Having been eagerly anticipating last Sunday’s Ulster final, “contemplating match-ups” and “considering tactics”, Jim McGuinness was left rocked by the allegations made by Nicola Gallagher against her ex-husband Rory Gallagher, the Derry manager. “It truly was one of those moments in life that just stops you in your tracks,” he writes.
It was in that context that he watched the game and while he found it to be “a compelling encounter”, he noted that the “the gravity of the situation” was not lost on Ciarán Meenagh, Gallagher’s assistant who took charge on the day, when he spoke after Derry’s victory. “Nor,” writes Jim, “should it be lost on any of us.”
In light of the new championship structure, Malachy Clerkin wonders how many more Ulster finals – which are “nothing less than a core element of the lives of northern football people” – we will see that will match the “living, breathing, roiling, jitterbugging” contest of “absolute intensity and root-deep zeal” that Derry and Armagh produced on Sunday.
The Limerick hurlers will need to bring a bit of zeal themselves to their meeting with Tipperary in Thurles on Sunday, Sean Moran noting that when they crushed Kilkenny in the league final just over a month ago, it would have been “unthinkable” that they could be facing an early Championship exit.
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Before last Saturday, the prospect of Leinster finishing the season without a trophy would have seemed unthinkable too, but after their URC semi-final defeat by Munster, that season has, writes Gerry Thornley, been “distilled into one game”. “It has also undoubtedly heightened the pressure on them to beat La Rochelle. It’s next Saturday or bust, in so many ways.”
But despite that pressure, Stuart Lancaster is determined to enjoy the occasion, it being his final game as Leinster’s senior coach before he departs for Racing 92. La Rochelle winger Dillyn Leyds, man of the match in last year’s final, is hell-bent on contributing to a losing finale for Lancaster, but is wary of the motivation Leinster will take from that defeat by Munster.
Owen Doyle, meanwhile, reflects on referee Frank Murphy’s performance in that semi-final, insisting that the Cork man showed “no hint of bias”, despite grumblings from the Leinster faithful. “The problem with this type of perception is that it’s a bit like a Jack Russell getting hold of your trouser leg, it’s very difficult to shake off,” Owen writes. And anyone who has ever had a Jack Russell get hold of their trouser leg can attest to that.
Telly watch: It’s time for part two of the Milan derby, Inter taking a 2-0 lead in to the second leg of their Champions League semi-final against AC Milan (RTÉ 2, BT Sport 1, kick-off 8.0).
