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- Leinster and Ireland fly-half Johnny Sexton will make his return from injury tomorrow night when the 31-year-old captains his province in a Pro12 clash against Zebre at the RDS.
- Paddy Barnes‘s second professional fight will be at Belfast’s Waterfront Hall on 18 February on the undercard of Jamie Conlan’s next bout.
- Ulster have made nine changes for their trip to Parc y Scarlets tomorrow night, including the return of Ireland internationals Rory Best, Iain Henderson, Paddy Jackson and Luke Marshall.
- Irish midfielder Jack Byrne‘s loan spell at Blackburn Rovers is set to be cut short this month as the Dubliner has found it hard to break into Owen Coyle’s team at Ewood Park.
Away
- Southampton captain Jose Fonte, who is believed to be a transfer target of Manchester United, Manchester City and Liverpool, has handed in a transfer request at St Mary’s.
- Welsh Rugby Union chief executive Martyn Phillips says Leigh Halfpenny has been offered the best possible national dual contract in a bid to lure the Toulon fullback home to Wales.
- Everton have completed the signing of teenage winger Ademola Lookman from Charlton Athletic for a reported sum of €12 million.
- Marc Silva, a 39-year-old former Sporting Lisbon boss, has been chosen by Hull City as the man to lead them to safety following the dismissal of Mike Phelan.
- China will reportedly put limits on the wild sums its clubs are spending on international football players, authorities said today.
- Manchester United have refreshed their goalkeeping stocks with Sam Johnstone joining Aston Villa on loan as Joel Pereira is recalled from a similar spell at Belenenses.
- Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp will be boosted by the availability of Joel Matip as the Cameroon defender was left out of his national team’s squad for the upcoming Africa Cup of Nations, on the player’s request.
- Tiger Woods has confirmed he will be competing in his first European Tour event for two years when he tees it up at the Omega Dubai Desert Classic next month.
The Best Thing We Shared
Oklahoma City Thunder’s Russell Westbrook received a technical for hitting a referee on the head with a basketball, which he insisted wasn’t intentional. The highlight of the whole episode was definitely when his Swiss team-mate Ener Kanter, all 6ft 11in of him, tried to hide his team’s star player.
On The Record
I expected him to get a shot [at the Ireland team] last year but the fact that he has not even made the matchday squad yet and has been dropped before each game blows my mind. Ireland must have a few players like [Lionel] Messi in that team if Conor Hourihane is not good enough to even get on the bench.
Liam Dyson, who runs the Barnsley FC fanzine, can’t understand why Corkonian Conor Hourihane hasn’t featured for Martin O’Neill.
The Fixture List
- Tomorrow will dish up another busy night of action in the Guinness Pro12 with two Irish provinces in action. Leinster host basement dwellers Zebre at the RDS (19.35, TG4) and Ulster are on the road at Scarlets (19.35, BBC Sport NI). Elsewhere, Newport Gwent Dragons take on Benetton Treviso (19.15).
- The FA Cup is back and West Ham United v Manchester City (19.45, BBC One) should set you up nicely for a busy weekend of knockout football.
- On the PGA Tour the Tournament of Champions continues in Hawaii with the likes of Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Dustin Johnson in action (Sky Sports 4).
Showbiz, Baby
Not to be outdone by Usain Bolt, Mo Farah turned up at Arsenal training today. And the Gunners made him feel right at home, supplying the four-time Olympic gold medallist with personalised gear for the occasion. We’re presuming he led the lads on their warm-up laps.
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Welcome to the jungle! 13 new managers getting set for the 2017 inter-county GAA season
Russell Westbrook hit a ref in the head with the basketball and a former player says it was intentional
