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Mary Hannigan: Sexton to start against Tonga and Hansen to keep his shorts on

Latest from the Rugby World Cup, reaction to FAI’s media briefing, horse trainer Luke Comer banned for doping offences

Johnny Sexton and Mack Hansen will both start against Tonga on Saturday night in Nantes. Photograph: Dan Sheridan/Inpho

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Fri Sep 15 2023 - 09:59

Ahead of tomorrow’s World Cup pool game against Tonga in Nantes, the big news from the Irish camp is that Johnny Sexton will start the game and Mack Hansen will try to keep his shorts on at its conclusion. “I’ll see how I’m feeling.”

Hansen, “daft as a brush with an irreverent attitude to pretty much everything,” as Gerry Thornley put it, will also start against Tonga, a week after he was left out of the match-day squad for Ireland’s opener against Romania.

Andy Farrell very firmly dismissed rumours that his omission was down to him having been “a naughty boy”, Gerry concluding that the yarn “can safely be filed in the non-story category”.

It’ll be no small story, though, if Sexton can help himself to 10 points, the tally required to overtake Ronan O’Gara’s all-time Irish record of 1,083, against a Tonga side that includes four former All Blacks. As John O’Sullivan notes, this underlines “the quality of player that they can now call upon following World Rugby’s change in eligibility rules”.

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Johnny Watterson, meanwhile, is still keeping an eye on the South African camp, taking a trip to their Toulon hotel where there is a self-playing piano in the foyer that “bangs out Elton John and Coldplay covers”.

‘I’m still standing’ is possibly being hummed by Stephen Kenny after FAI chief executive Jonathan Hill confirmed that his position as Irish manager is secure until the end of the current European Championship qualification campaign, at which point there will be a review.

The FAI decided to let the sun go down on Vera Pauw’s reign, though, following their review in to the Irish women’s World Cup campaign. Hill and director of football Marc Canham outlined the reasons why they opted to part company with the Dutch woman.

Canham also spoke about the future of the game in Ireland, previewing some of the features of the 10 year pathway plan that he intends publishing by the end of the year.

If the FAI have their problems at the moment, they might just pale next to what Irish racing is enduring. Brian O’Connor brings news of billionaire businessman Luke Comer’s three-year training ban after 12 of his horses tested positive for anabolic steroids, as well as increasing worries about the impact of the impending Gambling Regulation Bill on the sport being televised in Ireland.

And in her column today, Joanne O’Riordan writes that “sports and climate change are two ends of a spectrum that could meet with catastrophic results”. She takes a look at the efforts “to offset ruinous trends” at a time when “there are more emissions than ever because of the world of sport”.

TV watch: No need at all for you to leave your couch today – you have the second round of the PGA Championship at Wentworth (Sky Sports Golf, 8.30am-6.0), the top of the table tussle between Derry City and Shamrock Rovers (Virgin Media Two, 7.45) and the Rugby World Cup meeting of New Zealand and Namibia (Virgin Media Three, ITV4, 8.0). And then off to bed you go.