After a weekend when Ireland nicely eased themselves into the November internationals with a routine thumping of Italy at Soldier Field in Chicago, attention now turns to Argentina in Dublin this Saturday. Jordan Larmour was certainly the standout man for Ireland in the States as he lit up what was closer to an exhibition match than a real Test match and, as Gerry Thornley writes from Chicago, he should have earned his starting place for the clash with the Pumas this weekend. Schmidt also confirmed that Peter O'Mahony trained fully last week, and was not a doubt for the upcoming back-to-back games against Argentina and New Zealand. Speaking after the match on Saturday Larmour himself was already looking ahead and says that the sky is the limit for this Ireland team with a potential world No1 ranking around the corner and next year's World Cup in Japan growing ever closer. Meanwhile, Liam Toland writes that Schmidt had his team ready to exploit the Italian weaknesses with Jacob Stockdale one of the key figures. "Larmour got the hat-trick, and deserved the plaudits, but Stockdale's evolution from the first time I've seen him carry out of the Ulster's 22 from an exit like this has totally changed," he writes.
Moving on and last week's new Fifa leaks which showed that big moves are being made towards an elite European Super League have not caused quite as much of a stir as some may have expected. The idea that football could be turned on his head with the traditional domestic leagues that we all know essentially relegated should be quite a concern for fans but, as Ken Early writes, the billionaire owners of the elite clubs – who could not be any further removed from the match-going fan – seem to have pulled the wool over their eyes once again. "Notice how often City fans use words like "we" and "us" – "we've been shafted", "Uefa f***ed us over", etc. Apparently they think that there is a "we" which includes both them and the millionaire functionaries who run Manchester City on behalf of Sheikh Mansour. If they believe that they can believe anything," he writes. One thing for certain is that no Irish clubs would quite make the cut for a European Super League but that doesn't stop Dundalk from aiming for the very top after they captured the double yesterday by beating Cork City 2-1 in the FAI Cup final. For Stephen Kenny it was yet another special moment with the club as he continues to build a Lilywhite dynasty with the Champions League already on their mind. Goals from Seán Hoare and Patrick McEleney were enough to give the Louth side the trophy yesterday in what was the fourth Cup final in a row to feature the same two sides.
On to golf and there has been little fanfare from the European Tour in their announcement that a new tournament in Saudi Arabia will take place at the end of January next month, despite the big noises they made when the deal was originally signed earlier this year. In the current climate the Middle Eastern state is not the best place to be dealing with and, as Malachy Clerkin writes, perhaps the media can take a stand by boycotting the event in solidarity with the murdered journalist Jamal Khashoggi as well as the people of Yemen. That event will come in the new 2019 season of the European Tour but, as the 2018 season comes to a climax, Justin Rose has retaken his place as the world No1 after he beat Li Haotong in a dramatic playoff at the Turkish Airlines Open yesterday. With just 10 feet for birdie to win the tournament on the first sudden death hole, Li conspired to three-putt and hand the title to Rose who closes the gap on Francesco Molinari at the top of the Race to Dubai rankings with two events to go. Paul Dunne and Shane Lowry will look to improve their positions at this week's Nedbank Challenge in South Africa while Pádraig Harrington had to rely on a sponsor's exemption after his bogey-bogey finish yesterday saw him slip out of the automatic spots.
In GAA there was high drama at Walsh Park yesterday where Ballygunner needed two periods of extra-time to see off Ballyea in the Munster SHC semi-final in what was a ding-dong battle. The Waterford men now go on to face Limerick champions Na Piarsaigh in the final. Meanwhile, Naomh Éanna continue their dream debut in the Leinster SHC as they now advance to the semi-finals after seeing off Camross yesterday.
Finally, in racing news, Douvan is set to miss the National Hunt season after sutaining the same injury which hampered last season.
