Veteran Conor Lehane keen to make his mark for Cork after 12-year wait for return to All-Ireland final stage
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RTÉ News
44 minutes ago
- RTÉ News
Joe McCarthy out but nine Irish to start second Lions Test against Australia
Andy Farrell is backing his Irish stars to deliver a series win, naming nine Irish players in his starting team for Saturday's second Test against the Wallabies in Melbourne. Joe McCarthy and Mack Hansen both miss out on selection, having struggled with foot injuries which have kept them out of training, but in spite of this it's an Irish dominated starting XV once again, with 11 Ireland internationals across the matchday 23. It's a statement selection by Farrell, who had eight Irish starters in his team a week ago, and he has upped that further as the Lions look to clinch the series with a game to spare. McCarthy misses out after failing to recover from a foot injury, with Ollie Chessum partnering Maro Itoje at lock for an all-English second row pairing. Andrew Porter comes in at loosehead prop with Ellis Genge dropping to the bench, a nod towards Farrell wanting more explosiveness from his replacements in the final quarter. It's also a full-Irish front row at the MCG this week, with Dan Sheehan and Tadhg Furlong both starting alongside their Leinster team-mate. Farrell has naturally stuck with the same back row which dominated the Wallabies at Suncorp Stadium, Tadhg Beirne and Jack Conan joined by Tom Curry. The head coach has broken up his Scottish centre partnership, with Bundee Aki (above) replacing Sione Tuipulotu in the centre, linking up with Huw Jones who has held off stiff competition from Garry Ringrose to start. The rest of the backline is unchanged; Jamison Gibson-Park and Finn Russell picked in the half-backs, while Farrell has also retained his back three, with James Lowe and Tommy Freeman on the wings, and Hugo Keenan keeping his place at full-back. Farrell's frustrations with the lack of impact from his bench last week are evident with several changes to the replacements. James Ryan will play his first Lions Test, taking the spot left vacant by Chessum, while Jack Morgan is preferred to Ben Earl as the back row sub. Owen Farrell and Blair Kinghorn also come onto the bench, with both players having played 80 minutes in Tuesday's win against the First Nations and Pasifika XV. British and Irish Lions: Hugo Keenan; Tommy Freeman, Huw Jones, Bundee Aki, James Lowe; Finn Russell, Jamison Gibson-Park; Andrew Porter, Dan Sheehan, Tadhg Furlong; Maro Itoje, Ollie Chessum; Tadhg Beirne, Tom Curry, Jack Conan.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Inside Kerry's All-Ireland final prep: recovery vans, suit fittings, and hotel chess
Just as it was absent after their stunning All-Ireland quarter-final win over Armagh, the Kerry team bus wasn't near their dressing room following the semi-final victory against Tyrone. Instead, parked outside the door of it under the Hogan Stand beside trusty kit man Colm Whelan's van was a truck with C11 Recovery emblazoned along the side. Eagle-eyed viewers of The Open Championship in Portrush last week may also have noticed it in the players' area. On Instagram, would-be champion Scottie Scheffler and former Masters winner Jon Rahm were pictured outside it. For the past few seasons, Kerry have been using the Kildare-based mobile recovery unit, which features Avantopool ice baths and compression boots. Cork GAA, Munster Rugby, Basketball and Cricket Ireland are among its founder Ryan Casey's other clients. 'For the last number of years, any time we would have got to Croke Park, a recovery guy comes in,' Kerry selector of the previous three seasons Mike Quirke told the Irish Examiner football podcast last month. 'There would be ice baths in the shower area. As soon as that quarter-final is over, the boys goe straight in there for the next day. 'It's a great service and you know what it's a nice thing for players as well because you're saying, 'The recovery guy is booked because we're going to be here in two weeks' time.'' Psychologically, it is most certainly a boost and almost as self-fulfilling and prophetic was something that occurred across Jones Road last Saturday week. Outside of All-Ireland finals in GAA HQ, Kerry have their post-match meal in the Croke Park Hotel but there they were also fitted for their All-Ireland final suits. A couple of hours after qualifying for the final and they were already dealing with the frills and fuss that come with the day. This month three years ago, Jack O'Connor spoke of the distractions around All-Ireland final day. 'They have to understand that this is about performing on the big day and not getting carried away with any sideshows or tickets and looking after their partners the night before and all this. There are a lot of sideshows. 'Getting measured for suits, tickets and accommodation for their partners and all that, you have to absolutely park all of that stuff and concentrate on the performance because it will be well forgotten about if we can't get over the line now.' The logistics and other non-management backroom members pride themselves on their diligent levels of preparation. As they did for the last two games, Kerry will stay in Dunboyne the night before the game with Donegal also expected to spend Saturday in Meath in Enfield (Kerry's banquet is the Clayton Hotel Burlington on Leeson Street and Donegal's takes place in The Radisson Hotel in Golden Lane). Kerry's bookings had been arranged for months – Donegal stayed in the Burlington hotel when they won the 2012 final but Kerry were there when they beat them two years later. For last month's quarter-final, Kerry had heard Armagh attempted to book into the regular Dunboyne base. The result mightn't have gone the team's way but for the final group game against Meath in Tullamore last month, they had organised their accommodation in Mullingar weeks before Glenisk O'Connor Park was confirmed as the venue. In 2022, Kerry made an advance payment on their hotel for an All-Ireland quarter-final assuming they would beat Limerick in the Munster final. The pre-paid booking saved them around €7,000. Last year, accommodation costs for Kerry totalled €165,436 compared to €177,302 in 2023. When Kerry beat Dublin in the following semi-final that year, they hadn't a hotel booked for the night after the final. The team they had vanquished no longer needed their sleeping partners The Gibson Hotel and took their place. There may have been some confusion about April's training camp in Portugal. Last November, treasurer Paudie Healy told local media it would not be taking place only for that decision to be reversed. 'Sure we're going anyway,' smiled O'Connor about the board agreeing to the trip after Kerry claimed the Division 1 title. Like other counties realised, going abroad worked out cheaper than a camp at home but for Kerry who had played seven games in eight weeks it was also a chance to work on two-pointers. 'It's a skill getting the right kickers on it and creating the space, so we had a bit more time starting with the training camp to work on stuff like that,' he recalled earlier this month. 'That was the real practical reason.' A total of 25 in their eight SFC games compared to 11 in the same amount of league fixtures would suggest the work done on two-pointers on the break was money well spent.
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'Live your life': Jack O'Connor has learned how to survive All-Ireland final week
Jack O'Connor doesn't specify which of the previous seven All-Ireland finals he is referencing. Doesn't tell us whether it is one of the four successful or three unsuccessful. His tone, though, would suggest the fixture belongs to the latter group. The Kerry manager was in holistic humour at the county's All-Ireland final press afternoon in the Gleneagle on Saturday. An all-encompassing view was adopted and articulated for the duration of the 29-minute chat. Football rarely stood in isolation. He recalled one final, presumably from either his first or second coming, where he'd the match played in his head '1,000 times beforehand'. Come throw-in, he was mentally spent and the ability to think on his feet considerably reduced. It is a 'mistake' he has not repeated. It's a mistake he is forever endeavouring to ensure his players do not make. Football has no superior in the Kingdom. That's a blessing on a week such as this. But when results are not swinging for you, and we don't need to go too far back Championship Road for the most recent example of that, the place and its people can be suffocating. Escaping such is a challenge similar to countering Donegal's relentless running game. Jack speaks about David Clifford having to develop 'mechanisms' to keep the heat off him at times, even in his private life. How his players live away from the dressing room dictates the heights they are capable of reaching when they take the green and gold shirt of its hanger and head through the tunnel. The inference here is not to nutrition, recovery, sleep patterns, or any of that. The inference is to mental freshness. Jack constantly reminds his troops they are part of something that brings a lot of joy to a lot of people. That joy, though, should not be exclusive to those outside the dressing-room. It shouldn't be enjoyable for the followers and endurance for those on the field. The manager's message is thus: Obsess about football when you're in Fitzgerald Stadium on whatever midweek evening the schedule demands. But once you walk out onto Lewis Road after the post-training grub has been consumed, throw football into the boot along with the gearbag and leave it there. Well, maybe wash the gear. But don't go near football. 'Cognitive overload, or whatever the hell they call it' is to be avoided. 'You have to try and enjoy the season as a whole because otherwise it becomes a bit of a chore. I think even some of the players would say that there were other years where they clinched their fist, gritted their teeth, and wished their life away almost, and [wanted to] fast forward to the match. That doesn't really work. You have to take it in your stride and enjoy it as you go along,' says Jack. 'I've probably learned to do that better over the years. I've made plenty of mistakes. You give little bits of nuggets here and there and say, look lads, we'll switch on for the next two hours at the session, but when you are away from it, outside of a casual chat over a cup of coffee, try and switch off, do other things, live your life. 'Because at the end of the day, we are amateurs, we are not professionals. We need that bit of space to get that bit of energy back again. With social media, sure you can spend the whole day looking at stuff if you wanted. Away from training, you can't stay tuned in for every waking hour because otherwise you'll be drained over the course of the season.' That energy conservation is critical in this final week. 'There is no point in being all wired to the moon and having your energy spent by the weekend. All-Ireland final week can be draining enough with all the nervous tension involved in it, so it is really important that you manage your energy. It is not all stress, there is an enjoyable part, as well, where you feel a buzz around the county and you feed off that.' A different sort of freshness. Sideline freshness. Jack's theory is that the lifespan of a management team is three years. So, at that point, either shake it up or get out of town yourself, which he's done in the past. Mike Quirke, Diarmuid Murphy, and Paddy Tally departed in the off-season. In came former minor manager James Costello, Pa McCarthy, who served under Costello in that minor gig, and former Kerry forward Aodán MacGearailt. And for the role of coach, it was a case of back to the future in recruiting Cian O'Neill. The manager explains the credentials sought in that recruitment process. 'It's very important that you pick people who are good at the role, have potential to improve in the role, and be possible head coaches or managers down the line. I've always kept an eye on stuff like that. 'I brought in Éamonn Fitzmaurice and Diarmuid Murphy in 2009. Both of them proved after that they relished being in there. Éamonn went on to win a great All-Ireland in 2014, so it is important to give a bit of consideration to people with potential, people with a good knowledge of the game, and people who have the ability to improve.' And, finally, to Sunday. The athletes versus the footballers. Is that a slight on Donegal, are Kerry nothing more than stylists? Jack doesn't see either side digressing from their football principles. 'Donegal have a powerful running game, it comes very natural to them because they play a lot of their club football like that. It is often said it has to do with the conditions up there, it is fairly windy, and not conducive to kicking the ball much. 'It probably will be a clash of styles, but at the end of the day, it comes down to good decision-making and players that are comfortable on the ball. 'There are lots of ways to skin a cat, so we'll of course be endeavouring to move the ball as fast as we can, but that is not always possible.'
