Madigan has Ireland caps in sight; view from Melbourne’s second lockdown

It's been a long road back towards an Ireland jersey for Ian Madigan but the new Ulster man hopes he has nearly reached his destination as he prepares to restart with his new province. The Dubliner is 31 now and following sticky experiences at Bordeaux-Begles and Bristol Bears, he has made a new home in Belfast with one primary intention; to ensure his last Ireland game will not be a 19-13 defeat to South Africa in 2016, writes Gavin Cummiskey. Elsewhere, England's Anthony Watson believes it is pointless to force Premiership players to take a knee after some expressed concern at doing so over the weekend. "The whole point is for it to mean something. I don't think anyone should have the option taken away from them. It's important that it is very individualised," he says.

Moving on to GAA and Seán Moran writes in his column this morning that it won't take much more before cancelling the All-Ireland seems like a solution. "The recent collective experience of the GAA community has now led to a rethinking of the association's previously least questionable tenet – the untouchable importance of the intercounty game," he writes. County teams are due to return to training on September 14th but Tyrone's Conall McCann believes they should be allowed to do so earlier and says that some counties are already training in breach of the guidelines.

In soccer, the quarter-finals of the Champions League begin in Lisbon this evening with Atalanta facing Paris Saint Germain but, in the Portuguese capital where strict measures remain in place, it's hard to even tell that eight of the worlds best teams are in town. Last night Wolves saw their Europa League adventure ended by Sevilla thanks to a late goal from Lucas Ocampos. Closer to home, Dundalk saw off Waterford in the first round of the FAI Cup while there were scenes of joy at Turner's Cross when Cork City snatched a late winner to beat Longford Town. Meanwhile, unrest at the FAI continues to be the order of the day after Shelbourne chairman Andrew Doyle yesterday resigned from his position within the organisation, citing "appalling" governance in a letter which outlined six "serious issues".

Moving on and the second lockdown in the Australian city of Melbourne as a result of a rise in Covid-19 cases has hit both the area, and its sport, particularly hard. Jack Anderson is an Irish expat living in the city and lecturing at the University of Melbourne and this morning he writes that the sporting fabric of the city has taken a huge hit.