"In South Australia, the intensity of the fire created a tornado that somersaulted an 11- ton bushfire brigade truck. Flipping it end over end, landing it on its roof, killing a young volunteer fire fighter. Compared to this, whether Ulster, Munster, Connacht or Leinster selected weakened teams for the interpros s is simply not important." So writes Matt Williams in his column this morning from Sydney where the scale of destruction in Australia is only getting worse. Williams writes of the harrowing scenes these fires bring while the government continues to engage in culture wars on climate change, the drought, water management and our environment.
Moving to the action on the pitch and the final round of the Christmas interpros gets underway tonight when Munster meet Ulster in Belfast in what looks to be good preparation for both sides ahead of next weekend's Champions Cup fixtures. Johann van Graan has made a total of 10 changes to the team that lost to Leinster, bringing in the likes of Joey Carbery, Conor Murray, Keith Earls and Peter O'Mahony while Ulster bring in Jacob Stokdale and Iain Henderson. One of the main focuses tonight will be, as Gerry Thornley writes in his preview, the pre-Six Nations match-up between scrumhalves Murray and John Cooney. Meanwhile, after visiting a specialist in London last week, Johnny Sexton remains on course to be fit for the Six Nations, as Gerry Thornley reports.
In the Premier League, Liverpool restored their 13-point lead at the top of the table last night with another win at home to Sheffield United thanks to goals from Mo Salah and Sadio Mané. It was another step towards the title for Jürgen Klopp's side who have also come through the busy festive period with a 100 per cent record. It's fair to say things aren't so rosy 34 kilometres away where Manchester United head into an FA Cup tie with Wolves tomorrow on the back of their defeat to Arsenal and Jonathan Wilson writes that Solskjaer's game of patience looks to be running out of time. In Derby last night United's record top goalscorer Wayne Rooney made his debut as he captained the side to a 2-1 victory over Barnsley at Pride Park.
In other news, three Irish athletes were yesterday forced to abandon their Australian training camp due to bushfires. Seán Tobin, Paul Robinson and Michelle Finn all travelled out from Dublin to Melbourne over the new year, and were set to arrive earlier on Thursday at Falls Creek, about a five-hour drive from the city, only to be turned back by police and fire officers at the foot of the mountain.
