Ireland begin their 2022 World Cup qualifying campaign tonight in Belgrade. Emmet Malone predicts Ireland will match up against the 3-4-3 that Serbia are expected to play, with both Seamus Coleman and Matt Doherty starting. As for Serbia, Dusan Tadic remains one of the outstanding talents in a squad that plays its football across a dozen European leagues and which is rather better represented in the continent's main club competitions than Ireland's is.
Bundee Aki is set to miss Connacht's Challenge Cup last-16 tie away to Leicester on April 3rd after he was handed a four-match ban following his high tackle on Billy Vunipola against England. The British and Irish Lions have recommitted to a summer tour of South Africa but there remains a distinct possibility of the series being cancelled. A "game changer" saliva test to detect concussion has been unveiled by the University of Birmingham in conjunction with England's Rugby Football Union. In his column this morning (Subscriber Only), Gordon D'Arcy looks back on the win over England and how Ireland finally found their crazy side in a bonkers year: "We still don't know if this standard can become the norm, but it's a bloody good start, albeit 16 months after Andy Farrell took the reins from Joe Schmidt."
The question is not if but when the British Open championship returns to Portrush. Philip Reid reports that it's likely to be confirmed this summer that the event will be back on the Causeway Coast in 2025, just six years after Shane Lowry's memorable win on the links in 2019. Rory McIlroy has started working with renowned coach Pete Cowen on an official basis as he bids to rediscover his form ahead of the Masters. McIlroy gets his Group 11 round-robin off and running against Ian Poulter (2.30pm Irish time) at this week's WGC-Dell Technologies Match Play in Texas. Shane Lowry is up against Ryan Palmer in his opening group match (3.47pm Irish time).
Meanwhile, in his column Seán Moran explains why Ulster GAA has a tough job reaching across tribal lines: "so what is the GAA's place in Northern Ireland? Gaelic games were for many years one of the few means of everyday cultural expression for nationalists and often targeted for that reason. The resentments that boiled over for more than 25 murderous years have proved difficult to address . . ."
