Every morning, TheScore brings you a quick-fire round-up of things to ponder while you have your first coffee.
1.# KNOCKOUT The football championship was off to a flier for Donegal, Louth, Longford, Galway and Limerick.
That means that dreams of provincial glory are put on hold for another year for Cavan (who fell to Colm McFadden’s 1-6), Westmeath, Laois, Roscommon and Limerick.
All the news you need to know about those games can be found here and here.
2. #HEROINE Katie Taylor landed back in Bray yesterday after winning her fourth consecutive world title. You can find her reluctantly soaking up the adulation here, but jsut a quick reminder that she will now receive a bye directly into the quarter final round when she competes in the Olympics later this summer.
3. #HERO The champagne cork had barely popped when Leinster were already looking ahead to their next challenges. The victorious eastern province can now (at the very least) lay claim to being the best side in Heineken Cup history. Brian O’Driscoll is looking forward to leading Ireland against the All Blacks while Jonathan Sexton is targeting a double in this weekend’s Rabodirect Pro12 final against the Ospreys. Take an hour off, lads!
4. #COUNTDOWN Euro 2012 is just 18 days away so any news of an injury makes the heart skip a little faster. When the injury is to Robbie Keane the old ticker could down-right stop. Luckily for me and Trap, Keane seems to be OK and his hamstring trouble is ‘only a strain’. Phew.
5. #GMAC Graeme McDowell lost out in the final of the Volvo World Matchplay Championship to Belgian, Nicolas Colsaerts. All the gory details are here.
Across the Atlantic, Jason Dufner claimed his second PGA tour victory in a month with first place at the Byron Nelson. A 25-foot putt on the final hole gave Dufner a one stroke win over Dicky Pride.
6. #MARIA Sharapova has prepared in the best possible fashion for the French Open by claiming the spoils at the Rome Masters yesterday. Sharapova came from a set down against Li Na to win on a third set tie-break (4-6 6-4 7-6).
Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal were forced to delay the latest instalment of their rivalry after rain called a halt to the men’s final. They are due back on court at 10am this morning.
