[ Rory’s gong and won another awardOpens in new window ]
The world No 1 golfer was in Dublin last night to collect a second RTÉ Sports Person of the Year award. Back-to-back Major wins, a first WGC event win, the European Tour’s flagship event at Wentworth and a stunning Ryder Cup including his annihilation of Rickie Fowler in the singles. And that’s only for starters.
[ Rodgers brands Sanchez as a diverOpens in new window ]
He may have tried to sign him before Arsene Wenger, but Brendan Rodgers was less than impressed with Alexis Sanchez in the thrilling 2-2 draw with Arsenal at Anfield.
In relation to the free-kick award that led to Mathieu Debuchy’s first-half equaliser for the Gunners, Rodgers said: “I didn’t think it was a free-kick. I think Sanchez dived when he realised he was not getting the ball.”
Outside of that Rodgers was thrilled with his side’s showing and still believes Liverpool could mount a challenge for the top four.
“Yes, absolutely. That was always going to be a big challenge this season with the teams above us and we have to make up points over the next part of the season, but this is a group that can go on a good run.”
[ All together knowOpens in new window ]
Jose Mourinho’s insistence that the good of the collective be placed ahead of an individual’s desire to feature dictates that the Chelsea manager will volunteer no explanation, even to senior players displaced in his selection.
His side are in action in the Monday night game against a team that know all about the collective in Stoke City.
With Man City having drawn level on points with Chelsea, it has the feel of a tough Christmas exam for Mourinho’s side.
[ Foley hugely disappointed with Munster resultOpens in new window ]
Munster’s bad run continued with a third straight loss, a 21-18 defeat to Glasgow Warriors at Scotstoun seeing them drop from top place to third in the Guinness Pro 12 table.
Head coach Anthony Foley was disappointed that his side let an 18-9 half-time advantage slip away as the home side rallied.
“We didn’t take our opportunities in the second half. This was a hugely disappointing result,” said Foley, who are next in action when Leinster visit Thomond Park on St Stephen’s Day
[ Best we forget about that resultOpens in new window ]
Another side in need of a good performance is Ulster after they went down to a 31-20 defeat to the Ospreys in Swansea.
Late tries took the ugly look off the scoreboard, but Neil Doak’s side were poor at the Liberty Stadium and skipper Rory Best didn’t hold back with the honesty cards.
“We didn’t look after the ball well and our tackling let us down. We got into good shapes but we were soft at the gainline. We either missed or just soaked up the Ospreys and didn’t knock them down.
“We’ve got a big couple of weeks coming up. We want to stay in that top four but that means playing a lot better than we have over the last couple of games.”
Ulster are next in action on St Stephen’s Day when Connacht make the trip to Belfast.
[ Podium to the plinth Opens in new window ]
In this week’s Tipping Point column, Brian O’Connor takes a look at the how sporting achievement often becomes a shortcut to political mediocrity.
“Too often, sporting achievement has become a short-cut to political mediocrity, a profile exploited for votes before getting parked in backbench anonymity, reduced to funeral-going and wheel-greasing,”
[ From #AskTed to beating Zealand, a guide to the year in sports broadcastingOpens in new window ]
It’s the season to be writing A to Z lists and nobody does them better than Mary Hannigan. Your day will brighten on reading, I can assure you.
