Rugby: World Cup

"A vaincre sans peril, on triomphe sans gloire. Roughly translated: To win without peril (is) to triumph without glory. Time was when French rugby teams lived or died by that maxim but not, it seems, any more."

Gerry Thornley's column this morning explains why the French team Ireland will face in Sunday's pool D decider is a vastly different prospect then the French teams of old - so much of their game is now built on brute strength and forward power, with an emphasis upon the result above all else.

Johnny Sexton knows the French players as well as most after his time at Racing Metro, and he told the press yesterday he's expecting a lot of attention from big Mathieu Bastareaud, but he's ready for the challenge.

Meanwhile a decision on Jared Pared's fitness will be be revealed at lunch time today - as the Irish set-up give him every chance possible to return from his foot injury.

This afternoon in Ireland’s pool Canada play Romania, the latter fighting for third place and automatic qualification to the next World Cup while in pool A Fiji take on Uruguay.

GAA

The Galway player/management dispute rages on - as more talks were held between hurling manager Anthony Cunningham, officials, and players as they continue to address the vote of no confidence given by last year’s panel. Cunningham is believed to be digging his heels in, with officials keen to find a resolution rather than look for him to step down - talks will continue tonight.

Sean Moran has an excellent piece on the whole sage this morning; "Put bluntly, managers can be replaced; players can't. Cork and Limerick hurling proved this in 2009 and 2010 when they attempted to confront player discontent by ignoring those who had withdrawn their availability and ploughing ahead regardless."

Soccer

Liverpool hope to have appointed Jürgen Klopp as their new manager by the end of the week, with initial talks with the former Borussia Dortmund coach proving fruitful. Last night outgoing manager Brendan Rodgers released a statement expressing his disappointment - but also the "honour and a privilege of managing one of the game's great clubs for the last three years."

Republic of Ireland manager Martin O'Neill says that he entirely accepts Jack Grealish's decision to play for England, but he has angrily rejected the suggestion in a Sunday newspaper that the attempt he and the association made to recruit the Aston Villa midfielder amounted to "whoring".

What to watch out for

The Jared Payne update will come via Gavin Cummiskey at the Irish press conference at lunch time.

In the RWC tonight Canada v Romania is at 4.45pm and Fiji v Uruguay is 8pm

TV3 from 4.30pm