Latest news with #DarraghÓSé
Irish Times
25-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Donegal a victim of 'rushed' championship, writes Darragh Ó Sé
Donegal's six-day turnaround before their quarter-final against Monaghan on Saturday? 'They are 100 per cent right to be annoyed,' says Darragh Ó Sé, player welfare trailing again behind the needs of 'the money men in Croke Park and the TV companies' . And it's all caused by a brilliant season 'being rushed through… like we've opened a two-grand bottle of wine and we're swigging it from the neck'. But, no, those Croke Park concerts can't be pushed in to September, because 'it might rain on Oasis' or 'Robbie Williams might have to wear a jumper'. The Dubs, though, have seven days to rest their weary bones after playing Cork, Gordon Manning hearing from the legend that is Barney Rock about their meeting with Tyrone - who beat them by seven points in the league back in March. In hurling, Davy Fitzgerald is not unfamiliar with run-ins with officialdom when he's pacing up and down the sideline. A possible solution to all this aggro? Why not 'take the management off the sideline and put them in the stand, the same as rugby does,' he suggests to Gordon. Seán Moran, meanwhile, is reflecting on the Dublin hurlers' startling win over Limerick , a 'seismic shock' that our tactical analysis maestro Jeffrey Lynskey examines. READ MORE In rugby, Gerry Thornley hears Ronan O'Gara back off a touch from his ambitions to coach an international team , while his old mucker Gordon D'Arcy reflects on his own Lions experiences - including his name being accidentally omitted from the squad announcement in 2005. 'An inauspicious start, but a start nonetheless.' Angus Fontaine brings the view from Australia ahead of the tour, Joe Schmidt's crew heartened by the Lions' loss to Argentina. 'It put blood in the water and proved the tourists are beatable.' Happily, there's no blood in the water at all between Dan Sheehan and Ellis Genge. ' He's definitely someone that surprises you that he's not a dickhead ,' says Sheehan of his old foe. 'It's mad how fast you can go from despising people to hanging around to go for a coffee with them.' The magic of the Lions, that. And ahead of Ireland's tests against Georgia and Portugal next month, John O'Sullivan hears from attack coach Mike Prendergast who talks about the input Andy Farrell will still have on team selection for the games, despite being a bit busy down under. In football, Keith Andrews faces a daunting but thrilling challenge after agreeing a deal to become manager of Premier League club Brentford , and we talk to Crystal Palace defender Hayley Nolan ahead of the Republic of Ireland's friendlies against the United States. And in racing, Brian O'Connor tells us that the bookmakers reckon Tennessee Stud is the biggest Irish Derby threat to Lambourn . Tennessee Stud is trained by Joseph O'Brien, Lambourn by his Da Aidan. A family affair. TV Watch : If you'd like to see what talent is coming up through the ranks of four of football's big shots, then tune in to today's semi-finals in the under-21 European championships. At 5.0, defending champions England play the Netherlands (Channel 4), and at 8.0 Germany meet France on a channel called 4Seven which some of us are still trying to find on our telly boxes.
Irish Times
11-06-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
No birthday surprise for Hallgrímsson against Luxembourg
There was, writes Gavin Cummiskey, no shortage of effort from Heimir Hallgrímsson's players in Luxembourg on Tuesday evening, but the gift of a goal to celebrate his 58th birthday never came , the game ending scoreless. The upside from 'this low-key summer camp' is that the manager has unearthed some alternative options, Jason Knight, Kasey McAteer and Killian Phillips among those who have played their way in to contention for the start of World Cup qualifying in September. One of Galway, Dublin and Derry will play themselves out of championship contention come Saturday night, and, says Darragh Ó Sé, 'they'll only have themselves to blame' . 'You can cry all you like about being in the Group of Death, but that's only looking for excuses. For one thing, it doesn't seem to have caused Armagh a lot of bother.' In hurling, Limerick might have lost the battle last weekend, in the shape of that penalty shoot-out defeat by Cork, but Cian Lynch is still hopeful that they can win the war by collecting their sixth All-Ireland title in eight years come July 20th. Gordon Manning talks to the Limerick captain. By 2027, hurling and football finals could be played in August , Gordon hearing GAA president Jarlath Burns express his preference for the former to be played on the first weekend of August and the latter on the third Sunday. READ MORE And in advance of next year's celebration of the centenary of the National Leagues, Seán Moran traces the history of the competitions and all the format-tweaking that has taken place since their birth. In rugby, Gordon D'Arcy believes 'there are people, plenty of them, who get a bit of joy out of seeing Leinster fall short,' so he is urging them to turn the resulting 'siege mentality into a fuel source' in Saturday's URC final against the Bulls. Dan Sheehan will do his level best to be part of just such a triumph, Johnny Watterson talking to the Irish hooker , Johnny also hearing from Bulls' coach Jake White who is hoping his players are inspired by the memory of the club's former winger Cornal Hendricks who died suddenly at the age of just 37 last month. In golf, Philip Reid talked to Shane Lowry over at Oakmont Country Club on the eve of the US Open, the Offaly man left frustrated by a year that, in his view, has seen him play his best ever golf, but has yet to yield a victory. ' Every Sunday I come off the golf course I feel like I'm after getting punched in the gut ,' he says. And Philip also hears from Rory McIlroy who is hoping to recover from his post-Masters slump . 'You dream about the final putt going in at the Masters,' he says, 'but you don't think about what comes next.' TV Watch : Sky Sports Golf has just the eight hours of coverage of the build-up to the US Open today (from 2pm). Later, if hockey's your thing, Ireland's game against the Netherlands in the men's FIH Pro League will be on the TG4 Player (7pm).
Irish Times
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
The hard road can help in revitalised football championship
There was, says Darragh Ó Sé, some consolation for Galway's footballers after they were beaten by Dublin at the weekend. As he suspects their manager Pádraic Joyce might have said to them, 'it could be worse, lads – we could be Mayo!' On top of that, the game will help them become 'battle-hardened' for the challenges ahead, Dublin, Armagh and Donegal all 'stress-tested' too the past few weekends. 'When you hear fellas saying Kerry must be laughing at all these other counties killing each other, I honestly think it might be the other way around.' 'Football is having a great season to date,' writes Seán Moran, enough to create 'unease in the heart of Hurling Man' . The Football Review Committee's tweaks having made the game better for players and spectators, the championship producing three 'riveting' provincial finals. The hurling hasn't been half bad either, especially in Munster, Jeffrey Lynskey analysing Limerick's 'devastating' display against Cork . Dublin and Galway could do with a performance of that quality when they meet in the decisive final round of the Leinster championship on Sunday, Gordon Manning looking ahead to the 'Micheál Donoghue derby' . Gordon also heard from the Dublin camogie camp ahead of tomorrow's Special Congress vote on the skorts issue . 'If one girl gives up this sport because of a skort, that's one too many in my opinion,' said Dublin manager Gerry McQuaid. READ MORE In rugby, Gordon D'Arcy laments the decision of the IRFU to scrap its men's Sevens programme , but 'although that choice may feel like a step backwards, it is a pragmatic and ultimately necessary one in today's economic climate,' he writes. If that decision hasn't gone down too well in some parts, neither has the picking of a Thursday for Ireland's opening 2026 Six Nations game away to France. David Gorman brings us some of our readers' reaction to that scheduling, one suggesting that 'if you were planning on turning off attendees from the sport you couldn't have devised a better scheme than this farce of fixtures'. In soccer, Gavin Cummiskey heard Republic of Ireland manager Carla Ward reaffirm her commitment to the job , revealing that she turned down the offer of a job in England's Super League a few weeks ago. 'When I say I am in, I am in,' she said at the unveiling of her squad for the Nations League games against Turkey and Slovenia. Johnny Watterson, meanwhile, talks to former boxing world champion Bernard Dunne about his RTÉ radio show in which he has revealing conversations with some of the biggest names in Irish sport. And in cycling, Shane Stokes previews the 70th edition of the Rás Tailteann which gets under way in Drogheda today, former champions, a very young Irish team and 13 squads from abroad among those competing in the event. TV Watch: Ireland play the West Indies in the first of three one day internationals in Clontarf (TNT Sports 2 from 10.30am). This evening, Kilkenny and Dublin meet in the Leinster under-20 hurling final (TG4, 7.25) and Spurs and Manchester United square up in the Europa League final in Bilbao (Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1, 8.0). 'This is 16th against 17th in the Premier League , a battle of two sides who have won one of their past 10 league games,' writes Jonathan Wilson. But? It offers the winners the not inconsiderable prize of a spot in next season's Champions League, with all the financial benefits that will bring.
Irish Times
30-04-2025
- Sport
- Irish Times
Health of Dublin football splits opinion and a warning for Leinster
Are rumours of the Dubs' demise a bit on the exaggerated side? Darragh Ó Sé believes so. Since their defeat to Meath on Sunday, people have been talking like 'they're dead in the water' . Darragh doesn't buy that for a second. Once all their players are fit and fully charged, they could, like your average Tesla, be motoring. And if you thought it would be tricky to fit Jim Gavin and Elon Musk in to the same column, think again. Seán Moran is less convinced that they'll be bouncing back any time soon. 'Realistic Dublin followers have known for some time that their team won't be challenging for Sam Maguire this year ,' he writes. Worse, 'it's hard to see too many of last Sunday's line-up featuring in future All-Ireland successes.' Dublin half forward Seán Bugler begs to differ , telling Gordon Manning that he remains convinced that they have enough quality to be contenders this year. And he's not concerned about today's draw for the group stages of the championship , even if the Dubs end up in the 'proverbial Group of Death'. Which they could – how does, say, a group with Kerry, Armagh, Dublin and Cork sound? Petrifying. Gordon takes you through how the draw will work Gordon also talks to Dublin hurler Seán Currie who admits that his second-half penalty at Parnell Park last Saturday did not cross the line , the award of a goal leaving Wexford none too pleased. Is a VAR-style aid for the officials the solution? Currie says a firm 'no'. READ MORE Jeffrey Lynskey, meanwhile, brings you a tactical analysis of last weekend's games , reckoning that unless Clare, beaten by Waterford, improve on their shooting rate and free-taking success, 'the road ahead in Munster could prove an unforgiving one'. The Meath footballers get a mention in Gordon D'Arcy's column today when he looks ahead to Leinster's Champions Cup semi-final against Northampton . Leinster might be sizzlingly hot favourites, but if they don't get their mindset right, 'they will be introduced to sport's glorious unpredictability'. Gordon was on the Leinster team that beat Northampton in the 2011 Heineken Cup Final, among his opponents that day Phil Dowson, the current Northampton coach . Johnny Watterson asks Dowson if he recalls that day. 'Big time,' he says, although he'd probably like to forget – his side led 22-6 at half-time, and lost 33-22. Louise Quinn, the third most capped Republic of Ireland international of all time, had her ups and downs through her career too, but on announcing her retirement from football on Tuesday, she reflected on her many highs, none more memorable than that appearance at the World Cup finals. And in horse racing, Brian O'Connor reports on the opening day of the Punchestown festival when Marine Nationale completed a Champion Chase double , following up his victory at Cheltenham last month. And Brian previews today's action, the highlight the Gold Cup . Galopin Des Champs finished runner-up the last two seasons. Third time lucky? TV Watch : There's more racing from the Punchestown festival on RTÉ 2 this afternoon (3.30-6.30), the Gold Cup (at 5.30) the big one, and this evening TG4 has live coverage of the Ulster under-20 final between Donegal and Tyrone (7.30). Half an hour later, Barcelona and Inter Milan kick off in the first leg of their Champions League semi-final (RTÉ 2, Premier Sports 1 and TNT Sports 1), Paris Saint-Germain having got the better of Arsenal in the first of the semi-finals last night.
