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Uncertainty remains over Six Nations conclusion; a bad night for Parrott, Dier and Spurs

The Morning Sports Briefing: Keep ahead of the game with ‘The Irish Times’ sports team

Tim Krul saves Troy Parrott’s penalty during Norwich’s FA Cup fifth round win over Tottenham Hotspur. Photo: Glyn Kirk/Getty Images

Ruaidhrí Croke's face
Ruaidhrí Croke
Thu Mar 5 2020 - 07:25

As coronavirus continues to spread around the globe, the position on the conclusion of this year's Six Nations remains uncertain. For now, France v Ireland is set to go ahead as planned at the Stade de France next Saturday night but that situation could easily change, as could the fate of England's trip to face Italy, especially given that it's due to be in the Stadio Olimpico in Rome – home to both Roma and Lazio – at the same time that all Serie A matches are being played behind closed doors. But, moving on to matters on the pitch, John O'Sullivan writes in his stats column this morning that Ireland are unearthing some green giants and bridging a historical shortfall in height terms. "A study in 2016 found that in the years between 1914 and 2014, the average height for an Irish male aged 18, had increased by 4.7 inches to 5ft 10in so it's perhaps little surprise that Irish rugby is starting to see a greater proliferation of taller players," he writes.

Meanwhile, Owen Doyle writes this morning that it is time to speed up scrum formation and apply quicker sanctions. "The first two scrums in Ireland's game against Scotland took over four minutes. That's a lot of so-called "ball in play" time down the drain. Strong sanctions – including cards – change behaviour, chat does not. That was very clear in England v Ireland, the scrums were a mess," he writes.

On to soccer and Tottenham went crashing out of the FA Cup last night in dramatic scenes as Troy Parrott was among those to miss penalties in their loss to Norwich while Ireland under-21 international Adam Idah was more successful from the spot for the winners. However, it was after the match that it really kicked off as Eric Dier climbed into the stand and over rows of seats to confront a fan. The midfielder now faces a likely heavy ban from the FA after the incident which manager José Mourinho said should not have occured but he did also defend his player, saying that "probably every one of us would do" the same in a similar situation. This evening Manchester United meet Derby County and United club record goalscorer Wayne Rooney in their fifth round tie. United will face Norwich if they manage to get past Derby after the quarter-final draw was made yesterday. Meanwhile, the Ireland women's team meet Greece this evening in a vital Euro 2021 qualifier at Tallaght Stadium where they will hope to recover qualifying momentum.

On to our women in sport pages and Sonia O'Sullivan writes this morning that the Olympics are still on track but toilet paper is running low in Australia due to coronavirus panic buying. "Part of my surprise at the empty shelves was the fact that earlier in the day I'd been along to watch the Melbourne Track Club at the weekly Tuesday interval session. There was no mention whatsoever of the coronavirus, all thoughts instead on Tokyo. It was all systems go and on all fronts," she writes. Meanwhile, Joanne O'Riordan writes that Aine O'Gorman's return will provide a welcome boost for the Ireland women's team tonight while Rianna Jarrett tells Emmet Malone that she is keen to take every opportunity that she can get.

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Finally to golf where Rory McIlroy said yesterday that he would like to see more streamlined versions of the current "over-saturated" tours. "I know football's different than golf and all that, but I think being a golf fan these days can get quite exhausting following so many different tournaments, different tours, all that stuff. So maybe streamlining it a bit might be a good place to start a conversation," he said.