Then there were two in the All-Ireland as Kerry and Galway will meet in the final for the Sam Maguire Cup for the first time since 2000. Sunday was a gripping addition to Gaelic football’s greatest rivalry as Dublin and Kerry could only be separated by a brilliant 60 metre free by Sean O’Shea. That kick will soar into the ages, writes Ian O’Riordan. “When O’Shea stood before the 60m metre free which could put Kerry back in front with all five minutes of added-time elapsed, facing into the Hill 16 end and a stiff summer breeze too, if felt as it he was eyeing up the length of the Kingdom itself,” writes O’Riordan. “Personally, from the line, I didn’t think it was kickable, to be honest. Straight up I didn’t think the man could get the distance,” said Kerry manager Jack O’Connor. Dublin and Kerry were like “two prize bulls going toe to toe” as he was thrilled as Kerry get the better of Dublin.
Kerry tied up the loose ends of a decade of torment at the hands of Dublin with their victory, and with it comes a new problem facing the Dubs, their biggest weakness is an inability to see out close matches, writes Malachy Clerkin in today’s subscriber only piece. “Kerry scored two points from play in the last 34 minutes and still dug out the win. It used to be Dublin pulling that kind of trick. Of everything that has changed, nothing has had more impact.” In women’s football, Donegal shocked last year’s beaten finalists Dublin to reach the last four to play Meath, while Mayo will face Kerry next weekend. The anticipation is building for the All-Ireland hurling final and Seán Moran writes Limerick and Kilkenny are set to renew a vintage All-Ireland rivalry with a different dynamic, the first meeting of the counties in a final in this new era of Limerick dominance.
It was a super Saturday for Ireland in Dunedin as they made history by beating the All Blacks in New Zealand for the first time. Irish team is now targeting a series win after they joined elite list of just five countries to beat New Zealand on home territory. “Beating the All Blacks in New Zealand is perhaps the biggest box Ireland have ticked in a long sequence of them since the 2009 Grand Slam. Beating the All Blacks is special,” writes Gerry Thornley. Ireland’s performance gives them a lot of hope ahead of next Saturday and Thornley writes “this game may have been discoloured by an extraordinary rash of one red card and three yellow cards in a wacky opening half which lasted nearly an hour, yet there’s every reason for believing that Ireland would have levelled the series anyway to set up a series decider in Wellington next Saturday.”
It was a special night in Dunedin, where a subdued home crowd told the story of a night when the All Blacks were second best, and the New Zealand media were not happy, writing: “It’s now increasingly difficult to see how the coaching team can survive”. Meanwhile, Ireland had World Rugby may ask Jaco Peyper to change his tune on several controversial decisions in Ireland’s win over All Blacks. John O’Sullivan writes: “Does the recipient have to end up with broken bones or a severe concussion for it to warrant a red card? Answer on a postcard to World Rugby,” referring to Fainga’anuku’s controversial yellow card decision.
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In tennis, Novak Djokovic became a seven-time winner of Wimbledon, equalling Pete Sampras and moving within one title of Roger Federer, as he overcame a fiery Nick Kyrgios in the men’s final. Johnny Watterson reports: “Djokovic picked himself up and went into a kind of lockdown only he can do against the power serving of Kyrgios.” Meanwhile, in the women’s final, Elena Rybakina won Wimbledon for the first time but much of the attention was not on her tennis. The 23-year-old Rybakina, who had changed nationality to Kazakh in 2018 but is still reported to be living in Moscow, although she consistently evades that question, had lost the Centre Court tribe from the first serve.
