What's at stake for the Ulster stars looking to impress in Ireland's summer tour
Understandably, the summer's focus rugby-wise is mostly on the British and Irish Lions tour to Australia, but there is a two-match trip for Ireland next month with outings against Georgia and Portugal on July 5 and 12 respectively.
With so many Irish players — and coaches — due to be away on Lions duty, the Irish mini-tour's head coach Paul O'Connell has opted for a 32-man travelling party made up of 11 uncapped players with the only Ulsterman in that category being Nathan Doak.
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Wales Online
20 minutes ago
- Wales Online
Lions set to be without 16 players as England star called into squad
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Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Florian Wirtz to Liverpool transfer agreement close with final £118m compromise
Liverpool are expected to make a fourth and final official offer to Bayer Leverkusen to sign playmaker Florian Wirtz, with a compromise over the transfer fee concluding talks Liverpool are expected to make a FOURTH and final offer to Bayer Leverkusen in order to find a compromise on a transfer fee for Florian Wirtz. Liverpool have been locked in talks with the German club over the signing of Wirtz for weeks and negotiations are finally reaching an end game. The Reds submitted a third official bid for the playmaker on Friday made up of £100million plus £13m in add-ons. That would represent a British transfer record, eclipsing the £106.8m Chelsea paid Benfica for Enzo Fernandez in February 2023, but is still short of Leverkusen's asking price. Leverkusen have been holding out for £126.4m from the very start of negotiations, which have been led by Reds sporting director Richard Hughes, but it now seems as though a compromise can finally be reached. The German side have already sold Jeremie Frimpong to Liverpool for £29.5m and they have moved a step closer to receiving a major pay day from the Premier League champions. Leverkusen are expecting a fourth and final offer for Wirtz in the next 24 hours – and that they will shake hands for £118m. That is because Liverpool have made it clear that they won't go as high as £126m and Leverkusen don't want to overplay their hand. The club knows that Wirtz has his heart set on moving to Merseyside and that they need to cash in now. Considering Liverpool started out talks with a bid of £85m (€100m), Leverkusen will still be delighted with their business, if it does indeed get concluded. Wirtz, who could earn a whopping £355,000-a-week at Liverpool, is set to play for Germany in the Nations League third-place play-off against France in Stuttgart on Sunday and wants his future sorted soon. He chose Liverpool after holding talks with Bayern Munich and was impressed by the Reds' plans for him. HAVE YOUR SAY! Will Florian Wirtz be a success at Liverpool? Is he worth £118m? Comment below. If Liverpool do finally conclude talks with Leverkusen it will be the culmination of years of hard work. That's because former sporting director - and current Fenway Sports Group chief executive of football - Michael Edwards has been tracking him since 2020, when Wirtz was playing for Koln. Wirtz has been the stand-out player in the Bundesliga over the past few seasons, having helped Leverkusen win the title in 2023/24. The 22-year-old got 15 goals and 16 assists in 45 games across all competitions last season and is ready to leave Germany for a new challenge. Liverpool have money in the bank after a quiet summer before the 2024/25 season in which they brought in just one player: Federico Chiesa. However, with Frimpong signed and deals being negotiated for Wirtz and Bournemouth left-back Milos Kerkez, they know they must sell some players to balance the books. Darwin Nunez, Harvey Elliott, Andy Robertson and Chiesa are among those who could move on this summer after Caoimhin Kelleher completed his transfer to Brentford for £18m. Join our new WhatsApp community and receive your daily dose of Mirror Football content. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you're curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.
Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Popular holiday resort issues new tourist rules which could cost Brits £1,000s
Brits will face penalty charges of up to £3,375 for tourists who flout behaviour codes in the Algarve resort of Albufeira after city hall legislators approved the strict new rules The Algarve holiday resort town of Albufeira, Portugal, has gone to war with badly-behaved Brit tourists by approving huge new fines. Penalty charges of up to €4,000 (£3,375) for holidaymakers who flout a strict new good behaviour code were agreed on Friday by local councillors. British tourists were first warned about the new get-tough rules in February when Albufeira 's mayor Jose Carlos Rolo announced the 'Code of Conduct' plans and put proposals out to public consultation. This week the process took a giant leap forward as it emerged holidaymakers can be hit with the fines once they are published in an official state bulletin, expected to happen soon. People who enter bars and other business premises with their tops off will face fines of up to €1,500 (£1,250) under the new rules, with the wearing of beachwear outside of allowed areas also being tackled. Spitting or urinating in the street will be punished with fines of between €150 (£125) and €750 (£630). And badly-behaved tourists who end up naked in public, or get caught having or simulating sex, face fines of between €2,000 (£1,685) and €4,000 (£3,375). Bars and cafes who let customers in without the proper dress code will also be hit with financial penalties under the new rules. Mayor Mr Rolo last night signalled his intent to try to take Albufeira upmarket and win back some of the families said to have been scared off by the reports of alcohol and drug-fuelled behaviour. He told local press "tourists who fall down drunk aren't needed here at all" as he said he was seeking a three-pronged approach of 'dissuasive measures', marketing and meetings with British diplomats. He also called on the central government to draft in more police. The mayor said: 'We want security to be visible. Sending 10 police officers to stay at their station isn't going to solve the problem.' Only one of the 25 Albufeira councillors who voted opposed the new Code of Conduct, with critic Leonardo Paco claiming everything in it was already covered by national legislation. Other dissenters have cast doubt on the idea that police will end up going into bars and cafes to check whether tourists have their tops on. Last summer a group of partying British tourists put on a shocking display of public nudity which led to locals questioning the type of visitor the town attracted. Footage of their drunken antics, showing them naked on their knees in a line on top of a bar counter, went viral as Mr Rolo called the display 'deeply negative' and said he would call for police reinforcements. Eight British holidaymakers were later identified by cops. The GNR police force is understood to have discovered who they were following an investigation. The jaw-dropping scenes happened at Route Caffe 66 on the Oura Strip, Albufeira's equivalent of the infamous Punta Ballena party strip in Magaluf. One of the revellers was seen slapping the bare backside of a pal who was part of the bizarre party train. It is not immediately clear what if any action has been taken against them following an investigation.
