RUGBY: Ireland international flanker David Wallace could be out of rugby until the New Year following confirmation he will undergo shoulder surgery in the Blackrock Clinic tomorrow week, reports John O'Sullivan.
The projected recovery period is between four and six months which means the Garryowen flanker would miss the World Cup qualifiers and the autumn internationals. He will also miss Munster's Celtic League and early Heineken Cup games.
Better news for the new Munster coach Alan Gaffney is the signing of former Queensland Red prop Simon Kerr. The 32-year-old Australian can play either loosehead or tighthead and has previously played for the Waikato Chiefs and New South Wales Waratahs.
He becomes Munster's second overseas signing after Jim Williams. Northampton scrumhalf Dom Malone and Warren O'Kelly are the other new faces in the squad.
Gaffney has a further two contracts to dispense and one of those is likely to be go to an openside flanker, given Wallace's predicament.
ATHLETICS: Next month's European Championships in Munich will receive substantial live coverage on RTÉ, reports Ian O'Riordan.
The six-day championships, which includes an Irish team of 27 athletes, open in just under three weeks' time, on August 6th.
Further names may be added to the Irish team after tomorrow night's Dublin International meeting in Santry Stadium. A strong overseas entry has been secured, particularly in the sprint events, and especially from athletes en route to the Commonwealth Games.
Already under way in Jamaica are the World Junior Championships, where both David McCarthy and Joanne Cuddihy progressed from the opening rounds of the 400 metres.
McCarthy clocked 47.07 seconds from qualifying in third place from his heat, while Cuddihy was close to her best when taking second in 54.07 seconds.
CRICKET: One of the game's biggest international tournaments, the International Cricket Council's (ICC) Trophy, has been awarded to Ireland to stage in 2005, reports Karl Johnston.
The ICC Trophy is the qualifying tournament for the World Cup, and the top three countries in the Ireland-hosted event will compete in the finals, to be held in the West Indies in 2007.
"It's a terrific feather in the cap for Irish cricket," said ICU chairman John Caldwell yesterday. "This week and next, we are staging the European Championships at various northern venues, and the news that the ICC Trophy tournament will be held here gives us a great double."
Twelve nations will compete in the ICC Trophy event, which is held every four years. Ireland have competed in three of the previous competitions, last year in Toronto, and before that in Kuala Lumpur and in Kenya.
RUGBY: Bath have confirmed the appointment of former Australia and Ireland out-half Brian Smith as first-team coach. The 35-year-old was coaching co-ordinator with the ACT Brumbies and helped guide the Australian franchise to the Super 12 final this season.
Smith, who played for the Queensland Reds, represented Australia on six occasions at outhalf during 1987 before switching to Ireland, for whom he won nine caps between 1989 and 1991. After his controversial time with Ireland he returned to Australia where he played rugby league before starting a coaching career.
RACING: In the aftermath of the recent collapse in share values on Wall Street, the Keeneland Select Sale, America's most prestigious yearling auction, took a hammering this week with the aggregate dropping by a third from a 2001 total of $63 million to $42 millions.
On the first of the two sessions on Monday almost half the lots were unsold but on Tuesday one Irish-born vendor, David Mullins, left on cloud seven after he had obtained $2.8 million for a filly by Storm Cat. David is the son of Captain Luke Mullins, for many years manager of Galway Racecourse.
