Soccer
Dundalk last night sealed their place in the playoff round of the Champions League - an incredible 3-0 win against Bate Borisov leaving them 180 minutes from the group stages.
Trailing 1-0 after the away leg, Stephen Kenny's team bounced back with David McMillan grabbing a brace and Robbie Benson adding a third for a famous victory at Tallaght.
The Belarusians have beaten Roma, Athletic Bilbao, Lille and Bayern Munich in the Champions League since 2012. The win guarantees Dundalk a windfall of at least €7 million, and means that even if they are to be beaten in the playoff round they will automatically enter the Europa League group stages.
GAA
Darragh Ó Sé believes that Tyrone and Dublin should come through Saturday's football quarter-final double header - if their attitude is right on the day. Now is the time to start rolling out small surprises, that make the big differences.
“Dublin v Donegal, you have the one team who are better than everybody else coming up against the one team that totally believe they can beat them. It doesn’t matter a damn what the rest of us think or say, Donegal are full sure they can take the Dubs down. That’s powerful fuel on a week like this.”
Meanwhile Seán Moran explains how one good weekend won't solve GAA's problems - "If bricked-up defences were an issue, how did the recent Ulster final have its best attendance of the last four years? If the sheer spectacle of having a go is such an allure, why are Dublin's audiences falling in Leinster and why weren't there more in Croke Park to see a Tipperary side averaging over 0-20 a match? There remain concerns about falling crowds and sadly, last weekend didn't invalidate them"
Rugby
Former New Zealand World Cup winning coach Graham Henry has spoken of how he hopes to help Leinster's coaching team in their development. And gives his views on Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt's chances of some day getting the big job in NZ.
“There is a law in New Zealand that to be an All Black coach you have to be coaching in New Zealand to go the next step,” he explained to Gavin Cummiskey. “Like, Steve (Hansen) is going to coach until the next World Cup. In recent times they have appointed coaches from within to get that continuity so Joe might need to be a wee bit patient. But he is quality. And I think the older you are the better you will be. So there is no rush.”
What to watch out for
It's the first day of the third test between England and Pakistan in the cricket.
Sky Sports 2 from 10am
Wayne Rooney's testimonial between Manchester United and Everton kicks off at 8pm.
BT Sport from 7.15pm
Celtic host Astana in their third round Champions League qualifier second-leg. Kick off is 7.45pm at Celtic Park. (Exclusively live on Celtic TV)
