Leinster reach another Champions Cup final and all the talk is about how they nearly blew it in those last 15 minutes against Toulon. “There is something almost uniquely Irish about that,” writes Gordon D’Arcy, the achievement “lost in the noise” surrounding that late scare. But they made it, and come May 23rd in Bilbao he has a notion that Harry Byrne can be “a genuine point of difference” against Bordeaux on what will be the biggest stage of his career thus far.
Speaking of noise. Munster have had plenty of it to deal with of late, but ahead of their URC meeting with Connacht on Saturday, they’re doing their best to block it all out. “Look, with all due respect, I’m here to talk about Connacht,” Johnny Watterson heard Mossy Lawler insist, the skills and attack coach refusing to comment on any off-the-field matters.
Connacht are boosted by the availability of Bundee Aki and outhalf Josh Ioane for the game, Linley MacKenzie bringing the latest from their camp, but Ulster, who host URC leaders the Stormers on Friday, could be without Jacob Stockdale for the rest of the season.
In Gaelic games, Darragh Ó Sé is at a loss to understand why the draw for the All-Ireland series was made in the week leading up to the provincial finals, “sucking the life out of them”. Instead of all the chat being about, say, Kerry and Cork meeting in Sunday’s Munster final, it’s now focused on Kerry meeting Donegal in three weeks’ time.
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Seán Moran makes a similar point, the timing of the draw “further undermining the provincial finals to the point of near-actual irrelevance”. On top of that, “there is no benefit whatsoever to be gained from winning the province”.
After their hammering by Armagh last Sunday, Down were consigned to football’s second-tier competition, Gordon Manning hearing Ryan Magill’s take on them now being in the Tailteann Cup. “We have to embrace it. We’d love to be in the Sam Maguire, but it is what it is.”
And in hurling, Jeff Lynskey dissects the performances of Clare and Limerick in their meeting last weekend, the former unable to deal with the latter’s “physical edge, speed of thought and execution”. If they can address their issues, though, Clare can, he says, still have a say in the championship.
In football, Heimir Hallgrímsson has called up nine uncapped players for Saturday week’s friendly against Grenada, including 18-year-old Benfica winger Jaden Umeh. Gavin Cummiskey takes you through the squad and hears from Hallgrímsson about a game that he had hoped would mark the start of the build-up to the World Cup. Weep.
And in cycling, Shane Stokes has news on a youthful Irish team being named for the upcoming Rás Tailteann, 19-year-old Conor Murphy, a silver medallist in the European Championships’ junior time trial, among those included.
TV Watch: If the second leg of the Bayern Munich (4) v PSG (5) Champions League semi-final is remotely comparable to the first, then we’re in for the mightiest of treats (RTÉ 2, Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1, 8pm). Arsenal await the winners after seeing off Atlético Madrid last night.
