One of the very few slices of light relief devotees of the Republic of Ireland football team enjoyed in 2024 was October’s Nations League win in Helsinki. This evening, they’ll hope the feat can be repeated when Finland come to Dublin, although as Gavin Cummiskey notes in his preview a lengthy injury list will hardly help the cause – head coach Heimir Hallgrímsson could be without as many as 10 players for the game.
It’s a busy couple of days for the Aviva Stadium, just 24 hours after the footballers are on duty it’ll be the turn of the rugby lads, Argentina the visitors in the Autumn Nations Series. Andy Farrell is confident that lessons can be learned from last week’s underwhelming performance against New Zealand, Gerry Thornley reminding us that Ireland “tend not to do successive defeats” under this particular coach.
Felipe Contepomi is a touch familiar with the Irish squad – he coached 16 of them during his Leinster days, and played alongside Cian Healy. John O’Sullivan heard the Argentina coach reminisce about his 10 years in Dublin, Contepomi spending the last few days catching up with old friends during breaks from preparing his side for tomorrow’s game.
There were plenty of grumblings about the lack of atmosphere in the stadium last Friday. Muireann Duffy brings you some Irish Times readers’ experiences from the game, including that of a Sligo man who blamed it on the Dubs. “Rural supporters are much more involved than pint swillers on the mobile phones in corporate boxes and premium seats.” As Muireann put it, “that one may start a turf war”.
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In his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan writes about tomorrow night’s “Netflix-endorsed sporting farrago” in Texas when 58-year-old Mike Tyson and 27-year-old YouTuber Jake Paul will top the bill. The “typically understated presence” of Katie Taylor, who takes on Amanda Serrano again, “lends it an air of dignity and credibility the promotion scarcely deserves”.
In Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy has a notion that Michael Murphy’s return to the Donegal intercounty scene could prove rather impactful, not least because he might be playing under the rule tweaks suggested by the Football Review Committee, of which he is a member. Ciarán also pays tribute to Galway’s three-in-a-row hero Noel Tierney who died last Sunday, while Paul Keane previews Sunday’s Connacht club semi-final between Ballina Stephenites and outsiders Coolera-Strandhill.
Philip Reid previews a busy week for Irish golfers, among them Rory McIlroy who is on the verge of a sixth career European Tour order of merit title going in to the DP World Tour Championship in Dubai. It’s his last tournament of a long season, McIlroy planning on a lighter schedule next year. “I’m knocking on it a little bit. I’ve got the grey hairs to prove it,” said the rusty 35-year-old.
TV Watch: In golf, there’s no shortage of Irish interest in tournaments starting in Dubai, Bermuda and Florida today, Sky Sports Golf covering them all. Rory McIlroy, Tom McKibbin and Shane Lowry are in action at the DP World Tour Championship (7am-1pm), Leona Maguire is in the field for The Annika in Florida (3pm-6pm) and Séamus Power is on duty at the Butterfield Bermuda Championship (6pm-9pm). And this evening, the Republic of Ireland take on Finland in Dublin in the Nations League (RTÉ 2, 7.45pm).
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