There was a time when an anterior cruciate ligament injury meant a spell of at least a year on the sidelines, but, remarkably, Dan Sheehan was back playing rugby just six months after he suffered the dreaded affliction during Ireland’s tour to South Africa last summer. Johnny Watterson talks to him about his comeback, boxing with former Olympian Cathal O’Grady playing a major part in his recovery. Now? He’s punching his weight again.
Johnny also has the team news ahead of Sunday’s trip to Murrayfield, both Mack Hansen and Finlay Bealham on target to be fit for a game that will be no small challenge.
But Ireland haven’t lost to Scotland since 2017, and Nathan Johns suggests five areas where they can expose their weaknesses again, starting with starving them of possession. In particular, they could do with keeping the ball away from Huw Jones, John O’Sullivan tracing the career progress of “Humble Huw” who scored a hat-trick of tries against Italy last weekend.
In Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy reckons that the “good old, reliable, terrible hurling league”, “the biggest waste of time in the GAA calendar for the guts of a decade”, has had new life pumped in to it with the “return of jeopardy”, the two counties that finish bottom of Division 1A being replaced by the top two teams in Division 1B this season.
Scotland v Ireland: TV details, kick-off time and team news for Sunday’s Murrayfield clash
Dave Hannigan: Is the Super Bowl what passes for culture in modern America?
Gordon D’Arcy on Ireland’s perfect start and a Murrayfield history lesson
Seán Moran: Hurling may regard the FRC as an irrelevance but history suggests otherwise
After beating Armagh and Mayo in their opening two league games, relegation is far from the minds of Galway’s footballers, Gordon Manning talking to Paul Conroy about their hopes of winning their first league title since 1981.
In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey looks at the deal Spurs have struck with St Patrick’s Athletic for teenager Mason Melia, one that could ultimately reap the Dublin club up to €4 million.
And Ian O’Riordan talks to Fintan McCarthy about his move up to heavyweight rowing, a switch necessitated by the absence of the lightweight division from the programme for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympic Games. “It should work out,” he says, “as long as we keep the technique good, and don’t get too fat, basically.”
TV Watch: Most of the game’s biggest names will be absent from the Phoenix Open this week, but it still has a fair sprinkling of stars, among them world number one Scottie Scheffler – it gets under way today (Sky Sports Golf, from 2.15pm). And this evening, Spurs take a 1-0 lead to Anfield for the second leg of their League Cup semi-final against Liverpool, Newcastle awaiting the winners after their defeat of Arsenal last night (UTV and Sky Sports Football, 8pm).
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