It's been a simply sensational last two years for the Limerick hurlers and this morning they have made history by becoming the first team ever to take home 12 All-Stars, three more than the previous record which they themselves matched last year. It's a seriously impressive haul for John Kiely's team and the announcement also comes with another notable which is that Cork have received no awards - the first time this has happened to beaten All-Ireland finalists in the 51 years of the scheme. Meanwhile, in his column this morning, Ciarán Murphy writes that Paul Mannion looks like the poster boy for the benefits of club life.
Moving to rugby and Munster's planning for Sunday's Champions Cup match against Wasps is set to go right down to the wire after the province yesterday confirmed a number of positive Covid cases in the group of players who returned from South Africa. "Munster will have to name a team by midday on Friday. Van Graan didn't rule out some of those isolating in Ireland augmenting the squad but the team will be largely drawn from those who've been training in their HPC. This includes nine internationals and a smattering of uncapped academy players," reports Gerry Thornley. It's a huge task for the young inexperienced players in Munster's squad but academy manager Ian Costello is excited at the prospect of them getting an opportunity on such a big stage. "It's been great. There is a lot to consider. There is exams happening, there is representative rugby and they've just parked everything at the moment," he said.
On to soccer and Manchester United ended their Champions League group stage campaign with a 1-1 draw against Young Boys last night in a match which saw a number of young players make their debut in the competition. Indeed, Mason Greenwood may still be just 20-year-old but he was one of the more experienced players in the team last night and showed it with an impressive performance and an excellent opening goal. Afterwards, new manager Ralf Rangnick praised the striker and said he looks forward to helping him develop. Meanwhile, it was a historic day in Munich as Bayern made light work of Barcelona, knocking them out at the group stage for the first time since 2000/01 and compounding the misery at the Catalan club. Elsewhere, Tottenham's Europa Conference League match with Rennes was postponed late last night as the Covid-19 outbreak continues to grow in the Spurs squad. With the French side having already arrived in London they were not too happy with the late decision and responded angrily. In our women in sport pages today, Ciara Grant speaks to Joanne O'Riordan about going back to the hospital ward last year and her hopes of reaching the professional ranks next year.
Also in our women in sport pages, Sonia O'Sullivan writes that she is back in Teddington helping Germany's Konstanze Klosterhalfen prepare for Sunday's European Cross Country at Abbotstown. Elsewhere, Dave Hannigan tells the story in his column of bringing his basketball-obsessed son to his first NBA match recently.
