It was only last July that Dan Sheehan ruptured his ACL in Ireland’s test against South Africa in Pretoria, but his remarkably fast recovery has been rewarded with the Irish captaincy in the absence of Caelan Doris in Cardiff on Saturday. He is one of seven changes to the Irish line-up for the game against Wales, Jack Conan among them. Johnny Watterson talks to the number 8 who will make his first Test start since the round two win over Italy in last year’s Six Nations.
Also in rugby, Ross Byrne will end his 10-year career with Leinster at the end of the season after agreeing a three-year deal with Gloucester, while John O’Sullivan brings the team news ahead of the Irish under-20’s Six Nations game against Wales on Friday night.
In Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy relished the return of Michael Murphy for Donegal last Sunday and has a notion that he could have a heck of an impact for the county this year playing under rules that he helped formulate.
Tomás Ó Sé, meanwhile, is less than pleased with the impact on Kerry football of Aussie Rules clubs “tapping up” some of the county’s brightest young talent, Gordon Manning hearing him express his frustration over the lack of regulations governing how rising GAA prospects are approached.
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Dan Sheehan’s remarkable recovery continues with Irish captaincy
In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey previews the second leg of Shamrock Rovers’ Conference League tie against Molde in Tallaght tonight, a week after they picked up that memorable 1-0 win in Norway. Injuries and suspensions will hardly help their cause, manager Stephen Bradley describing as “madness” a schedule that will see them play three matches in seven days.
Bradley also took time to excoriate the FAI for their “disgraceful” treatment of Colin Healy, the former Republic of Ireland assistant coach who lost his job after Eileen Gleeson left her position as manager of the women’s team in December. Ireland play their first game under Gleeson’s successor, Carla Ward, on Friday, Heather Payne hoping to win her 50th cap in the Nations League opener against Turkey.
In his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan tells the tragic story of Paul Bamba, the 35-year-old boxer who died six days after winning the WBA Gold Cruiserweight title in December. No cause of death has been revealed, but the army veteran suffered a brain injury in 2023 before returning to the ring last year, a “disturbing workload” seeing him fight 14 times in 12 months.
Meanwhile in golf, all eyes are on “Donald Trump’s eagerness to play peacemaker for a fractured sport”, the New York Times reporting on his recent dealings with the head honchos of the PGA Tour and LIV Golf which have prompted speculation that they will result in the “reunification of the game”.
TV Watch: After playing in the UAE, Bahrain and Morocco in recent weeks, Pádraig Harrington’s world tour continues at this week’s Mexico Open, Sky Sports bringing coverage of today’s opening round (from 3pm). And at 8.0 this evening, Shamrock Rovers take a 1-0 lead in to the second leg of their Conference League knock-out game against Molde in Tallaght (Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 2).
