The first England v Ireland Test match promises to be one of the great days in Irish sports history, no matter what happens on that green field in St John's Wood today. No visiting nation has won on its first appearance at Lord's, and usually received a hammering. Australia, West Indies, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh were all beaten by an innings, India by 158 runs. Andy Bull thinks English cricket should follow the British Open's example and discard Irish disdain: "Maybe if the Irish win this one we'll finally let them play a five-day game."
Shane Lowry is eyeing up Olympic success after his Major breakthrough. His win in Portrush has jumped him to 10th in the updated Olympic men's qualifying rankings: "I missed the last one (in Rio de Janeiro in 2016). I got a lot of stick for that. I had my own reasons. This (win) has gone a long way to putting me on the plane for Japan." Thousands thronged the centre of Clara in Offaly yesterday evening for the triumphant homecoming of the British Open winner.
Jake Morris' goal in the dying minutes broke Cork hearts and sent the home fans wild as Tipperary won the Munster Under-20 hurling title last night. Seán Moran writes this morning that the jury on the Super 8s could be out for quite a while: "The Super 8s have been a really worthwhile exercise in trialling a new model in the championship and maybe further tweaking will address some of the issues but there's a sense that the jury may be out for a while before a verdict is reached." While Darragh Ó Sé thinks the Rochford factor can add fuel to Mayo's fire this weekend (Subscriber Only): "If you're a Mayo player over the coming 10 days and Rochford's name comes up, you're not going to be sitting there in fear of what he has in store for you. Not a hope. If you have any gumption about you at all – and we know these Mayo players have nothing to prove on that score – you're saying, 'Bring it on, Rochy. We know as much about you as you do about us'."
Meanwhile Dan Martin moved up two places to 13th overall at the end of stage 16 of the Tour de France on Tuesday. He remains 11 minutes 39 seconds behind the ongoing race leader Julian Alaphilippe. Nicolas Roche drifted back towards the end of the stage, saving energy for another attempt at the first Tour stage win of his career.
