Ireland need a Plan C; Man City keeping an eye on goal difference

Now we know it, Gordon D'Arcy explains, Ireland will need a Plan C to get to a World Cup semi-final. In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), the former Irish centre writes: "The seeds of Plan C need planting if Ireland are to reach a World Cup semi-final. England did Schmidt a favour by showing exactly how the Springboks will go about winning a quarter-final against them." Yesterday evening, both Garry Ringrose and lock Devin Toner were ruled out of Ireland's clash with Scotland this weekend. Keith Earls though has quickly recovered from his hip pointer injury and will feature as Ireland look to get their Six Nations defence back on the road.

Liverpool's draw with West Ham on Monday lowered their lead at the top of the Premier League to three points - and a win for Manchester City over Everton tonight can see them go top on goal difference. At least until the weekend. Their manager Pep Guardiola has urged his team to score as many goals as possible in the knowledge that it could decide the title race. Last night, Carlow native Pádraig Amond scored in Newport County's 2-0 FA Cup replay win over Middlesbrough. Another Irishman, Matt Doherty, was on the scoresheet twice as Wolves finally edged Shrewsbury Town 3-2.

In his column this morning, Seán Moran explains how the likes of Sean O'Shea, Fionn McDonagh and Cormac Costello are already leaving a marker for later in the year after strong starts to the Allianz Leagues. As for the latter: "from under-age he has been a player earmarked for senior success but things haven't progressed smoothly in the way they have with other rising prodigies. Now in his mid-20s, he is equipped to play more than a supporting role."

Meanwhile Dave Hannigan explains this morning how Julian Edelman's MVP shows the NFL doesn't care about drug use: "it's hardly surprising then that America didn't really bat an eyelid at Julian Edelman winning Super Bowl MVP, after missing the first four games of the season for a drug suspension. In these parts, there is no stigma to being caught using a performance-enhancer, especially when the hero narrative involves a five foot ten wide receiver who puts his chemically-assisted body on the line in the most bruising parts of the field."