‘I honestly woke up and felt like I had drunk 10 pints' – Rory Townsend making the most of late breaks in his career
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Irish Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Tommy O'Brien at the double as Ireland breeze past Georgia in first Summer test
A first-half double from debutant Tommy O'Brien propelled Ireland to a commanding 34-5 win over Georgia in Tbilisi. Despite the absence of head coach Andy Farrell and numerous players due to British and Irish Lions commitments, Ireland demonstrated their depth with a confident performance on a rain-drenched pitch. O'Brien dashed over for two tries in the opening exchanges before Craig Casey celebrated his captaincy debut with a superb try at the start of the second half. Nick Timoney wrapped up the scoring late on, whilst Sam Prendergast added 14 points during a faultless kicking display under interim boss Paul O'Connell. Former Ireland Under-20 captain O'Brien only needed two minutes to get off the mark as he latched on to Prendergast's kick and touched down next to the posts. Prendergast's successful conversion was swiftly followed by a second score for Ireland in the eighth minute. It was the same combination again as Prendergast sent the ball over the top and O'Brien crossed over in the right corner. After Prendergast added the extras to make it 14-0, Georgia mounted a response, with boos following the TMO decision to disallow Aka Tabutsadze's superb solo effort. The TMO was required again to rule out a try by Prendergast before Ireland ended the half on a sour note. Jacob Stockdale was forced to leave the pitch after an injury to his left arm and Georgia then deservedly got on the scoreboard. With the clock in the red, the hosts continued to probe the Irish defence and broke through thanks to Tornike Jalagonia in the corner. It was a poor end to a professional half, but interim captain Casey stepped up after the break. Casey stormed over inside 60 seconds after he combined with Ryan Baird to mark his first match with the armband with a try. Another Prendergast conversion was followed two penalties as Ireland established a 22-point advantage by the midway point of the second half. O'Connell started to shuffle his pack as the seconds ticked away amid heavy rain, with Tom Ahern and Jack Aungier sent on for debuts. It was followed by a fourth try for Ireland as Timoney collected a bouncing kick to bundle over despite the presence of two Georgian players. After the TMO was required to intervene, it was eventually awarded and Prendergast landed another fine kick from the touchline to finish with a 14-point haul on a successful night for Ireland's makeshift team.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
English amateur Lottie Woad poised for victory at Irish Open
LOTTIE WOAD IS in pole position for victory at the Irish Open after the English amateur took a seven-shot lead into the final round at Carton House tomorrow. Woad's second 67 of the weekend put her on 17-under par. Madelene Sagstrom of Sweden is in second spot on 10-under, while Australian Kirsten Rudgeley is one back in third. Advertisement Ireland's Anna Foster moves up to six under at the KPMG Women's Irish Open as she leads the home challenge 📺 Watch live @rteone - 📱 Leaderboard - — RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 5, 2025 Anna Foster is currently the strongest Irish challenger after nine birdies gave the Dubliner a share of ninth on seven-under par. There was one double bogey on the par four fifth, but Foster responded with three birdies from her next five holes and finished strongly with gains on 15, 17 and 18. Leona Maguire produced a 70 to get up to 29th on Saturday. The Cavan native made a strong start to her round with a birdie on the second and three more before the turn. Maguire wasn't able to sustain that momentum, however, and while she birdied 14 that was in between bogeys on the 12th and 15th. For the other Irish in action, Emma Fleming is on level par and Canice Screene on five-over.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Frantic start to Tour de France is marred by series of falls
THERE WERE MIXED fortunes for the thousands of Belgian fans who poured over the border for the opening stage of the Tour de France as Jasper Philipsen won, but star rider Remco Evenepoel lost valuable time. Philipsen took the yellow jersey in a frantic sprint finish at the northern city of Lille, while double Olympic champion Evenepoel was trapped in a second group and lost 39 seconds. Race favourites Tadej Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard both finished safely in the lead pack on a day marred by a series of falls. Ireland's Ben Healy, riding for EF Education – EasyPost, was 39 seconds off in 64th place. Team Jayco AlUla's Eddie Dunbar was making his Tour debut and was back in 154th. Even defending champion Pogacar appeared flustered at the finish line. 'It was as frantic as we had expected, but when the split came fortunately I was near the front,' said the 26-year-old Slovenian. 'I'm just happy day one is done. Nine days to go before the first rest day.' Africa's sole rider Biniam Girmay, winner of three stages in 2024, was second on the day as Philipsen got ahead of him with 100m to go. Advertisement But Girmay, winner of the 2024 best sprinter's green jersey, ended the stage with the white jersey for the best 25 and under rider. Philipsen, however, was the man in yellow. 'It's a day I will never forget. This is why I have been getting up early and training hard each day,' said Philipsen after notching up a 10th career stage win on the Tour. His Alpecin team, marshalled by Mathieu van der Poel, formed an old-school sprint train that the winner hailed. 'What an experience! Those final kilometres, to be part of that,' beamed Philipsen. - Caught napping - Billed as the third man here after finishing behind Pogacar and Vingegaard on his debut Tour in 2024, Evenepoel was in sombre mood at his team bus. 'We were asleep, we thought any danger was over,' Evenepoel said of the split where both he and his team's sprinter Tim Merlier found themselves trapped just 20km from the finish. Around 40 riders in the first group contested the sprint where one of the day's many falls happened. Primoz Roglic and Florian Lipowitz of Red Bull, and Team UAE's Joao Almeida were also caught out in the blustery winds. Another UAE man, Adam Yates, lost minutes, meaning Pogacar's two deputies are off the pace is something happens to the UAE star man. Fans packed the route in one of France's more modest regions passing First World War memorials, red-brick houses and slagheaps from long-closed coal mines along the Belgian border. Under overcast skies with the temperature a manageable 22C, the peloton cut a fast pace despite the windy conditions, but no rain fell until the riders had passed the finish line. Racing towards an intermediate sprint over cobbles, escapee Benjamin Thomas slid sideways and took out his sole rival Matteo Vercher in one spectacular fall and the pair were still bickering when the peloton shot past them. Former time-trial world champion Filippo Ganna was one rider who will take no further part after a clumsy fall on a corner. The Italian would have been a contender on the lengthy stage 5 individual time-trial, as well as key in the Ineos team's campaign to get veteran Geraint Thomas into the top 10 on his 14th and final Tour de France. Philipsen, in yellow, will lead the peloton out for Sunday's second stage, a hilly 209km route to the beaches of Boulogne-sur-mer. – © AFP 2025
