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Man United scrape through in FA Cup; Ruddock in line for first Six Nations start

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United team are into the last eight of the FA Cup. Photograph: EPA
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s Manchester United team are into the last eight of the FA Cup. Photograph: EPA
Wed Feb 10 2021 - 07:13

Manchester United are into the quarter-finals of the FA Cup after a 1-0 extra-time win over West Ham. Seven minutes into extra time Scott McTominay scored the winner to save the disappointing hosts from a penalty shootout. United and Arsenal will play the first legs of their Europa League last-32 matches at neutral venues in Italy next Thursday due to strict quarantine restrictions in the UK and Spain. Dubliner Shane Flynn will get another shot at a first-team debut in Leicester's FA Cup fifth-round tie against Brighton tonight.

Following Peter O'Mahony's three match suspension the Irish coaching staff will most likely give Rhys Ruddock his first ever Six Nations start against France on Sunday, or switch Tadhg Beirne to the blindside. The neurologist who recommended that Johnny Sexton be stood down from rugby for 12 weeks in 2014, due to repeated brain injuries, believes that the Ireland captain has sustained "30 concussions". In his column this morning, Gordon D'Arcy explains why Ireland's lack of succession planning around number 10 is an indictment of the system: "An impossible selection awaits for Farrell; stick with Burns despite mounting evidence that he lacks the calmness or accuracy required to soften the cough of a rampant France or switch back to Ross Byrne, again."

Seán Moran believes the GAA's role in national response to the Covid crisis has generally been a positive one: "The GAA ultimately emerged from 2020 with a good deal of credit, having guided to a conclusion two All-Ireland championships by the end of the year despite the absence of crowds and the consequent financial difficulties."

Meanwhile, Pádraig Harrington has been forced out of the AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am tournament after testing positive for Covid-19, with the 49-year-old Dubliner going into self-isolation as part of the PGA Tour's protocol. With five weeks to the start of Cheltenham Willie Mullins will come in off the back of winning nine of the 15 races at last weekend's Dublin Racing Festival in Leopardstown, leaving him in the remarkable situation of having clear favourites for 12 of the 28 races.