As weekends go, the one just gone wasn’t the most fruitful for Irish rugby, to put it mildly. For the first time since March 2015, all four provinces were beaten – add in the women’s defeat in the Six Nations and, as Gerry Thornley puts it, “all seems even less hunky dory underneath the surface”. At this rate, Ireland could end up with just one side in next season’s Champions Cup. “That,” says Gerry, “would be quite a fall.”
A very different Leinster team will, though, line out against Northampton in Saturday’s Champions Cup semi-final to the one that lost to Scarlets, Johnny Watterson bringing news that RG Snyman is among those who’ll be back on duty.
Owen Doyle gives his thoughts on the officiating in the URC, saluting Hollie Davidson, “the best referee in Scotland”, but Sam Grove-White ... not so much. “I won’t be alone in remaining completely unconvinced by his performances.” Owen also writes about the upcoming World Rugby session when “there will be huge focus and debate on the 20-minute replacement red card”.
While it was a bleak weekend for the provinces, it was a mighty one for Clontarf, Gerry talking to their coach Andy Wood about Sunday’s AIL triumph over Cork Constitution – in which 21-year-old centre Hugh Cooney shone.
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Before Sunday, how long had it been since Dublin last lost a Leinster championship game? An entire 5,418 days, according to Malachy Clerkin’s calculator. The Dubs will, he says, “regenerate and refresh”, but for now, Meath can revel in a win that was “nothing short of astonishing” – and, ironically, former Dublin supremo Jim Gavin’s new rules played no small part in their victory.
Dublin’s defeat “came as a surprise, but not a big surprise” to Conor McManus, “the signs that they were not functioning had been clear all season”. Meath are, then, through to the final where they’ll play Louth, but for Conor “it’s hard to see anyone from the province as All-Ireland contenders”. Ulster? That’s a whole different ball game.
Gordon Manning, meanwhile, hears from the GAA’s new head of hurling, former Tipperary player and manager William Maher. His mission is to grow the game outside its traditional heartlands. “That,” he says, “would be the dream”.
After just 10km of the Düsseldorf Marathon on Sunday, Peter Lynch was just dreaming of finishing the race, so fast was the pace. In the end, he broke the Irish men’s record. Ian O’Riordan talks to him about the achievement in what was only his second race over the distance. Imagine how he’ll fare when he puts in a bit of practice?
There’ll be a fair amount of speediness on view at the Punchestown festival which gets under way today, Brian O’Connor previewing a week that will feature 40 races worth €3.5 million in prize money. Small change, mind, if you’re playing golf on the LIV tour. As Philip Reid tells us, Tom McKibbin collected close to €800,000 in Mexico at the weekend after winning the team competition as part of Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII crew and finishing tied for 34th in the individual competition. But is he happy?
TV Watch: RTÉ 2 has the opening day of the Punchestown festival this afternoon (3.30-6.30), and this evening Arsenal host PSG in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final (Premier Sports 1, 8pm).
