Ireland's pride of Lions ready to pounce on Test places
not 'the kind of emphatic statement win they would have wanted,'
writes Gerry Thornley. But as 'the phoney war' nears an end, with the first test against Australia just a week and a bit away, he reckons that after
Andy Farrell assesses his squad's form
, as many as 10 Irish players could feature in his starting line-up in Brisbane.
In his
'five things we learnt' from the Canberra game
, Johnny Watterson believes as many as 12 of Farrell's Irish crew are in contention for a test start, among them
Garry Ringrose
who, along with Ollie Chessum, earns the highest marks in his player ratings.
Closer to home, John O'Sullivan talks to
'serial winner' Gus McCarthy
ahead of Ireland's game against Portugal on Saturday, the 21-year-old hooker having never been on the losing side in a Test match or a Champions Cup game. Our under-20 side were, alas, very much on the losing side at the world championships, Nathan Johns reporting on
their 69-22 battering by New Zealand
.
In Gaelic games,
Ciarán Murphy looks forward to the weekend's football semi-finals
, and he's struggling to see anything but Kerry and Donegal triumphs. Michael Meehan isn't dismissing Tyrone and Meath's chances, though, the former Galway forward telling Gordon Manning that their
'freshness of youth and swagger'
could see one - or both - causing an upset.
READ MORE
Donegal old boy
Kevin Cassidy isn't ruling out Meath either
, Ciarán Kirk hearing him pinpoint the battle between Meath full back Seán Rafferty and Donegal full forward Michael Murphy as being potentially pivotal on Sunday.
In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey reports on
Shelbourne's 1-0 win over Linfield
in Wednesday's Champions League qualifier. They should, though, have 'killed off the tie', instead they take the slenderest of leads to Windsor Park for next week's second leg.
Johnny, meanwhile, wonders about the fate of
Bray Boxing Club which has been closed since a fatal attack by a gunman there in 2018
. Wicklow County Council is inviting expressions of interest from any sports clubs who wish to lease the facility, but depending on that outcome, 'it is possible that the gym that once housed Katie Taylor may no longer be a boxing club'.
And in his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan tells
the grim story of former WBC champion Julio César Chávez Jr
who was detained in Los Angeles last week by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents. He is facing deportation to his native Mexico where he'll be up on weapons and drug trafficking charges.
TV Watch:
Sky's coverage of golf's Scottish Open got under way at 8am and and continues until 7pm, and they also have the Evian Championship, the fourth of five Majors on the LPGA Tour, from 11am. It's women's semi-final day at Wimbledon (BBC 1 and Premier Sports), Aryna Sabalenka v Amanda Anisimova up first at 1.30pm, followed by
Belinda Bencic v Iga Swiatek
.
And in Euro 2025, it's Finland v Switzerland (RTÉ 2 and BBC 1) and Norway v Iceland today, both kicking off at 8pm. England, meanwhile, are in dream-land after
their 4-0 win over the Netherlands
kept their tournament alive, having lost their opening game to France. 'From shambolic to sublime.'
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Irish Examiner
6 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Springboks suffer injury blows ahead of second test against Australia
As if the pain of a first defeat to Australia at Ellis Park in 62 years was not enough, South Africa face a heavy injury toll from the 38-22 defeat in Saturday's Rugby Championship opener, with captain Siya Kolisi sidelined for an extended period. Kolisi suffered a knee injury as Australia rallied from 22 points down in a stunning second-half display and is out of the second test in Cape Town on Saturday and likely the two-match tour to New Zealand that follows. Kolisi is expected to be out for four weeks, which means he will miss the Springboks' eagerly anticipated clash with New Zealand at Eden Park on September 6, where they are seeking a first win since 1937. Loose-forward Pieter-Steph du Toit suffered a concussion in the weekend defeat and will also miss the second game as he goes through return to play protocols. Both wings from the loss, Kurt-Lee Arendse (knee) and Edwill van der Merwe (ankle), are also out of this coming weekend. That should be tempered by the return from injury of experienced wing Cheslin Kolbe, who is expected to be available. Inside centre Damian de Allende, an important cog in the backline, is also set to be fit after missing Saturday's loss. Coach Rassie Erasmus says the team are aware of their shortcomings at Ellis Park as they tried to move the ball too expansively and were picked off by a clinical Australia. "We had a proper meeting and the feeling is frustration," he told reporters on Monday. "But at least we know what we did wrong. That's the most important thing. They totally outplayed us. "If you play beautiful rugby and you lose, you lose. If you play boring rugby and you win, then people are happy. We were totally on the wrong side of that balance on Saturday, and that is not because (attack coach) Tony (Brown) coaches that way. "You tend to think things are easy and there is so much space. Then a proud country like Australia take their opportunities." South Africa will name their side on Tuesday for the second fixture in Cape Town. Reuters
RTÉ News
8 hours ago
- RTÉ News
Furious Rassie Erasmus hints at change in plans for second Test against Australia
Rassie Erasmus pulled no punches as he laid into his South Africa side following their second-half capitulation in the stunning 38-22 loss to Australia in their Rugby Championship opener at Ellis Park on Saturday. The Springboks were cruising as they led 22-0 inside the first quarter, but while Australia grew into the game and began to win the individual contests, the home side wilted in the second half as the visitors scored 38 unanswered points. "I can try to butter it up and bottle it up to sound cool and respectful. The effort was maybe there but the accuracy or precision wasn't," Erasmus told reporters. "It was a bad loss in a bad way. Not against a bad team, we just didn't have fight right until the end, and that's not what we want to give South Africa. "There was a stage where I felt our heads were dropping and shoulders were slumping, and that was part of the disappointment." Australia dominated at the breakdown, an area that has troubled the Springboks this season as they try to move to a more expansive, running style of play, which makes for a looser contest on the floor. "We didn't scrum them and they beat us in the lineouts," Erasmus said. "In the first 25 minutes, I thought we were really good in the breakdown. After that, when Siya (Kolisi) got injured and Marco (van Staden) went for a (head-injury assessment), it slipped away. "They beat us in most departments. We as coaches got it terribly wrong and we must look firstly at ourselves." The two teams meet again in Cape Town on Saturday and Erasmus, who has already announced his side for the match to the players, says there may be a rethink. "We know from now until next Saturday we are going to take a lot of flak. We take the credit when we do well, now we must take the flak when we do badly. "We already picked next week's that will probably change. "We'll have to rethink it. They tactically outsmarted us and physically dominated us."
Irish Examiner
8 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Campese eating humble pie as Wallabies get ready for Boks backlash
AUSTRALIA are bracing for a violent backlash from the Springboks in the second Rugby Championship test in Cape Town on Saturday after their stunning upset of the Springboks at Ellis Park. The Wallabies' recovery from an early 22-0 deficit to post a first win since 1963 at the crucible of South African rugby on Sunday left many back home just as incredulous as the fans of the back-to-back world champions. Wallabies lock Will Skelton, however, said the 38-22 victory would mean only one thing when the teams clashed again at Newlands in the second round of the Rugby Championship. "They're going to try and punch you in the face this week," he said. "So we're going to have to be ready, have a good week of preparation again and really fight until the end." Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt has been very clear throughout his rebuilding project over the last year that consistency of performance is the acid test of progress. That Saturday's victory backed up a win in the third test of the lost series against the British & Irish Lions was a huge positive, but the players know a humiliating reverse on Saturday would be an equally significant step backwards. Skelton said the Lions series, where Australia played well only in parts of the first two tests before producing an 80-minute performance in the third, had established a bedrock of resilience in the squad. "It's definitely been building throughout the Lions series," Skelton added. "We didn't have the best start against the Lions in the first test as well. "At 22-0 (behind on Saturday), we stuck to the game plan. We stuck to the processes. We stuck in there and we fought to come back to where we got the game." The win over world champions South Africa will mean little if they do not follow up in Cape Town, added back-up scrumhalf Tate McDermott. 'The Springboks were world class, we saw what they did in the first 20 minutes, they tore us to shreds, so we know that they're coming and they're coming hard. We've got to back it up,' he added. McDermott said he and his teammates on the replacement bench were in shock as Australia conceded three tries in 18 minutes but then in awe of the way the Wallabies recovered against the odds. 'The Springboks went bang, bang, bang pretty quick and the way that they scored their tries, through width, through skill and through power was exactly what they're famous for. 'But the way that we stuck in the fight was something I was really proud of from the bench. It looked like we always had that belief, even though you're standing there after 18 minutes and it's 22-0. "The fight that we showed to stay in there and the resolve we showed and the way we've fought our way back into that second quarter in particular was something we can be really proud of,' he added. The euphoria of the Ellis Park victory came less than two years after the nadir of the game Down Under, Australia's first ever exit in the pool stage of a World Cup. While some declared the performance in Johannesburg as the best by a Wallabies team outside a World Cup, former Australia lock Justin Harrison was more circumspect. "Comparisons with previous eras is impossible," he told Reuters. "But this is the best win since the nightmare of the 2023 World Cup, the best result for this group." Other local media sceptics of the progress being made under Schmidt, including Wallabies great David Campese, were hastily backtracking Monday. "I am eating humble pie," the 1991 World Cup winner told the Sydney Morning Herald, having said last week that Schmidt's team selection showed the New Zealander had "no idea about rugby". Reuters
