The winds of change are blowing through the Ireland camp as the countdown to Saturday's Six Nations opener against Scotland continues. Yesterday Andy Farrell named his first starting lineup as head coach with a few new faces earning their place thanks to good form with their provinces. This morning Gerry Thornley writes that "it says everything about the rich potential and form of Caelan Doris that Farrell has handed the Leinster number eight a debut and, off the bench, his fellow 21-year-old Ronan Kelleher." Meanwhile, Gordon D'Arcy writes in his column this morning that this Ireland team has a lot to do to restore the nation's faith and show their responsibility in playing for their country. "We want to be a team the Irish rugby public love watching. An aggressive forward pack, unbelievably hard to handle," he writes.
A lot of this campaign will be about Ireland making a comeback from the disappointing Rugby World Cup , with Jacob Stockdale being one of those players. The Ulster man had a disappointing World Cup with the performance against New Zealand looking particularly under par but he says he wants to move on now. "I wouldn't say it's necessarily forgetting about it, it's just about not dwelling on it. I think they are two quite different things. Yeah, I accept I didn't have a [GOOD]World Cup," he said yesterday. Meanwhile, the under-20s get their Six Nations campaign underway on Friday and one of the players looking to help them defend their Grand Slam title is the fourth coming of Sean O'Brien. Irish rugby's youngest Sean O'Brien (19) was educated at Blackrock College where he won a Leinster Senior Cup medal as a fifth year but conceded that it was a growth spurt in Transition year that propelled him from peripheral figure to central casting and yesterday he spoke to John O'Sullivan. Don't forget you can keep up to date with all of the news, analysis, opinion, features and more from this year's Six Nations on our dedicated website.
Moving on to soccer and James McClean spoke yesterday about how the sectarian abuse aimed at him in grounds around England has simmered down in recent times after it was brought up during Stoke's match on New Year's Day. In that instance McClean reported the abuse to the referee and the match was then briefly stopped while an announcement was also made over the tannoy. "Before each game now, the EFL and the FA have made the referees aware if they hear anything then they report it straight away. So I then do not have to," he says. "It became a bit of a pain in the hole me having to go to referees all the time, it becomes repetitive." With the transfer window drawing to a close it looked as though Manchester United were not going to bring any new faces in but that looks like changing now after a breakthrough last night in negotiations to sign Bruno Fernandes. While personal terms are yet to be signed between United and the 25-year-old midfielder there is an expectation this will be a formality. Fernandes is set to sign a four-and-a-half year contract with the option of an extra year. Last night Aston Villa booked their place in the League Cup final at Wembley with a dramatic last-gasp victory over Leicester City thanks to a wonderful stoppage-time volley by Trézéguet which sparked joyous scenes as fans spilled onto the pitch.
On to GAA and Seán Moran writes in his column this morning that, as an election approaches, it should be remembered that engagement with Gaelic games has proved a potent tonic across the political spectrum in previous years. Meanwhile, Niall Moyna reiterated his stance yesterday that the GAA championship is "out-dated, outmoded, and turning people off." His comments come ahead of the Sigerson Cup final this evening which is an issue that many an intercounty manager has a word to say about as to how it stretches their playing resources.
On Friday, World Athletics will announce its long-awaited decision on shoe technology but the Guardian reports this morning that the controversial Nike Vaporflys will not be banned. Regulations will tighten but it is expected that they will not be outlawed.
