Fiasco at the Oireachtas
Yesterday the heads of the three biggest sports in the country – John Delaney of the FAI, Páraic Duffy of the GAA and Philip Browne from the IRFU – went up in front of a Joint Committee on Tourism, Transport and Sport.
And we learned nothing. Well, nothing except for the fact that committee meetings in our national parliament are run in the most bumbling, lengthy way possible. Emmet Malone wrote of how Delaney was given an easy ride – refusing to comment on the infamous €5m payment from Fifa and saying it was accounted for (despite the fact that it's not in any year-ending accounts) – while Malachy Clerkin looks at the fiasco as a whole.
Murray ‘properly pissed off’
On to rugby and Munster's Conor Murray yesterday said that he was "properly pissed off" at being targeted by Glasgow on Saturday. Murray did not suffer a concussion but he was less than pleased with the Scottish side's tactics.
Meanwhile, in his stats column, John O'Sullivan looks at Johnny Sexton's Champions Cup points record which exceeded 500 during last Friday's win over Montpellier.
Ahead of this weekend's Champions Cup action, Connacht and John Muldoon are braced for "a huge task."
Women in sport
In our women in sport pages, Sonia O'Sullivan writes about the advantages of home support - such as she felt in Sydney in 2000 – and how Irish athletes can benefit from it at the World Championships in London this summer.
Meanwhile, there is an interview with Tipperary's Nicole Drought – the racing car driver making waves on the rallying scene – and Shelbourne's Leanne Kiernan is named Sportswoman of the Month for December after her hat-trick helped the Dublin side claim the FAI Cup.
Liverpool scrape through
In last night's FA Cup third round replays, Liverpool only managed to scrape past League 2 Plymouth Argyle, thanks to a Lucas Leiva goal. At St Mary's Shane Long's late goal saw Southampton into the fourth round at the expense of Norwich, while Newcastle dismissed Birmingham 3-1.
GAA round-up
In the McKenna Cup Tyrone proved too strong for an inexperienced Donegal side, while Cork's hurlers maintained their unbeaten run with a win against Waterford in the league.
Michael Murphy speaks to Gavin Cummiskey about his switch to play rugby for Clermont Auvergne, while Ciarán Murphy writes in his column about the ridiculous contracts which are becoming a part of club GAA – shown last week by Dublin club St Brigid's.
America at Large
In his column this week Dave Hannigan takes a look at Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and how he ploughs a lone furrow despite being the hottest thing in the NFL at the moment.
What to watch out for
Tennis
Eurosport, midnight-3.30pm: Day 4 Australian Open.
Golf
Sky Sports 4, 3.30am-8.30am, 11am-1pm: Abu Dhabi HSBC Championship.
Cricket
Sky Sports 2 from 7.30am: 2nd ODI India v England.
Snooker
BBC 2, 1pm-5pm, 7pm-7.30pm, Eurosport 2, 1pm-4pm, 6.45pm-10pm: Masters Quarter-finals from London.
Soccer
Eurosport 1 from 3.45pm: African Cup of Nations – (4.00) Algeria v Tunisia, (7.00) Senegal v Zimbabwe.
Soccer
Sky Sports 1 from 7.55pm: (8.00) Coppa Italia: AS Roma v Sampdoria.
Golf
Sky Sports 4, 8pm-midnight: California CareerBuilder Challenge.
