A tedious week of fabricated hope awaits us

How much is Denis Walsh looking forward to the Republic of Ireland’s upcoming Nations League games away to Finland and Greece? Not a lot. “The international windows are sent to torment us now, a tedious week of fabricated hope and empty outcomes,” he writes. Indeed, he concludes that “Irish football is as dysfunctional and hopeless now as Irish rugby was in the 1990s,” and there’s no sign that the FAI is capable of coming up with the kind of solutions that rugby found back then.
Speaking of ‘dysfunctional and hopeless’ – Ken Early writes about Manchester United today. “The international break offers an opportunity to do what should have been done in the summer, and start again with a new coach,” he says, reckoning it’s time for the club to part company with Erik ten Hag. Who should replace him? Certainly not Gareth Southgate, Ken insists, but, he says, Thomas Frank of Brentford is worth a shout.
Back home, one title race got even tighter and another concluded, Shamrock Rovers’ 2-0 victory over leaders Shelbourne keeping alive their hopes of a five-in-a-row, while Athlone Town wrapped up their first ever women’s Premier Division title on Saturday. There were celebrations in Drogheda too after they set up an FAI Cup final meeting with Derry City after beating Wexford.
In rugby, John O’Sullivan reports on another win for Emerging Ireland on their tour of South Africa, but there was no joy for the women’s team in the WXV where they were beaten by hosts Canada.
It was a successful weekend in the URC for three quarters of the provinces, Ulster the only side to suffer defeat. Gerry Thornley was at Stadio Communale Monigo to see Leinster blow Benetton away with four tries in the opening half hour of their game, but they were left fretting about Rónan Kelleher’s availability for next Saturday’s Croke Park meeting with Munster after he limped out of the game.
Connacht had the narrowest of wins over Scarlets on Friday evening, head coach Pete Wilkins saluting his team’s grit in holding on for a win he’s not sure they would have managed last season. No such struggles for Munster, they bounced back from that Zebre calamity with a 23-0 win over Ospreys.
Seán Moran looks back at the GAA weekend, one that saw Kilmacud Crokes stay on course for for a club record fourth successive Dublin football title, while Brian O’Connor reports on a special day for 24-year-old Tuam jockey Rossa Ryan who “ascended to the peak of European racing” after partnering English filly Bluestocking to success in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe in Paris on Sunday.
TV Watch: There’ll be no need for cricket devotees to leave their couches today. The first test between Pakistan and England got under way in the early hours of the morning, so you can see how it’s all shaping up on Sky Sports Cricket. From noon on TNT Sports 1, there’s live coverage of the last in Ireland’s ODI series against South Africa, and from 3.0pm Sky Sports Cricket has England’s meeting with South Africa in the women’s T20 World Cup.