Rachael Blackmore sweeps up at awards season; Football mirrors F1 mess

Another day, another award for Rachael Blackmore as she continues to take home new pieces of silverware for what must be starting to look like a very full trophy cabinet. After securing the Irish Times/Sport Ireland Sportswoman of the Year gong on Friday, she followed that up by being named RTÉ Sportsperson of the Year the next day. Last night, in her continuing year of firsts, she was named Ireland's first winner of the BBC World Sport Star award in recognition of becoming the first woman to ride a Grand National winner. Safe to say it's been a busy weekend for the Tipperary jockey, and Mary Hannigan has been keeping an eye on her various TV appearances: "One of the many charming things about Rachael Blackmore is that you always have the notion that she'd rather go through root canal treatment than talk about herself and her achievements, so you can only assume that the last few days have been the stuff of her nightmares. She's no one but herself to blame. Legend."

Ken Early this morning dives into the dramatic affair that was Tottenham's draw with Liverpool yesterday. While certainly a thrilling encounter, it was not without controversy as Harry Kane did not suffer the same fate as the red-carded Andy Robertson for what was arguably a worse studs-up challenge. Early points to that apparent officiating failure and the seemingly endless list of teams that is riddled with Covid problems at the moment to compare the Premier League to last week's Formula One administrative fiasco: "A brilliant game, or an out-of-control mess? Luckily for the Premier League, as for that other global sports content mill Formula One, most people can't tell the difference." You can find a full report of that Liverpool/Spurs draw here.

Speaking of admin problems, Gerry Thornley gives us quite a startling stat this morning. At this point last year, because of Covid issues 20 of the 24 Heineken Champions Cup pool fixtures were able to be completed. This year, that figure has dropped to just 16 from 24, and remember that last season EPCR made the decision to cancel the final two rounds of the pool stage. The signs for the future of the competition this season are ominous. In terms of the provinces, Leinster are aggrieved that their fixture against Montpellier was deemed unsafe even though the week before, Wasps had positive test results on the eve of their Munster game and were still allowed to field a weakened side instead of being forced to concede the points. Elsewhere, Ulster secured a bonus point win at home to Northampton, Munster battled past Castres at Thomond Park while Jack Carty continued to solidify his Ireland credentials with an assured performance that secured what could be a crucial losing bonus point for Connacht point away to Premiership leaders Leicester.

All-Ireland champions Ballyhale Shamrocks sent out a big statement for the defence of their crown after a 6-23 0-14 win over Clough-Ballacolla secured another Leinster hurling title. As losing manager Declan Laffan admitted: "They're ruthless. They tore us to shreds." In tennis news, the Peng Shuai case took another turn yesterday as the Chinese star gave an interview in which she denied ever making allegations of sexual assault against a state official. Her comments appeared to contradict a November social media post which sparked global outcry and concern for her safety and freedom.