Tipperary dominate hurling All-Stars and get unexpected windfall

Before the 2025 All Star hurling team was named, you had to go all the way back to the dim and distant past of 2017 to find one that didn’t include a Limerick man. This time around, it’s Tipperary who dominate the awards, seven of their All-Ireland winning team honoured. Gordon Manning brings you the full list of the 15 men who have been saluted for their year’s work, 10 of them first-time winners.

Also in Gaelic games, Ciarán Murphy previews ‘Camogie: Inside The Championship’, the first of acclaimed documentary-maker Ross Whitaker’s two-part series which will be on RTÉ 1 tonight. Tipperary GAA, meanwhile, is pinching itself after John Magnier gifted them a 14-acre site on which to develop a new state of the art centre of excellence.

In soccer, Daire Walsh reports on a highly excellent start to the Under-17 World Cup for the Republic of Ireland, Colin O’Brien’s team kickstarting its group campaign with a 4-1 win over Panama. And Paul Buttner previews Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne’s Conference League games today.

In rugby, the Irish team to face Japan at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday will be announced at noon today, Tadhg Beirne available for selection after his Chicago red card was rescinded. Johnny Watterson talks to scrumhalf Craig Casey who, unhappy with his role in New Zealand’s third try last Saturday, is hoping for a chance to make amends.

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Ireland v Japan: Kick-off time, TV details, squad news

Ireland need “to rediscover their mojo and fluency” against Japan, writes John O’Sullivan, their try stats a worry, while Nathan Johns runs his beady eye over “Ireland’s tactical shift of the last 12 months”, namely: “Spend less time on the ball. Kick. Advance via the boot rather than on the ground.”

We all finally have something in common with Rory McIlroy. “I’m not getting any younger,” he conceded when explaining why he’ll be cutting down on his tournament schedule next year. Philip Reid brings you the fella’s thoughts on the ageing process.

In cycling, Sam Bennett has, writes Shane Stokes, been “on a low flame in recent seasons”, but having reunited with his former team manager Kurt Bogaerts, he’s hoping for a spot of rekindling.

And in his America At Large column, Dave Hannigan looks at the gambling virus that is running rampant through US sports. It is now a $13.7-billion-per-year industry, a US Supreme Court ruling seven years ago that legalised sports gambling transforming the games for the worse.

TV Watch: Shamrock Rovers and Shelbourne are in Conference League action today, Rovers away to AEK Athens (5.45) and Shels at home to Kosova’s Drita (8.0), both games on Premier Sports and TNT Sports.

In the Europa League, Celtic travel to Denmark to take on Midtjylland (5.45) and Aston Villa host Maccabi Tel Aviv (8.0) in a game that has been engulfed in controversy (both ties are on TNT Sports 2). And at 10.15 tonight, RTÉ 1 airs the first of its two-part ‘Camogie: Inside The Championship’ documentary.