Now that they’ve parted company with Warren Gatland, who would Welsh rugby most like to replace him? “Whisper it quietly,” writes Gerry Thornley, “but Simon Easterby is the perfect fit.” ‘Hands off,’ the IRFU might well cry, Easterby having been “an integral part of a golden era for the Irish team over the last 11 seasons”, and now “seamlessly assuming the head coach role while Andy Farrell is on his Lions sabbatical”. But “if Welsh rugby had money to burn and had their pick of coaches out there, Easterby would be the obvious choice”.
Whatever lies ahead on that front, Gordon D’Arcy was highly impressed by the “resolute” performance of Easterby’s side at Murrayfield, a few key performances, not least by Jamison Gibson-Park, Peter O’Mahony, James Lowe and replacement Jack Conan, helping them navigate “what could have been a tricky match”.
By his own admission, Finlay Bealham didn’t have his best day at the office in November’s meeting Australia, but his displays against England and Scotland have, writes Gerry, “quietened any doubts about his Test credentials”.
In Gaelic games, Seán Moran notes a slight sense of deja vu on browsing through some of the “blue-sky thinking” in Tom Ryan’s latest annual report, when the GAA director general muses on what a future GAA might look like – it resembles some of the ideas that featured in the 2018 report. It never saw the light of day, though, at least not officially, some of its proposals a bit on the controversial side.
Meanwhile, Gordon Manning hears from former All Star Conor Mortimer on how Mayo need to kick-start their league campaign with a win over Tyrone on Sunday, having lost their opening games against Dublin and Galway.
And in soccer, Gavin Cummiskey was at new Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward’s unveiling of her first squad ahead of the Nations League games against Turkey and Slovenia. Ultimately, her reign will be “measured by one metric – securing a spot at the 2027 World Cup in Brazil”, and to that end she’s hoping to dig out some “gems” from the country’s “untapped talent”. She’ll get her first chance to survey that talent when a development squad plays a trial match against Ireland under-19s next week.
TV Watch: Ireland has sent a six-strong team to cycling’s European Track Championships which get under way today in Belgium (Eurosport 2, 5.45pm), and at 7.30 this evening you have your pick of the Sigerson Cup Final between DCU and UCD (TG4) and Everton hosting their beloved neighbours Liverpool in the Premier League (TNT Sports 1). And at 8.0, Celtic are at home to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their Champions League knock-out tie (RTÉ 2, Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 2).
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