Tyrone’s All-Ireland involvement in doubt; Gerry Thornley reflects on Lions tour

It's been relatively plain-sailing for the GAA when it comes to Covid and this year's All-Ireland with fans returning and matches going off without a hitch but that has all changed in the last day with a Covid outbreak in the Tyrone squad forcing a postponement of their All-Ireland semi-final against Kerry which was due to take place this Sunday. Yesterday it was announced that the match would be pushed back six days to Saturday, August 21st but late last night county chair Michael Kerr threw that into doubt by saying the team are unsure if they can fulfil the rearranged fixture. Kerr says the players would need a further week's postponement and it is now unclear as to what the next move will be with a Tyrone withdrawal from the championship not off the cards. Meanwhile, in his column this morning Kevin McStay writes that the gap between Mayo and Dublin has narrowed but it is the Dubs who still deserve the nod ahead of their All-Ireland semi-final meeting this Saturday.

Moving to rugby and Gerry Thornley writes this morning that the Lions brand will survive the latest series in South Africa but not many more like it. Reflecting on a controversial few weeks, he writes "a Lions tour is meant to showcase the sport and leave way more positive memories than this one did, as it has done in preceding tours and as have plenty of games this year, witness the seven-try meeting between the All Blacks and the Wallabies last Saturday." Also looking back on the tour to South Africa, Owen Doyle writes that the tourists paid a high price for key blunders by Liam Williams and Tom Curry while Bill Corcoran writes from South Africa on the joy experienced by the locals after Saturday's final Test win in what is an uncertain time for the country.

On to soccer and Tottenham manager Nuno Espirito Santo says Harry Kane may play in their opening match against Manchester City this Sunday, despite the England striker being heavily linked with a move to the Premier League champions. Elsewhere, Romelu Lukaku has completed the first part of his medical at Chelsea to pave the way for his move back to the London club while Premier League officials say that they hope this year a lighter VAR touch will result in less controversy.

To golf and Séamus Power gets back to action this week for the first time since his breakthrough PGA Tour win at the Barbasol Championship and he tells Philip Reid that the two-year exemption which came with his win has given him the much-needed stability to free up and aim for the next level.

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Finally, we go back to the Olympics where Mary Hannigan has rounded up the best soundbites from the two weeks of the Games while officials in Beijing are anxious about how they're going to work Covid protocols for next year's Winter Olympics which are now just six months away.