There had been a notion that Simon Easterby would decide that if it ain’t broke, leave well alone, so he caused some surprise this morning when he named his team for Sunday’s meeting with Scotland in Murrayfield, making two changes to the one that started against England. Peter O’Mahony returns in place of Ryan Baird and Robbie Henshaw is in for Garry Ringrose, Gerry Thornley running his eye over Easterby’s selection.
Henshaw will partner Bundee Aki in midfield, John O’Sullivan talking to the latter ahead of the game, the Connacht man insisting that Ireland need to be “much more clinical” if they are to extend their winning streak over Scotland.
And after losing to Ireland in their last 10 meetings, how much would Scotland like to win on Sunday? Quite a bit. “More than any other nation in the world it’s Ireland they want to beat,” writes Tom English. “England? They’ve beaten them four times in a row. France? They’ve won four of the last 10. South Africa and New Zealand? No, not even close. It’s Ireland.”
John, meanwhile, previews the Irish under-20 side’s Six Nations meeting with Scotland on Saturday evening, head coach Neil Doak making three changes to the team that started in the 19-3 defeat to England.
Seán Moran brings news of the fading of the prospect of Katie Taylor getting to fight in Croke Park this year, the venue enjoying a highly successful 2024, bringing in a record €60 million. He has also been browsing through GAA chief Tom Ryan’s seventh annual report in which he lists some “idle musings on what a future GAA might look like”, one of the “attention-grabbing ideas” the separation of the hurling and football seasons.
Following the death earlier this week of the Aga Khan, Johnny Watterson recounts the story of the disappearance of one of his most famous horses, Shergar, while Brian O’Connor looks at the “latest bit of sparring between Willie Mullins and Horse Racing Ireland about race planning”.
In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey hears from Damien Duff ahead of his Shelbourne side taking on Drogheda United in this evening’s President’s Cup at Tolka Park.
Philip Reid, meanwhile, asks “what is the best driver to buy in 2025?” Ferrari would, of course, say Lewis Hamilton, but Philip is taking about “the most expensive club in the [golf] bag”. He tries out five of them, the dearest catering for golfers who “need the stability of a high-MOI (moment of inertia) driver”. And which one of us hasn’t experienced a moment of inertia?
And Philip also has a round-up of how the Irish fared on Thursday in the opening rounds of their tournaments around the globe, Anna Foster making a strong start to her Ladies European Tour career with a three-under-par 70 in Morocco.
TV Watch: You have your pick of two Under-20 Six Nations games this evening, Italy v Wales (Virgin Media More, 7.15) and England v France (Virgin Media Two, 8.0). And also at 8.0, in the meeting of two relegation strugglers, Manchester United host Leicester City in the FA Cup (UTV and Premier Sports 1).
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