The Morning Sports Briefing

Athletics: World Championships

“So, four days after Usain Bolt evidently saved athletics, comes the very real possibility of Justin Gatlin doing the alternative” - As perfectly summed up by Ian O’Riordan, round two of the Bolt/Gatlin rivalry is again set to capture the attention as they meet in the finals of the 200m today.

Multiple Olympic champion Bolt edged the twice banned (for doping) American in the 100m final over the weekend, just about, but the pressure is back on for the now tired Jamaican;

“I’m feeling a bit tired, as expected,” said Bolt, who is chasing a fourth successive 200m title. “I’m just trying to get as much rest as possible and trying to get through these rounds. Right now I’m feeling okay. I didn’t run a hard corner. I ran maybe 90 per cent. For me, my 200 is my best event. I live for this, so I’m looking forward to it. I know I’m going to do well.”

Soccer: Champions League

Louis van Gaal's Manchester United secured passage to the Champions League proper with a convincing 4-0 win over Belgian side Club Brugge last night.

On a perfect night for the Manchester club, captain Wayne Rooney even managed to end his barren spell with a hat-trick which is sure to boost his confidence levels after a dull start to the campaign in which a United player has scored just one goal in three Premier League games.

Placed in pot two of today's group stages draw though (4.30pm Irish time on BT Sports) the Premier League champions of 2012-13 could be paired with any of Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus or Paris Saint-Germain as they make up four of the eight sides in the first pot.

Rugby: World Cup

Luke Fitzgerald looks set to be handed the number 13 jersey against Wales at the Aviva Stadium when Joe Schmidt announces his side at lunchtime today, as the Irish coaching staff continue to look at their outside centre options as cover to Jared Payne.

Gerry Thornley has picked his probable Irish fifteen for the side which will take the field against Wales in this weekend's World Cup warm-up game.

There’s a mixture of experience and players keen to nail down a place on the Irish 31-man squad which World Cup organisers need by 5pm on Monday (with a formal announcement coming that afternoon or the next day).

Golf

With all his main goals set at the start of year achieved Shane Lowry has been reflecting in his column on a well deserved break;

“I’ll be honest: wins are everything in golf. No-one plays to finish in the top-five, or to finish second or third. You would definitely swap a lot of good finishes for a win, so I think it has been a pretty successful year so far in that regards. I’ve done pretty much everything I set out to achieve. My PGA Tour card. I’ve won another tournament. I’m well inside the world’s top-50. They were all my main goals.”

GAA: Championship

Mayo picked their team last night for Sunday's All-Ireland SFC semi-final versus Dublin and they go unchanged from the win over Donegal other than Chris Barrett replacing the injured Tom Cunniffe.

In this week's GAA Statistical column there's a look at the definite role Aidan O'Shea actually plays for Mayo - with a neat graphic on the big midfielder come full-forward's contribution versus Donegal.

“While his goal against Donegal in the All-Ireland quarter-final may have seen him out field and subsequently shrug off the attentions of three defenders, O’Shea got his hands on the ball around the square just the once over the 70 minutes.”

What to watch out for:

The Beijing World Championships continues today - the men's 200m final is down for 1.55pm

BBC 2, 2.35am-5am, 11am-2.45pm, 7pm-8pm

La Vuelta Stage 6: To Sierra de Cazorla

TG4, 3pm-5.05pm

Southampton continue their Europa League qualifying campaign tonight, away in their second leg against FC Midtjylland after it finished 1-1 at St Mary's.

BT Sport Europe from 7.30pm