Subscriber OnlySports Briefing

Mary Hannigan: Ireland’s rugby squad a model of steadiness compared to chaotic Páirc Uí Chaoimh

Ulster Rugby ends deal with Kingspan; James Lowe stoked to be playing again; big day for Irish hockey

Ireland's Josh van der Flier celebrates with the Guinness Six Nations trophy and team-mates. Photograph: Brian Lawless/PA Wire

Mary Hannigan's face
Mary Hannigan
Thu Jan 18 2024 - 10:19

No surprises, “no rabbits out of the hat”, Andy Farrell’s 34-man Six Nations squad includes all but seven of his 2023 World Cup squad – and those omissions are due to retirement or injury. “Steady as she goes,” writes Gerry Thornley, the continuity making Ireland look the most settled side going in to the tournament, England, France and Wales selecting seven, six and five uncapped players respectively for their squads, while Ireland have no newbies at all. And in choosing Peter O’Mahony as his new captain, Farrell has opted for “a safe pair of hands”, the Munster man describing the honour as “one of the proudest moments of my life”.

James Lowe, need it be said, is also in the squad, the winger telling Johnny Watterson that he is “absolutely stoked to be back playing rugby” having missed the start of the season through injury. He is, though, finding life without his former Ireland and Leinster captain a bit odd. “It’s weird, it’s like you get divorced or something,” he says of Sexton’s absence.

In Gaelic games, if you’re wondering why there’s so much commotion over Páirc Uí Chaoimh (possibly) being renamed SuperValu Páirc, Gordon Manning has a Q&A for you to explain it all, noting that “all this fuss could have been avoided had they simply rebranded it Páirc Uí Chaos”. Ciarán Murphy writes about the same matter, the latest chapter in “an ever-growing frustration with how the GAA now tackles unpopular issues”.

Ulster rugby has had its own stadium-naming controversy to deal with over the years, but Nathan Johns has news that they are parting ways with Kingspan after a sponsorship arrangement that dated back two decades. “It brings to an end a years-long saga linked to the tragic Grenfell Tower fire of June 2017.”

READ MORE

In golf, Philip Reid previews a busy week for Irish golfers, Rory McIlroy, Pádraig Harrington and Tom McKibbin all in action at the Dubai Desert Classic which started this morning, while Shane Lowry and Leona Maguire get their 2024 up and running in California and Florida, respectively.

Over in Valencia, meanwhile, the Irish men’s and women’s hockey teams remain on course for Olympic qualification, the men beating Japan on Wednesday evening to book their semi-final place in their qualifying tournament. The women play their semi-final this morning (11.30am), hosts Spain their opponents – and Spain also stand between the men and a place in the final.

And in his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan writes about Caitlin Clark, the phenomenal Iowa Hawkeyes college basketball star who is “already being spoken about as potentially the greatest female baller of them all”. Sponsors can’t get enough of her. You can even now have “Caitlin Crunch Time cereal” for breakfast.

TV Watch: Rory McIlroy starts the defence of his Dubai Desert Classic today – the bad news is that Sky Sports Golf’s live coverage began at 3.30am this morning, but it continues until 1.30pm this afternoon. The Africa Cup of Nations has, mercifully, kinder kick-off times – today’s live games on Sky Sports Football are Equatorial Guinea v Guinea-Bissau (2.0), Côte d’Ivoire v Nigeria (5.0) and Mo Salah’s Egypt v Chris Hughton’s Ghana (8.0).