Gordon D’Arcy

In his column today Gordon D’Arcy looks back at Ireland’s defeat to the All Blacks in Dublin, and the disciplinary incidents which soured what was otherwise a brilliant Test match.

It was announced last night Malakai Fekitoa has been banned for a week, however Sam Cane will face no action for the tackle which ended Robbie Henshaw’s night.

And D’Arcy believes there should have been consequences for the heir to Richie McCaw’s throne, he writes: “The tackler has responsibility to the player he hits. All players know this...

“Had Cane timed it perfectly and lower, Henshaw stays on and we all call it for what it would be: a dominant collision. But if you bank on a massive hit and then miss it you have to accept the consequences that should follow. That’s playing on the edge.”

And D’Arcy believes the All Blacks employed such a physical approach at the Aviva because they were smarting so badly from defeat: “The several Kiwi players I saw going over the top, literally and physically, were men who were outplayed in Chicago.

“It’s hard to quantify to an Irish person just how humiliating it was to play in the first All Blacks side that lost to Ireland.”

Spurs out of Champions League

Elsewhere Tottenham Hotspur were sent crashing out of the Champions League last night as they were beaten 2-1 away at AS Monaco. Meanwhile a 2-1 win at home to Club Brugge saw Leicester secure top spot in Group G.

Taylor excited for first pro fight

Katie Taylor is gearing up for her first professional fight, against Poland’s Karina Kapinska, in London on Monday night, and the five-time world champion is ready to embrace the next chapter of her career.

She said: “I’m more excited about this than I have been throughout my amateur career. To be boxing on these big shows and have the chance of boxing on live TV is huge for women’s boxing”