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Kathleen and the underdogs have their say on first day of championship

Gerry Thornley sees Munster eschew excuses; Ken Early sees chaos at Old Trafford; Brian O’Connor would like to see a s**t-stirrer on RTÉ

Damian O’Mara interviews Dean Healy of Wicklow with his eight-week-old daughter Aifric after victory over Westmeath in the Leinster SFC. Photograph: Bryan Keane/Inpho

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Mon Apr 8 2024 - 11:10

Before departing these shores, Storm Kathleen took in a few games on the opening weekend of the championship, the stand-out results Cavan beating Monaghan by six points in Ulster, Wicklow shocking Westmeath and Waterford earning themselves a first victory over Tipperary in 36 years. As Malachy Clerkin notes in his round-up, these results “might not all be terribly relevant to July’s business”, but they made for a lively start to the championship, the underdogs having their day. And underdogs is what Meath will firmly be when they take on Dublin in Croke Park next Saturday, earning that right with their seven-point win over Longford. “That’s what defines you as a man, as a footballer, as a warrior in Meath, is to be able to go to Croke Park and beat Dublin, take them on toe to toe,” Gordon Manning heard Colm O’Rourke declare after the game.

Denis Walsh, meanwhile, was at Semple Stadium to see Clare’s hurlers win just the fifth league title in their history with a 3-16 to 1-20 triumph over Kilkenny, while the footballing women of Armagh collected their very first division one crown by beating Kerry.

Brian O’Connor was on his couch keeping an eye on both the championship and the weekend’s rugby fare, and was left rueing the absence of “top-class agitators” on the punditry panels. “The s**t-stirrer, has gone the way of the dodo,” he writes, “like dinosaurs, failure to adapt has turned those creatures of old into mythical figures of fascination”.

He enjoyed Donal Lenihan and his “understated excellence”, though, when he was on co-commentary duty for Leinster’s Champions Cup meeting with Leicester, their “scruffy win”, as John O’Sullivan describes it, setting up yet another date with La Rochelle. Jamison Gibson-Park, who scored a hat-trick of tries, was outstanding, “a beacon of creativity” who “lit the way for Leinster”.

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Gerry Thornley rounds up the four provinces’ weekend, Ulster and Connacht both advancing in the Challenge Cup with victories over Montpellier and Pau respectively, but Munster’s Champions Cup journey is over after their defeat by Northampton. Their cause wasn’t helped a great deal by a bug in the camp, although coach Graham Rowntree refused to use that as an excuse.

In football, Ken Early reflects on another “chaotic” meeting between Manchester United and Liverpool at Old Trafford, Liverpool yet again “lacking the ruthlessness to beat the bigger teams”, a deficiency that could cost them dearly in the title race.

Rory McIlroy could do with being a bit ruthless himself at Augusta this week as he attempts to win his first Masters. “It’s sort of just like I’ve got all the ingredients to make the pie,” Denis Walsh recalls him saying of the challenge. “It’s just putting all those ingredients in and setting the oven to the right temperature.”