In only his third game in charge Stephen Kenny's Ireland team are away to Slovakia for tonight's Euro 2020 playoff semi-final, in a match that may well be remembered as one that defined his time at the helm. In his match preview and team prediction, Emmet Malone explains: "crucially, the message has been that Kenny wants his players to be brave. That is absolutely key to the philosophy that earned him this job but it is also to be flung back in his face if things go poorly." It took five attempts to win one and there's been more heartbreak than joy down the years, but from brawls to handballs Mary Hannigan has compiled the complete guide to Ireland's playoff history. Also in playoff action tonight, Bosnia and Herzegovina host Northern Ireland with the winner facing either Ireland or Slovakia next month with a place at next summer's rescheduled European Championships up for grabs. Northern Ireland captain Steven Davis believes they must draw on their "big game experience" to preserve hopes of reaching a second successive European Championship and avoid the heartbreak of their 2018 World Cup playoff defeat.
Hugo Keenan and Shane Daly are in line for Ireland call-ups this morning when head coach Andy Farrell unveils his squad for the rearranged Six Nations games at home to Italy on Saturday fortnight and away to France a week later. Gerry Thornley also expects young Munster scrumhalf Craig Casey to be involved in some shape, as well as Leinster secondrow Ryan Baird, at the expense of the likes of Devin Toner and Luke McGrath. In his column this morning, John O'Sullivan explains that Munster's breakthrough outhalf Ben Healy, "may be viewed in some quarters as the shiny new thing but he needs and should be given room to breathe as a player. The 21-year-old is not the second anybody and shouldn't be smothered by that expectation." He has put together a list of the 11 Irish number 10s we need to be keeping an eye out for over the coming months.
Swim Ireland have accepted the resignation of one of their 12 board members, John Mullins, following the airing of an episode of the BBC podcast "Where is George Gibney". It is understood he offered his resignation last week. Mullins stated in the BBC Sounds podcast that he provided Gibney's bail set by Judge Hamill in Dún Laoghaire District Court in April 1993, when Gibney first appeared to face 27 counts of indecency and carnal knowledge of children levelled at him. Read Johnny Watterson's article in full here.
Meanwhile, along with Ireland's playoff in Bratislava at 7.45pm, Northern Ireland's playoff kicks off at the same time, as does Scotland's against Israel, while England play Wales in a friendly at 8pm. In the French Open semi-finals Nadia Podoroska - the first female qualifier to ever reach this stage of the competition- takes on Iga Swiatek at 2pm, before Petra Kvitova faces Sofia Kenin. Shane Lowry will return to European Tour action today at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth. He is one of three Irish players in the field, alongside Pádraig Harrington and Graeme McDowell.
