Golf
This morning's back pages are dominated by tributes to the late Christy O'Connor Jnr who yesterday, aged 67, died suddenly on holiday in Tenerife. One of the Irish sporting greats, Philip Reid remembers "a man who wore his emotions on his sleeve, with nothing to hide.
“From his fellow professional golfers to other leading sportsmen, from politicians to singers, there (has been) uniformity in recognising the Galway man’s golfing achievements but also his decency as a human being.”
Rugby
Andy Farrell will become Ireland's new defence coach in time for the three-Test tour to South Africa in June after signing a four year contract with the IRFU. Johnny Watterson says his otherwise fine record as a coach has been tarnished by his role with England in their early exit in last year's World Cup.
“Known as a great motivator and a respected coach, he has had success with the Lions in 2013. But the home World Cup was England’s goal and Farrell was drawn into the crossfire more than any other assistant, maybe unjustly.”
Soccer
Last night Everton took a major step towards ending their 21 year trophy drought and teeing up an all-Merseyside League Cup final with Liverpool, after they beat Manchester City 2-1 in the first leg of their semi-final. Roberto Martinez's team had held the lead before Sergio Aguero's equalised for Manchester City in the second half, although shortly after the in-form Romelu Lukaku gave Everton the win with a delightful header - his 19th goal of the campaign, injuring himself in the process.
GAA
In the O'Byrne Cup last night Cormac Costello managed 2-6 as holders Dublin moved within touching distance of the semi-finals with a 16 point win over IT Carlow, there were wins too for Laois, DCU, UCD, Westmeath and Louth while in the McKenna Cup Antrim edged Queen's University and Fermanagh beat St Mary's by two points.
Meanwhile Sonia O'Sullivan's weekly column this morning advises athletes preparing for the Rio Olympics that living in the present is key to preparation, and that pushing too hard for perfection doesn't always pay off - "I was so much more on the edge going into the 1996 Olympic year, thinking about nothing else but winning the gold medal in Atlanta... driving too hard in search of perfection upset the balance and caused me to question every single thing I did. "
What to watch out for
Expect some team news from the provinces today ahead of a busy weekend of rugby in Europe and domestically.
