When the final whistle blew in Croke Park a fortnight ago, Dan and Hazel Quirke “turned to each other and cried”. “How could they not,” writes Malachy Clerkin. “Tipperary had made it to an All-Ireland final and it was only natural that their first thought was for their son Dillon,” the Tipperary hurler who died from Sudden Adult Death Syndrome three years ago. Malachy talks to Dan about Dillon and the foundation he and Hazel set up in his honour.
Dillon won’t be far from the Tipp players’ thoughts on Sunday when they take on Cork in the final, Seán Moran reflecting on a championship season that has seen Liam Cahill’s team bounce back in style having reached rock bottom 14 months ago when Cork beat them by 18 points.
Conor Lehane has bounced back too, the Cork man having previously been dropped from the panel while also battling a string of injuries. Stephen Barry hears from him ahead of his first appearance in an All Ireland final in 12 years.
Darragh Ó Sé, meanwhile, looks back at the football semi-finals and has no doubt that the two best teams in the country won through, Kerry and Donegal having “sprinted away from the pack over the past couple of weeks”. Paul O’Brien analyses the two games, Tyrone and Meath’s failure to take their chances resulting in Kerry and Donegal being “treated to armchair victories”.
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Down in Australia, the Lions are enduring their fair share of injury woes in the build-up to Saturday’s first test, Gerry Thornley updating us on the walking wounded. He takes a stab at predicting Andy Farrell’s starting XV, Jack Conan among his picks. “This has been an incredible joy and the best few weeks of my career,” the Leinster man tells him.
Gordon D’Arcy looks at both coaches’ options too, reckoning the Lions have yet to show their best on a tour that has been largely “meh” to date. And Robert Kitson picks out the five areas where the series will be won and lost, the chief challenge for Andy Farrell and Joe Schmidt getting “their key chess pieces in the correct places”.
In golf, Philip Reid continues his build-up to the Open Championship in Portrush, few enjoying the week as much as Tom McKibbin who is back on home soil. And Johnny Watterson heard from Rory McIlroy’s best buddy Bryson DeChambeau who said recently that he’d love nothing more than to beat McIlroy, “especially in front of his own crowd”. Salty.
The Tour de France resumes today after Tuesday’s rest day, and a certain Ben Healy will be donning the yellow jersey. He is, Shane Stokes discovered, on cloud nine. “I just want to honour the jersey the best I possibly can do,” he said. “I know what I’m up against, but I’ll give it my all.”
In football, Gavin Cummiskey previews the return leg of Shelbourne and Linfield’s Champions League qualifier at Windsor Park this evening, Shels winning the first leg 1-0 at Tolka Park last week. A lucrative game it is too, the winners picking up €750,000 for advancing to the second qualifying round. Alas, it’s not on TV.
TV Watch: The Tour de France gets going again today after Tuesday’s breather, TG4 and TNT Sports 1 bringing live coverage of stage 11 from noon. And at 8pm this evening, Norway play Italy in the quarter-finals of Euro 2025 (RTÉ 2, BBC 1 and UTV).
