The Morning Sports Briefing

JJ set for Saints

JJ Hanrahan is set to leave his native Munster and join Northampton Saints next season in a lucrative deal.

The Kerry born 22-year-old out-half has struggled this season making just two starts under Anthony Foley, and he is likely to head to the Saints having been offered a contract worth somewhere in the region of £150,000 (€190,000).

Hanrahan is a former Irish Schools and Under-20 out half and was shortlisted for the IRB World Young Player of the year in 2012 after his starring role in Ireland’s fifth place finish in the Under-20 World Cup.

But Hanrahan, who graduated from Munster’s academy in 2013, has subsequently struggled to kick on as he would have liked, with Ian Keatley firmly the province’s first choice number 10.

Gerry Thornley looks at Hanrahan's proposed move to the Premiership.

Doping not widespread

Modern professional rugby players are man-mountains, and in 2014 even the slightest of wingers are muscle bound - look at the Munster versus Clermont game from last weekend and the footage from matches 30 years ago, the current crop are absolute beasts in comparison.

But according to Alan Quinlan any claims doping is widespread throughout rugby are unfair, and the sheer size of players today is largely down to the fact rugby has not yet been professional for 20 years and as a sport it is progressively learning more as time passes - bigger bodies aren't proof of doping.

Madigan says it’s make or break

After last weekend’s lost to Harlequins at The Stoop Leinster welcome the London side to the Aviva on Saturday night knowing a victory is a necessity if they want to keep their European hopes alive heading into the New Year.

One of the rare bright spots in the 24-18 defeat was Luke Fitzgerald not only managing to complete just his third game of the season, but also looking relatively sharp given his lack or game time.

Fitzgerald is set to form a new-look midfield partnership with Ian Madigan on Saturday as coach Matt O’Connor looks to restore some craft and creativity into the line up.

But Madigan knows the heat will be on Leinster under the Aviva floodlights, he said to Gerry Thornley: "There is massive pressure this weekend.

“All the chips are across the line. It’s boom or bust this week. We know that as players. Aside from the group and having to take control of the group, the last two times Leinster have played in the Aviva we’ve lost.

“In fairness to the supporters and especially in the lead up to Christmas they’re showing their support again. There are going to be more than 40,000 people at the game at the weekend.

“There is a big acknowledgement from the players that we have to perform this week, not just for ourselves but for the supporters and to show gratitude for that.”

Ref O’Reilly

Elsewhere, Helen O'Reilly has become the first female referee to join the IRFU national panel after impressive performances during the women's rugby World Cup.

She won’t be reffing European finals just yet though, and will be starting off in Divisions 2A and 2B of the Ulster Bank League from January. She spoke to Johnny Watterson about her appointment.

Scarlets trip a tricky one

Ulster may have won impressively against the Scarlets at Ravenshill last weekend, but Craig Gilroy is well aware the upcoming trip to Wales will be a different proposition altogether.

The province need to win to keep their European hopes alive but remain in a precarious position with a visit to Toulon still to come, Gilroy said: "It's certainly on thin ice almost.

“You saw the result of Toulon and Leicester. It’s opened up ever so slightly, not a lot just a bit. Hopefully we can use that to our advantage.

Mils the main man

Meanwhile out West Mils Muliaina is making a big impression at the Sportsground. Connacht are in a rich vein of form and their 100-cap All Black is at the heart of Pat Lam's revolution, writes Keith Duggan.

Basel aren’t faulty

Liverpool were sent crashing out of the Champions League last night after they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home to Switzerland's FC Basel.

Needing a win to qualify for the last-16, Brendan Rodger’s side were sluggish in the first half and Basel took a deserved lead through Fabian Frei’s thumping low shot.

Liverpool came out for the second half hoping to channel the 'spirit of Olympiakos' but were left facing an even tougher task after Lazar Markovic was sent off for swinging an arm at Behrang Safari.

Steven Gerrard levelled things with a free kick after 80 minutes, but Basel withstood a late onslaught to make it through to the next round and consign Liverpool to the Europa League.

Arsenal won 4-1 away at Galatasaray but it wasn't enough to top Group D after Borussia Dortmund drew at home to Anderlecht, Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey both scored twice for Arsen Wenger's side.

City need Rome result

Manchester City's Champions League campaign could also come to a premature end tonight as they head to Rome without Sergio Aguero needing at least a score draw and for other results to go in their favour in order to qualify.

St Vincent’s fighting fit

St Vincent's head into Sunday's Leinster senior football championship final with a staggering unbeaten record stretching 27 months to when they were defeated by Ballymun Kickhams in the quarter final of the Dublin Championship way back in September 2012.

Ahead of the final against Offaly’s Rhode St Vincent’s have been trying something different in training, including mixed martial arts sessions as part of their preparations.

St Vincent’s vice-captain Hugh Gill said: “We wanted a fresh approach, just to change things slightly, so we did a bit of mixed martial arts.

“SBG (Straight Blast Gym) is where Conor McGregor started out, although he wasn’t around at the time. It was great, very enjoyable. We did a bit of wrestling and a bit of grappling and a bit of circuits.”

Don’t compare GAA and professionals

After ex-Ireland international Stephen Hunt's comments about the difficulties of adjusting to a professional lifestyle, Sean Moran argues comparing GAA players with professionals is ultimately a pointless exercise, and that just because other sports are different doesn't necessarily make them better or worse.

New lick of paint for Leopardstown

Leopardstown is set to undergo a €14 million refurbishment for 2015, which would enable Dublin's only racecourse to cater for crowds of up to 20,000.

As part of the refurbishment a new administrative complex, including a weigh-room, jockeys and stewards facilities, as well as new facilities for police and ambulance services, are planned. Work on the second-tier of the grandstand will be completed next year and work on the final stage of the development could begin in 2017.