Leinster face the Bulls at the RDS Arena in this evening’s URC semi-final — looking to grab the Bulls by the horns for what’ll be a season-defining game. The South Africans arrive on the back of nine wins in their last 10 games, yet nine months after Leinster’s season opener ticket sales have only exceeded 10,000. Read Gerry Thornley’s preview here. A defeat to a South African team would fuel that hoary old chestnut about Leinster not being equipped to cope with big physical sides who base their game on power, however assistant coach Felipe Contepomi insists they “had nothing to prove”.
GAA president Larry McCarthy has defended the choice of Croke Park as the venue for the upcoming football qualifiers, saying: “I think players want to play in Croke Park and we’re giving them that opportunity.” In his column this morning Joe Canning has made out a team by team midterm report for the hurling championship: Limerick are in a great place, Kilkenny are still searching for form, and Clare need to be careful.
The PGA Tour has indefinitely banned the 17 golfers involved in the controversial Saudi Arabian-backed rebel series that began at the Centurion Club on Thursday. Philip Reid writes of a brave new sportswashing world as LIV golf made its initial bow: “For a first offering, it wasn’t at all bad if a little head-spinning in working out exactly who was doing what at any given time with action switching from one player at various parts of the course, unsurprisingly perhaps given the shotgun start which had all 48 players teeing off simultaneously on 16 holes.” Rory McIlroy’s opening score of four-under-par 66 put him straight into the mix in the defence of his RBC Canadian Open title.
The Republic of Ireland Under-21s have secured, at the very least, a play-off spot to qualify for next year’s European Championships in Romania and Georgia following Sweden and Italy’s 1-1 draw in Helsingborg on Thursday evening. A win over Italy on Tuesday however would secure Ireland top spot, and their first ever qualification for the tournament. Lisa Fallon writes that Jim Crawford’s Under-21s are lessening the pain of recent senior defeats.
