Rugby: Six Nations
Ulster hooker Rory Best is the odds-on favourite to be named as the next captain of the Irish rugby team when Joe Schmidt announces his squad for the opening two matches of the Six Nations later today.
Rugby correspondent Gerry Thornley says the Ulster man's experience is likely to shine through ahead of second favourite Jamie Heaslip, and dark horses Sean O'Brien and Johnny Sexton. In terms of the squad itself Thornley feels that Schmidt will resist including the likes of Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose, despite the Leinster pair's obvious talents he would prefer for them to first gather more experience with the province.
Gordon D’Arcy agrees. In his column this morning the former Irish centre says the Six Nations may be a step too far for the Leinster youngsters - “We can’t afford to just throw Garry Ringrose, van der Flier or Ulster centre Stuart McCloskey and promising Munster flanker Jack O’Donoghue into the Test match arena... I see one new cap, maybe two if injuries don’t clear up. Certainly not three or four.”
“I don’t like dampening expectations, but the leap from European club rugby to the Six Nations is a chasm.”
Soccer: FA Cup
Jurgen Klopp has insisted that he has the final say on all Liverpool transfers, after the club's transfer policy came under new scrutiny following the comments of former manager Brendan Rodgers. His team host Exeter tonight in their third round FA Cup replay, a certain Daniel Sturridge remains out of contention but Jon Flanagan should be in the squad after his lengthy injury lay-off. Also tonight Leicester and Tottenham, both flying high in the league, go head to head with progression in the Cup on the line.
GAA
The big news yesterday was the premature retirement of 30-year-old Kilkenny hurler Richie Power following his latest knee surgery - former team mates TJ Reid and Eddie Brennan led the plaudits on a "very sad" day.
“It was only a matter of time and when exactly he announced it. It’s very sad to see him go especially when a career is ended on an injury. That’s always very hard to take and to accept. He’s only 30 so he definitely had another two or three years there anyway.”
Meanwhile there's been second round early morning wins in the Australian Open for Roger Federer, Serena Williams and Maria Sharapova.
What to watch out for:
Day three of the Australian Open continues this morning with Novak Djokovic and Nick Kyrgios among those in action.
Eurosport, midnight-1pm
Leicester take on Tottenham, with their FA Cup tie kicking off at 7.45pm.
Setanta from 7.35pm
Liverpool versus Exeter City is at the slightly later time of 8pm - with the home side again set to field an experimental side.
BT Sport 2 from 7.30pm
