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Football’s soulless Qatar decision; Tadhg Furlong loves his spuds

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

Tadhg Furlong: to be Ireland captain against Fiji. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

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David Gorman
Thu Nov 10 2022 - 07:06

Andy Farrell is set to name a much-changed side around lunchtime for Ireland’s game against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday. The biggest clue so far is confirmation that Tadhg Furlong will captain Ireland for the first time in his 62nd cap for his country. This, in turn, would suggest that Johnny Sexton, Peter O’Mahony nor James Ryan will be starting, and most likely not Garry Ringrose as well. Furlong hankered after playing for Leinster, Ireland, and the Lions as a kid, but nowhere in the fluffy dreamland did that include captaining the national team. So, what did he dream of? “Spuds. Gravy. The mother’s Sunday roast.” But beneath the laughter beats the heart of a warrior, a player who drives himself harder than any taskmaster, who gives everything for the team, whatever that entails. That’s a reasonable identikit for a captain, writes John O’Sullivan.

Jeremy Loughman is set for his debut against Fiji after a circuitous route to the top. Born in Reno, Nevada, he moved, aged four, to a town between Sevenoaks and Ashford in Kent and then at 12, the family, father, David, mother Katja, two brothers and a sister, relocated to Athy. Meanwhile, attention turns to Munster’s game against South Africa XV tonight at Páirc Uí Chaoimh. The novelty of this evening’s game is a huge attraction as Munster unfurl another chapter in their illustrious history of hosting touring sides and one player who finds it all a bit bemusing is backrow Alex Kendellen. “We live just a stone’s throw from Páirc Uí Chaoimh. It was kind of sprung on us but it was really special when it got announced, going back to Blackrock and Cork. It’s a pinch yourself moment and I’m massively looking forward to it.,” said the 21-year old.

Soulless, monotonous and beholden to money – I just don’t love football any more, writes Joanne O’Riordan as the World Cup comes to Qatar. Greed, cost and questionable sponsors all add to sense of football’s disdain for fans. “The final nail in the doom and gloom coffin came with an ITV report that suggested women, along with members of the LGBTQ communities, might have to use safe houses after the football association in Wales conceded it couldn’t guarantee fan safety in Qatar. Bad enough trying to rekindle your love with the sport, but knowing it’ll never love you back is a kick in the gut,” she writes.

In more positive soccer news, Ireland’s Caoimhín Kelleher was the hero for Liverpool in their League Cup game against Derby. The Republic of Ireland international, playing his first game since scoring the winning spot-kick against Chelsea at Wembley in February, saved three Derby penalties as Jurgen Klopp’s untried side scraped past their League One opponents after a goalless draw.

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Harrington and Brosnan will share The Irish Times Sportswoman of the Month for October award. “In the end – and it was severely painful to have to overlook so many deserving names – we opted for a joint award between Harrington and Irish goalkeeper Courtney Brosnan,” writes Mary Hannigan. She also writes how the book Irish Sporting Lives is filling the void with vital history of sportswomen. Compiled by historians and Dictionary of Irish Biography researchers Terry Clavin and Turlough O’Riordan, with a foreword by sports historian Professor Paul Rouse, it puts a heap of meat on the bone of the stories of 60 Irish sports people, offering biographical essays on them all.

In GAA, Ciarán Murphy writes in his column that the GAA will always find a way to mess with your plans. It’s amazing how much you can miss in a week away, even in early November, he says. Meanwhile in athletics, Reece Ademola eyes a spot at Paris 2024 after impressing on youth stage, writes Ian O’Riordan. The Cork teenager is already the third best Irish long jumper in history aged just 19.