Expanded 2021 Six Nations could make sense; how age affects a footballer’s chances

There are 55 Test matches involving Tier 1 nations still to be completed in 2020. Yes, that's a lot. And yes, chances are they will not all be played. In fact, that's almost certain and there's probably a decent chance that none will be played without some clever thinking. And that might just be what World Rugby have done with their proposals for a 10-game home and away 2021 Six Nations kicking off in November of this year. Where the difficulty comes is in potentially rearranging summer tours for October which would leave teams like Ireland with a lot of matches to play at the end of the year and would be at odds with a number of player welfare issues, as Gerry Thornley writes in his column this morning. Meanwhile, the controversy of the 1981 tour to apartheid South Africa is never far from the mind when Ireland the Springboks meet and this morning Jonathan Drennan talks to John Robbie who says that going on the tour was "a stain that will never leave me". The Dubliner has lived in the country for nearly 40 years now and says that it was a decision he has lived to regret his whole life.

On to soccer and our series on youth player development in Ireland continues this morning with Emmet Malone looking at how a footballer's birth month can affect their chances of making it to the top. Research into the football's Relative Age Effect from people like Laura Finnegan, a lecturer in Sport at Waterford Institute of Technology (TIT) who addressed coaches at the Italian and Croatian FAs, among others, on the subject last year, shows that there is a huge bias towards players born earlier in the year. Meanwhile, in our favourite sporting moment series this morning, Colin Byrne remembers an unforgettable trip to the famous (and infamous) La Bombonera to see Boca Juniors play. Meanwhile, with the SPFL looking to end their league season by way of a vote which could see Celtic crowned champions, Ewan Murray writes that the whole saga has now been made even more farcical by the league revealing the votes of 39 of the 42 teams with Dundee among the sides whose vote was missing.

In GAA, Malachy Clerkin talks to David Brady about his new idea to help people through the current crisis – ringing them up for a chat about Mayo GAA. Brady received a Twitter message on Saturday from a man asking if there would be any chance he could give his 83-year-old father a buzz to have a chat about football. Brady duly obliged and afterwards felt so lifted by the chat that he went looking for more. Meanwhile, Galway hurler Johnny Glynn yesterday said that his intercountry career is likely over in his mid-20s as he focuses on developing the New York footballers.

Finally to golf and Rory McIlroy is looking forward to the rescheduled Masters in November – if it goes ahead – and believes that it may just be the time for him to complete the career grand slam. With the course playing longer in the colder weather and with less anticipation coming in as it is not the first Major of the year, McIlroy reckons it might just be time.