The All-Ireland SFC final looms ever larger, and Dublin's Jonny Cooper is relishing the physical challenge awaiting him in the shape of Tyrone's Richie Donnelly. Ahead of Sunday's showdown, he said: "Personally I like the man-on-man stuff as I have to play on the edge and there is no safety net, which can be detrimental at times and very critical in terms of conceding scores, but also I think for me personally it makes me play my best." Donnelly has retained his place in Mickey Harte's starting XV for Croke Park, with the Tyrone boss making a solitary change - Mark Bradley coming in for Lee Brennan at right corner forward. Ahead of the last act of the summer you can revisit both sides' journeys to the final - in statistical form - via our dedicated All-Ireland final subsite, which is available here.
As one competition approaches its close another begins. Tonight the 2018-19 Pro14 season gets underway, with defending champions Leinster looking to pick up where they left off as they travel to play the Cardiff Blues. It promises to be a big campaign for the halfback pairing of Luke McGrath and Ross Byrne. The scrumhalf bidding is to cement his place as Conor Murray's understudy in an Ireland jersey, while Byrne will get plenty of rugby at number 10 thanks to the departure of Joey Carbery and Johnny Sexton's international commitments. The duo start in the Welsh capital tonight, with Wallaby Joe Tomane - a summer signing from Montpellier - making his league debut at inside centre. Connacht, Munster and Ulster begin their Pro14 campaigns on Saturday.
Cristiano Ronaldo is set to return to Old Trafford, after Juventus were drawn to play Manchester United in yesterday's Champions League group stage draw. United are also joined by Valencia and Swiss champions BSC Young Boys in Group H. Manchester City were handed an easier assignment, with Pep Guardiola's side placed in Group F alongside Shakhtar Donetsk, Lyon and Hoffenheim. Tottenham Hotspur will face defending champions Real Madrid in Group B, along with PSV Eindhoven and Inter Milan, who return to the competition after a seven-year hiatus. Meanwhile, last year's losing finalists Liverpool will face Paris Saint-Germain, Napoli and Red Star Belgrade.
Elsewhere Nick Kyrgios will face Roger Federer in the third round of the US Open, after he recovered from a set down to beat Pierre-Hugues Herbert 4-6, 7-6 (6), 6-3, 6-0 at Flushing Meadows. The combustible Australian required a pep-talk from chair umpire Mohamed Lahyan after going 0-3 down in the second set, before recovering to take the match. Novak Djokovic is also into the third round, after he beat Tennys Sandgren 6-1, 6-3, 6-7, 6-2. The women's tournament is now without its top two seeds, after Caroline Wozniacki was beaten in two sets by Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko, 6-4 6-2. She joins Simone Halep as a shock early exit.
