Sports Speak

"Who wants some bird with a tiara who lives 12,000 miles away as their head of state?"

- Aussie Rules star Spider Everitt succinctly stating the case this week for an Australian republic.

"It doesn't matter if it's 40,000 or 20,000 people watching. I couldn't see the ball on the first tee at Portmarnock."

- Padraig Harrington pointing to the fact that the Walker Cup in which he played at 19 years of age was just as intimidating as this year's Ryder Cup.

"One of the most annoying things is we didn't fire a shot."

- Irish rugby coach Warren Gatland after Ireland's dull performance against Australia last Sunday.