Three down, one to go for Ireland in the Autumn Nations Series, their performance in Saturday’s 52-17 victory over Fiji their “most fluent” so far, by Gerry Thornley’s estimation, in a game that saw them “dusting off the cobwebs and finding their rhythm”. They’ll finish up next Saturday against an Australian side coached by a certain Joe Schmidt who’ll have to be careful not to enter the home dressing room by mistake. It will be Andy Farrell’s last game before his sabbatical with the Lions, and one that will mark the IRFU’s 150th anniversary. “He’ll desperately want to sign off with a win and help lay firmer foundations for when he’s in a watching brief in the Six Nations,” writes Gerry.
Player of the match Bundee Aki gets a handsome nine in John O’Sullivan’s player ratings, John also picking out “Five things we learned” from the game, while Johnny Watterson analyses Sam Prendergast’s performance. It wasn’t perfect, but “one glaring aspect of his decision-making throughout the 80 minutes is that the kid has a test match temperament and that is gold”.
Less golden was Manchester United’s display in their first game under Ruben Amorim, Ken Early reckoning that his new charges will struggle to adapt to his preferred system. “Amorim at least has a crystal-clear idea, but he does not yet have the players to make the vision a reality.”
The hardest trick to pull off in sport is succession planning, as those tasked with finding an heir to Alex Ferguson will attest. Denis Walsh has a notion that Dublin are about to find out just how hard it is in the aftermath of James McCarthy and Brian Fenton’s retirements, ones that are expected “to trigger a series of copycat announcements”.
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Seán Moran, meanwhile, was at Parnell Park on Sunday to see Dublin’s Na Fianna beat Wexford’s St Martin’s to reach their second successive Leinster hurling final. They will meet Offaly’s Kilcormac-Killoughey in the decider next Saturday after a late goal from Adam Screeney pushed them over the line against Westmeath’s Castletown-Geoghegan.
And Gordon Manning was on hand in Newry to witness a kicking masterclass from Ruairí Canavan send Tyrone’s Errigal Ciarán into the Ulster football final where they will come up against a Kilcoo side that was “clinical and merciless” in their semi-final victory over Scotstown.
Fact To File was a bit clinical himself in Sunday’s John Durkan Chase at Punchestown, the Willie Mullins-trained horse now the favourite for the Cheltenham Gold Cup in March after “a hugely exciting half-length defeat of another JP McManus-owned youngster, Spillane’s Tower”. Brian O’Connor was left to wonder if this signals “a changing of the guard at the top of the steeplechase tree”.
TV Watch: Snooker devotees? You have a treat in store – Eurosport has nigh on unending coverage of the UK Championships today. TG4, meanwhile, has a recap of the weekend’s GAA club action (8pm), while Sky brings you the Premier League meeting of Newcastle and West Ham (8.0).
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