Will the real Manchester United please stand up? If Monday night’s iteration of Erik ten Hag’s side is what can be expected for the rest of the season then all the premature doomsday talk of the first two rounds of the season will be made to look foolish very quickly. How a team trounced 4-0 at Brentford last time out could outfight, out-skill and, most of all, out-run an Liverpool side that defeated them 9-0 on aggregate last season is the definition of sport’s ability to invigorate. Credit must go to ten Hag et al after last night’s shock 2-1 win at Old Trafford. Here’s Mary Hannigan’s take on the game: “First half. It was like it was 1999 all over again, United actually running about the place with a certain degree of purpose, Lisandro Martínez looking like Franco Baresi’s love-child, Jason Sancho like he was worth his fee and Marcus Rashford like he’d rediscovered his soul.”
New manager Kevin McStay has insisted there is no danger of Mayo being irrelevant when it comes to the All-Ireland conversation in 2023. “I don’t see any transition in Mayo. I just see that a lot of good, young players have come on and we drive it on. If there was a transition, it’s been pretty much done under James [Horan]. He brought through a lot of good players in the last few years and we’ve to build on that a little bit but we have to stay competitive.” There’s a new boss in Dublin as well now that Micheál Donoghue has been named their hurling manager. Here’s Seán Moran on the appointment: “Donoghue’s targets are not extravagant. Success in Leinster or at least qualifying each year for the All-Ireland series would be a start. Galway are rebuilding under Henry Shefflin whereas Kilkenny are in transition in what is now the post-Cody era.”
One of the biggest positives from Ireland’s win over Japan on Saturday was the strong yield from the set-piece, a dominant lineout maul led to a hat-trick of scores for hooker Neve Jones. Former Fiji coach John McKee has been drafted in to the Irish set-up with the set-piece being one of his specialist areas and progress has definitely been noted. The Kiwi coach has been speaking about the possibility of working with this Ireland side beyond this tour. “Who knows what could happen in the future. I could possibly come back later for the Six Nations, who knows. At the moment we’re just focusing on these games here and helping the team be the best they can be.”
After back-to-back stage wins at the Vuelta a España and a rest day on Monday, the race restarts on Monday with Sam Bennett unsure of his chances of a third successful day on a stage that is a touch hilly for sprinters. “I honestly don’t know,” he said, speaking of his chances. “I’m missing a bit of sleep after the last two days, so I feel tired. But you never know on the day. Hopefully I’ll be good this week.” In golf, Pádraig Harrington’s success on the Champions Tour has led him to change tack in September and focus his schedule there instead of returning to Europe for a run on the DP World Tour.
