
Galway's brilliance scuppers Down's masterplan and secures All-Ireland last-eight spot
Galway marched into Pairc Esler as heavy favourites in Sunday's preliminary Quarter-Final and, although they did escape with a victory, anyone who thought this was going to be one way traffic doesn't know the work that Down have put into their preparation over the past few years.
Conor Laverty and his management team leave no stone unturned, and they cooked up a plan that pushed last year's All-Ireland finalists right to the very brink as the Ulster side went into the game fully committed to executing their strategy, undeterred by the bookies, outside noise or the opposition's haul of All-Stars.

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Daily Mail
5 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Lions hit with double injury headache with Irish duo doubts as they land in Australia - but calm Andy Farrell looks to play down concerns
Irish duo Hugo Keenan and Jamison Gibson-Park are injury doubts for the Lions' opening tour fixture against the Western Force on Saturday. The Lions touched down in Australia on Sunday night, with head coach Andy Farrell attempting to play down the fitness concerns. Scrum-half Gibson-Park tweaked his glute in the URC semi-final two weeks ago and his Leinster team-mate Keenan suffered a calf strain in May. 'We'll see how a few of the lads pull up, but there's nothing too serious at this minute,' said Farrell. 'They're fine. They wouldn't be here otherwise. When you go to any type of match, you need at least 30 players to be able to cover. We're good as far as that's concerned. That's all that matters.' Asked if the feeling of disappointment from Friday night's surprise defeat by Argentina had been felt throughout the flight, Farrell added: 'No, we're here to build for what's going to be a fantastic Test series. 'We want to play some good rugby along the way. 'We'll find out more about each other as we keep on going. Of course we'll analyse what went on and why, but that's all part of the journey - to understand where we need to go next.' The Lions were greeted by supporters at Perth Airport, where Henry Pollock arrived carrying BIL the lion teddy as part of his duties as the squad's youngest player.


Daily Mail
6 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Sione Tuipulotu's Lions partner Bundee Aki voices frustration after midfield duo fail to 'connect'
Bundee Aki admits his British and Irish Lions partnership with Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu simply 'has to get better' if it's to survive the rigours of an Australian tour. The muscular duo failed to sparkle in last Friday's opening defeat to Argentina in Dublin, and it remains to be seen if head coach Andy Farrell will try the midfield combination again. Tuipulotu was operating out of position at outside centre and his performance suffered as a result. While there were encouraging signs for the Lions in attack, key passes did not stick on numerous occasions, and Farrell later lamented an error-strewn performance by his team in their first match of the campaign. Aki confessed that it was 'frustrating' he did not 'connect well' with his fellow centre. 'We all know how Sione is as a player, he's class' said New Zealand-born Ireland star Aki, who scored the Lions' opening try in the first half. 'The frustrating thing for me was I wasn't able to connect well with him. He's an unbelievable player and there's no excuse, we've got to get better as a partnership going forward.' Aki believes that individual combinations can only improve as the tour of Australia gathers pace. 'He (Tuipulotu) speaks out loud, which is what we need, him being himself and I just feed off him and he feeds off me,' said Aki. 'The more we grow as a partnership, the better it is for the group.' It's thought that Farrell might prefer to consider Tuipulotu and Aki as either-or options at 12, rather than as a double act. Tuipulotu and Aki regularly play as inside centres, while Huw Jones, Garry Ringrose and Elliot Daly are all more used to wearing the 13 jersey. Australia-born Tuipulotu has an established partnership with Jones for Glasgow Warriors and Scotland, while Aki and Ringrose know each other well from Irish sides. Aki said: 'Whoever it is, Garry, Huw, Elliot, as a unit we've got to make sure we gel together and get that cohesiveness fairly quick because we need to be better.' The Lions were greeted by supporters on their arrival at Perth Airport today, where England sensation Henry Pollock had the duty of carrying BIL the lion teddy as the squad's youngest player. But the squad touched down with a warning from two of Pollock's England team-mates ringing in their ears. Tom Curry and Fin Smith were both less than impressed after the defeat by Argentina, with Curry admitting the loss served as a major wake-up call. 'We need to take responsibility for our performances,' he said. 'We can't score points if we're giving the ball away easily. We must have tough conversations. Smith, one of 14 Lions debutants against the Pumas, said he was 'gutted' and 'pretty deflated'. 'There is a lot to get better at,' he said. 'The main thing is how quickly we can respond and stop feeling sorry for ourselves.' The Lions' first game Down Under is against the Western Force on Saturday.


BBC News
8 hours ago
- BBC News
McGuinness 'delighted' with Donegal progression
Donegal manager Jim McGuinness says he is "delighted" after securing an All-Ireland quarter-final berth. Conor O'Donnell and Ciaran Thompson netted as the Ulster champions ran out 2-22 to 0-12 winners over will be pitted against either Meath or Ulster rivals Monaghan in the draw for the last eight on Monday."We're delighted to be in the quarter-final draw, that was the overwhelming ambition coming into the game," McGuinness told BBC Sport NI."We're very happy to be there."The quarter-final will be a ninth Championship match in the space of 13 weeks for Donegal, a schedule McGuinness admits is "gruelling".However, the Tir Chonaill boss is looking at the positives and says "we don't want to go down that road"."We had three big games ahead of us. Thankfully we've navigated two and we've one more ahead of us. "We're delighted to have that opportunity to play in that game, regardless of who we get in what will be a very tough draw."We'll take the positives and take the learnings from today, and hopefully we can build on that for next week."It's going to be very difficult to navigate the next round but that's were we want to be."