The Morning Sports Briefing

Golf: Locked in talks

World number one golfer Rory McIlroy left the High Court on Tuesday night after several meetings between his side and Horizon Sports Management.

The golfer is suing Horizon, and they are countersuing.

The High Court case involving golfer McIlroy and his former agents was further deferred until 11am on Wednesday, this morning, as further progress was reported in the talks.

Rugby: Number eight options

Sean O’Brien’s return to the Irish starting fifteen could be fast-tracked with concerns growing over number eight Jamie Heaslip’s availability for this weekend’s Six Nations opener with Italy.

Still struggling with a shoulder issue, Jordi Murphy looks set to fill in for Heaslip which raises the odds of O'Brien filling the vacant flanker role, where his experience would be vital in the absence of the Leinster captain.

The British and Irish Lions are considering a warm-up match in the United States en route to touring New Zealand in 2017 - John Feehan, the Lions' chief executive, says no decision has yet been made but any stop-over game would be purely for rugby reasons. No doubt the obvious commercial advantages are playing some part in the negotiations though?

Soccer: FA Cup

Manchester Utd took care of business second-time around against League Two team Cambridge in last night’s FA Cup fourth round replay.

A 3-0 scoreline was a stark contrast to the stale encounter played out in Cambridge last week - Louis van Gaal's side now face trip to play Preston in fifth round.

Top four-rivals and now fellow FA Cup favourites after the shocks early exits of Chelsea and Manchester City, Liverpool take on Bolton in their replay tonight.

Still with an eye on the Europa League, Rodgers is confident his squad can compete on three fronts.

GAA: More American Football

Jim Gavin will continue to field a weakened, experimental team for the next couple of rounds of the league, his hand has been partly forced by injuries but he's more than happy to go on blooding the county's young and fringe players. The round one loss to Cork hasn't bothered him in the slightest.

The Irish Independent are reporting that the GAA are expected to sign contracts in the coming weeks to host another American College Football 'Croke Park Classic' in 2016.

In his annual report last week director-general Paraic Duffy said that the decision to run the event last year “backfired” as the All-Ireland football semi-final had to be moved out of Croke Park.

If the proposed GAA calender changes come in to place this year, and if the match is played on the same August weekend as last year then that will be the Saturday evening before the All-Ireland hurling final.

Racing: Mullins eyes Gold Cup

Willie Mullins's two entries to Sunday's Hennessy Gold Cup at Leopardstown are best-priced 4-1 joint-favourites; a win for Boston Bob or On His Own would mean a 10th win of this race for Mullins, which would be another incredible statistical feat for the trainer.

Carl O'Malley has been at the World Handball Championships this week where hosts Qatar, with a team made up of expensive imports and assisted throughout the competition by some quite generous hometown decisions, were beaten in the final by France.

Poland, dumbfounded by some refereeing decisions in their semi-final defeat to the hosts, surrounded and sarcastically applauded the referee after the game. So plenty of drama over there it seems, the 2022 soccer World Cup should be interesting.

What to watch out for:

If your out and about today and in search of some top-class football action, DCU take on UUJ in the Sigerson Cup in Jordanstown at 2pm. One of the most eagerly anticipated ties in this competition for many years; Colm Begley, Cillian O'Connor, Ronan O'Neill and Caolan Mooney are amongst the litany of inter county talents on show.

Liverpool, and returning captain Steven Gerrard will take on Bolton tonight in their FA Cup fourth round replay.

BBC 1 from 7.30pm

The African Nations Cup is hotting up, the semi finals take place today.

Eurosport form 6.30pm