Does Vera Pauw need to show more ambition in her tactical approach?

Karen Duggan’s first column; Paul O’Connell on a new breed of Irish forwards; Cheltenham allows connections play the system


Welcome to the new revamped all-singing, all-dancing* Irish Times Sports Briefing, now authored by Mary Hannigan. Allow Mary to cherry-pick the very best of our sports coverage and serve it up to you on a silver platter, along with the best TV sport of the day, and a news story worth keeping an eye on. In short, it’s the perfect way to stay up with what’s important and interesting in the sports world, without actually having to try too hard.

*Disclaimer: may not actually feature singing and dancing

Stephen Kenny is a man who opts to look for the positives in any given situation, but even he was struggling to find an upside to the draw for the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign when it was made last October. Being placed in the same group as France and the Netherlands, ranked at three and six in the world, respectively, meant the glass was most certainly half empty. Or fully empty, maybe.

That campaign kicks off later this month with the visit of, gulp, Kylian Mbappé and his pals to Dublin, so Gavin Cummiskey caught up with the Republic of Ireland manager ahead of that challenge to check how his squad is shaping up.

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One encouraging development for Kenny has been the form of 18-year-old striker Evan Ferguson who has been making bit of a name for himself at Brighton, scoring his fourth goal in nine appearances for the club in their FA Cup win over Stoke City on Tuesday. Kenny, understandably, is excited about Ferguson’s progress, but is eager to play down the hype around the Bettystown native because of his youth. (But he’s still our Mbappé).

These are, of course, happier times for the women’s national team, with the small matter of this summer’s World Cup in their schedule. But former international Karen Duggan, in her first column for The Irish Times, has concerns about the tactical approach of manager Vera Pauw and her deployment of the team’s better players.

While Pauw’s caution served Ireland well in their qualifying campaign, writes Duggan, she is hoping the team can now show a little more adventure and make the most of the ability of players like Katie McCabe, Denise O’Sullivan and Heather Payne. “Do Ireland want to be ambitious or secure at their first World Cup,” she asks. “Because they cannot be both, not when it really matters.”

There’s no lack of ambition on the part of our rugby team, a grand slam still in their sights, and Gerry Thornley talks to Paul O’Connell about one of the key players in their winning streak, James Ryan. Workaholic Gerry also speaks with Robbie Henshaw about his return from injury, the centre back in training after overcoming wrist and hamstring injuries that have kept him out since October.

The Cheltenham Festival, meanwhile, starts on Tuesday week, but don’t even think about telling Brian O’Connor that it’s the Olympics of horse racing. “The push to expand the festival has resulted in too many ‘Nubbin’ races, largely superfluous third-nipple contests protruding from the programme to pad out the week,” he writes, as only Brian could.

The Championship is, though, most certainly the Olympics of Gaelic football, and with three rounds of league matches left to play, Seán Moran takes us through the runners and riders for the ‘Sam skylight or Tailteann trapdoor’.

Telly choice: Not to be too parochial about it, but set your Irish eyes on the Arnold Palmer Invitational in Florida, (Sky Sports Golf, noon-11pm) where Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry, Pádraig Harrington and Séamus Power are in the field. Mind you, they’ve all had iffy starts to the tournament, so they’ll need to pull their socks up in round two if they’re going to make it to the weekend.

Keep an eye on: Rising heptathlon star Kate O’Connor who will be action today at the European Indoor Athletics Championships (RTÉ2, 4pm-7pm). The 22-year-old Dundalk woman won silver in last summer’s Commonwealth Games for Northern Ireland and is, at the very least, aiming to improve her Irish record.

Be sure to check your inbox every morning as Mary Hannigan brings you your daily sports fix.