Irishwomen get French lesson

Women's Rugby: Ireland were predictably beaten by France, 41-14, in last night's European Championship opener in the south of…

Women's Rugby: Ireland were predictably beaten by France, 41-14, in last night's European Championship opener in the south of Spain, but can take heart from their return to Test rugby.

Playing their first full international for 14 months, the Irish were torn apart during a traumatic first half and trailed 36-0 at the interval.

But Ireland dominated the second half, scored their first Test try since the 1998 World Cup through debutant outhalf Eleanor Flynn and then for good measure added a stunning second through another of the five new caps, Sarah Jane Belton.

The 19-year-old Shannon fullback who had not played for several weeks because of a knee injury, ran 40 metres to score by the post.

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Ireland will now hope to build on this performance against Kazakstan tomorrow.

Motor Sport: David Coulthard's World Championship bid was given a massive fitness boost yesterday. The Scot's McLaren team confirmed that Coulthard had "seriously bruised" his ribs not cracked them as was suggested after his courageous second place in Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

Coulthard was unlikely to have been allowed to race in Barcelona had his ribs cracked or broken as a result of his plane crash in France six days earlier.

The 29-year-old was still in considerable pain as his body took a buffeting on the Circuit de Catalunya, but his recovery from the bruising will undoubtedly be quicker.

Coulthard will renew his title challenge at next week's European Grand Prix at the Nurburgring in Germany.

Swimming: Donna Lee has won her appeal against a British Olympic Association ruling that barred her from selection for the Olympic team.

Lee was handed a lifetime ban after traces of Salbutamol - a drug commonly prescribed to treat asthma - were found in her urine sample at the US Olympic Cup in San Diego last year.

But the BOA's independent appeals panel restored Lee's eligibility with immediate affect on the basis that "the offence was minor and that significant mitigating circumstances existed in relation to the doping offence".

Athletics: Former Olympic 5,000 metres champion Dieter Baumann, suspended after testing positive for nandrolone, said yesterday he had not given up hope of taking part in the Sydney Olympics in September.

Baumann was speaking two days after a German court said it had agreed to study his appeal against a legal decision not to allow him to resume competing.