staged in London, in August 2017, where the overall attendance at the Olympic Stadium topped 700,000, an average of 70,000 per day, comfortably bettering the previous record of 417,156 sold for the 2009 championships in Berlin."
