Eamonn Sweeney: GAA's fake news leaves us all blackguarded
The most basic requirement for sporting fairness is that a team is told the correct score of the match they're playing. This didn't happen last Sunday. Kilkenny were blackguarded.
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The 42
an hour ago
- The 42
Skelton and Valetini both miss out for Wallabies against Lions
AUSTRALIA BOSS JOE Schmidt has handed 22-year-old out-half Tom Lynagh his first start in Saturday's opening clash with the Lions in Brisbane [KO 11am Irish time, Sky Sports]. Reds playmaker Lynagh, the son of legendary Wallabies out-half Michael, will earn his fourth cap and his first in the starting number 10 shirt against Andy Farrell's Lions. Meanwhile, Western Force blindside flanker Nick Champion de Crespigny will make his Wallabies debut as the influential Rob Valetini misses out due to injury. Heavyweight lock Will Skelton is also missing for the Wallabies, meaning they have been shorn of two of their biggest, most powerful players for this opening Test. Advertisement An injury to the previous out-half incumbent Noah Lolesio opened the door for Lynagh, who has just recovered from a hand injury and has been preferred to the more experienced Ben Donaldson. In a major blow to the Wallabies, Valetini has been ruled out of this first Test with a calf injury. The powerful Brumbies man has been one of Australia's best players under Schmidt and his physicality could be badly missed. Skelton has also failed to recover from a calf injury. Scrum-half Jake Gordon returns from the injury that kept him out of Australia's win over Fiji two weekends ago, partnering Lynagh in the halfbacks. Len Ikitau and Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii continue in midfield, while there's an unchanged back three of Max Jorgensen, Harry Potter, and Tom Wright. Matt Faessler comes into the team at hooker, with Champion de Crespigny the only other fresh face in the pack. Number eight Harry Wilson continues as Wallabies captain despite speculation that Schmidt could name Gordon as his new skipper. Australia (v Lions): 15. Tom Wright 14. Max Jorgensen 13. Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii 12. Len Ikitau 11. Harry Potter 10. Tom Lynagh 9. Jake Gordon 1. James Slipper 2. Matt Faessler 3. Allan Alaalatoa 4. Nick Frost 5. Jeremy Williams 6. Nick Champion de Crespigny 7. Fraser McReight 8. Harry Wilson (captain) Replacements: 16. Billy Pollard 17. Angus Bell 18. Tom Robertson 19. Tom Hooper 20. Carlo Tizzano 21. Tate McDermott 22. Ben Donaldson 23. Andrew Kellaway Referee: Ben O'Keeffe [New Zealand].
Irish Examiner
3 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Tommy Martin: Club World Cup? Even if the players didn't need a break, we certainly do
Bloody hell, football, give us a break. This is, after all, possibly one of the greatest weeks of sport-that-is-not-football in history. It is the week of a properly historic All-Ireland hurling final, the first ever between Cork and Tipperary. What a wonderful thing! On Saturday it's the Lions first test against the Wallabies — THE LIONS! GRRR! TRADITION! PASSION! HEDGE FUNDS! Yes, it is a Leinster & District XV according to some, but still, come on — THE LIONS! You have The Open back on Irish soil at Royal Portrush. Northern Ireland welcomes Rory, Shane, Scottie, Bryson and all the lads, though thankfully not with one of its famous bonfires. There's Wimbledon to digest, and the All-Ireland football semi-finals and Katie Taylor winning her headline trilogy fight with Amanda Serrano at Madison Square Garden. An epic conclusion to the cricket test between England and India at Lord's. An Irishman in the yellow jersey in the Tour de France for God's sake! And still, football barges its way in. I mean, come on: Donald Trump doing a David May while Chelsea captain Reece James lifts the FIFA Club World Cup trophy — which looks like a cross between a precision astronomical instrument and Liberace's bedside lamp — and Cole Palmer staring balefully at the world's most powerful man as if he has skipped him in the queue for a sausage roll at the deli counter. Just out of shot, FIFA president Gianni Infantino is beckoning Trump to get off stage like a mithered teacher trying to direct a preschool Nativity play. As tableaux go, it's a modern Caravaggio. It's as if someone asked ChatGPT to create an image that summed up our mad old world. Even in such a momentous week in sport-that-is-not-football, here comes football, pulling focus, like a spoiled child demanding parental attention by doing a poop in the middle of the kitchen floor. Not that I actually saw it live, mind you. I managed to not watch pretty much the whole FIFA Club World Cup, due to a host of complex reasons, but mainly down to being too lazy to figure out how to put it on my TV. I guess that DAZN, the streamer that broadcast the tournament, is in there somewhere. I'm pretty sure I watched a Katie Taylor fight on it one time. And all I would have to do is find the other remote and toggle on to the homescreen and then find the app and possibly remember a password to log in and away we'd go. But sorry Gianni, I know the tournament was 'the most successful club competition in the world' and marked the beginning of 'the golden era of club football' — according to, well, you — but what can I say, I decided to sit this one out. And yet, here it is, barging its way front and centre in the midsummer sporting agenda, elbowing top golfers and beefy British and Irish Lions out of the way in all its silly, gaudy, attention-seeking glory. Yes football, we see you, we hear you, but mummy is busy right now, ok darling? Lamine Yamal. File picture: Emilio Morenatti/AP Actually, hold that thought. For arresting football-related images — possibly quite literally — we switch to Lamine Yamal's 18th birthday party, which has gotten the Barcelona star in hot water over reports that he hired a troupe of people with dwarfism to provide the entertainment. Spain's Ministry of Social Rights has asked the state prosecutor to investigate after the Spanish Association of People with Achondroplasia and Other Skeletal Dyplasias (ADEE) filed a complaint, describing the incident as 'unacceptable in the 21st century'. To add to the whole Wolf of Wall Street vibe, it was reported that a Spanish model claimed she was approached to attend the party and recruit 12 other women to join her, as long as they had a specific breast size and blonde hair, with each woman allegedly to be paid €17,500 for their trouble. Obviously, Yamal is an idiot, but then most kids his age are and especially if you hand them millions and millions to spend at their whim. In my experience, if you give a teenager any amount of money they will spend it unwisely. From cans of Monster and fruity vapes, it's a short hop to dancing dwarves and busty blondes. To be honest, the whole thing is actually an advertisement for the FIFA Club World Cup, in a devil making work for idle hands kind of way. Had Barcelona been busy traipsing around the USA trying to play football in face-melting heat, then Yamal would never have had time to reach the dubious section of the party planner's catalogue. As it is, he's gone from Ballon D'Or-chasing boy wonder to modern day Caligula just by being given some time off. Player burnout be damned, Gianni was right — keep flogging 'em, it's for their own good. Of course, both stories kind of illustrate why we need a break from football. At this level, in its modern form, it really is too much. It's such a pungent stew of ego and money and geopolitics and celebrity and utter nonsense, all filtered through the brainrot freeway of the social media driven news cycle, that not to give your jaded cranium a little two-month summer rest can't be good for you. You don't even have to take a full break from football. International tournaments like the women's Euros and League of Ireland are permitted in this metaphorical mind detox. They are hearty and full of fibre and crucially are not things that Fabrizio Romano is interested in telling you about. In truth, this is probably why most of us decided not to figure out how to watch the FIFA Club World Cup (which, to be fair, aside from half-empty stadiums, terrifying prevailing weather conditions and that awful Robbie Williams song, most observers accept wasn't too bad, given how it threw up a few decent storylines and shared the love beyond club football's European power base a bit). Yes, we echoed the concerns of bodies like FIFPRO about exploitation of players, acknowledged how the tournament was a conduit for Saudi Arabia to further spread its tentacles of influence, recognised Infantino for the nabob of narcissism that he is, and recoiled at the incessant sucking up to the White House. But it wasn't our principles — mostly we just needed a break. For our own good. It's only four weeks till the Premier League and eight weeks till most of the same teams that were in the Club World Cup go again in the Champions League. We can do this. And in case you haven't heard, there's some decent sport-that-is-not-football on to see us through.
Irish Examiner
7 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
'It's not something that's ever discussed' - St Pats chasing glory over financial windfall says Stephen Kenny
Stephen Kenny insists the lucrative €700,000 of prize-money on offer for Conference League progression isn't consuming his St Patrick's Athletic side (5pm, Irish time). The Saints have taken a narrow 1-0 advantage to Kaunas where they meet a Hegelmann side which Kenny believes will be a tougher challenge than they showed last week at Inchicore. Last year's run to the playoff round grossed €1.28m for the club in Kenny's first season back in the domestic league, offsetting the losses owner Garrett Kelleher incurs from millions of investment annually. Kenny knows all about the commercial reach of success on foreign soil having led Dundalk to the group stage of the Europa League in 2016 that accrued €7m. Speaking from Lithuania, he was insistent the lure of progression in the competition, where they'd take on the winner of the tie between Nõmme Kalju FC (EST) and FK Partizani (ALB), is paramount. 'It's not something that's ever discussed,' Kenny said about the windfall. "I think it's the glory and opportunity. Finances are important for every club to be full-time. These are factors. 'Yet the other side of it is we probably had no right to be in Europe having been third from bottom last year when we wouldn't have got anything.. 'Great credit to the players for moving up to third in the table and qualifying for Europe. Now we have the opportunity of going into round two. We need to be positive in our approach rather than worry about the consequences.' Read More Callum Honohan turns down Cork City offer, opts to join brother Josh at Shamrock Rovers Romal Palmer and Seán Hoare are the only absentees from the Pat's squad, with last week's scorer off the bench Aidan Keena, battling for a start. He would be paired with Mason Melia in a twin-attack after Kenny confirmed their attacking outlook wouldn't be curbed by defending a first-leg lead. He dismissed the artificial pitch factor too. That was a surface he was accustomed to over six years at Dundalk and won't be using it as an excuse should their campaign be curtailed at the first hurdle. As there's a small crowd expected, compared to the raucous atmospheres they've encountered in the runs of the past two years, Kenny is warning his players to maintain concentration. 'There can be lapses in an eerie atmosphere rather than a high-octane, adrenaline filled occasion,' he noted. 'Our travelling support will be important. They were especially brilliant for us in Vaduz last year. 'It's the most slender of margins that can change in a minute but it's better than going level. Also, if you score the first goal, they need three to beat you or two for extra-time. "There's a great incentive for us to get the second goal.' *Match is available to view on stream on Solid Sport at a cost of €10.
