Soccer: Champions League
The Champions League returned to us last night with the first two of the last 16 matches commencing. The main event was the meeting of Chelsea and PSG, the Londoners having knocked the French team out of the competition last year. Manager José Mourinho will be happy with his team's lot so far in this year's tie also as they came away from Paris with a point and an away goal.
It could have been more though only for Edinson Cavani capitalising on a defensive error to cancel out Branislav Ivanovic’s opener in the second half.
Bayern Munich were odds on to ease past Shakhtar Donetsk, yet they too could only muster a point from their first leg match, played in sub-zero temperatures against the plucky Ukrainian side. Xabi Alonso's dismissal aided Shakhtar's cause in the game played in Lviv, 600 miles west of Donetsk, after the home side's stadium was shelled in August.
Rugby: Six Nations
Ireland's outhalf Jonathan Sexton will play for Racing Metro 92 in their Top14 clash with Clermont Auvergne on Saturday night, keen to feature for the French club in what will be only his 11th game this season for them. In a clash of heads against France last weekend he had to have six stitches to close a gash over his eye.
Looking ahead to the next Six Nation fixture, the following weekend against England, and their manager Stuart Lancaster has revealed that while fullback Mike Brown’s concussion has restricted him from training he does still hope that he will be fit for the trip to the Aviva.
Ireland may have just cemented somewhat comfortable back-to-back Six Nations wins, extending their winning streak to one short of ten, nonetheless in a World Cup year many are still expecting more from the reigning Six Nations winners. In an interesting statistical analysis of winning streaks in this morning's paper it's easy to forget that such long runs of consecutive wins have historically been hard earned by Ireland. After 10 straight wins in 2003, President Mary McAleese was forced to walk on the grass as England ended the Grand Slam dream with 36 points to spare.
GAA: Role reversal
In an interesting new TV3 series due to air in early March former Armagh footballer Aaron Kernan will try his lot at professional soccer with English club Sunderland, as former England soccer international David Bentley is welcomed into Kernan's hometown of Crossmaglen to try his lot at being a gaelic footballer. If it were 20 years ago he may not be so welcome Kernan admits.
Also taking part in the programme will be Kilkenny’s eight-time All-Ireland medal winner Jackie Tyrrell who will team up with a Major League baseball team in Florida, as All Star baseball player Brian Schneider trades places with him.
The reigning All-Ireland champions have been hit today though by the news that midfielder Conor Fogarty looks likely to miss the rest of the league. The Irish Star have reported that a scan yesterday revealed a fracture to Fogarty’s ankle.
Athletics: AIT defence
Athletics Ireland and AIT president Ciarán Ó Catháin has defended the decision to invite formerly banned sprinter Asafa Powell to compete in this evening's international indoor meeting at the university.
AIT say that with the ban completed and Powell now eligible to compete it would only be fair to allow him to do so. They also note that considering his 18-month doping ban was reduced to six months due to contamination of a product, they consider the offence to have been on a very low scale.
Golf: Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup European team captain for next year's clash with the United States at Hazeltine will be named today, and another Irish man Darren Clarke is the overwhelming favourite to succeed Paul McGinley in the position. Miguel Ángel Jiménez is the other European contender for job.
England's Dublin-born cricket captain Eoin Morgan was welcomed to Wellington by the town's Mayor Celia Wade-Brown yesterday who made a slip-up in pronouncing his name (Eoin Rogers). The New Zealand Herald have some pictures of the traditional welcoming he received ahead of the team's stay in the city for their opening World Cup matches, which included a dragon-boat race, a haka, and a Maori hongi (pressing of noses).
What to watch out for:
The Fitzgibbon Cup quarter finals take place today as UCD aim to follow up on their win at the same stage in the Sigerson Cup last week and qualify for the penultimate weekend in both tournaments. They travel to UL as NUIG take on Aidan Walsh’s fancied CIT team.
Meanwhile the Champions League continues tonight as Schalke welcome current holders Real Madrid for their last 16 tie.
RTE 2 from 7.30pm.
While in the Cricket World Cup there may be some Irish interest in the tie between Zimbabwe and our next opponents UAE.
Sky Sports 2 from 9pm.
