It was a mud-bath in the Top Oil Connacht Schools Senior Cup Semi-Final between Summerhill College and Garbally College earlier today. Ryan Byrne; ©INPHO / Ryan Byrne/INPHO Ryan Byrne; ©INPHO / Ryan Byrne/INPHO / Ryan Byrne/INPHO

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• Joe Schmidt has called Jared Payne and Joey Carbery back into his 37-man Ireland squad for the final two rounds of the 2017 Six Nations.
• Leinster are close to officially confirming the signing of Wallabies international Scott Fardy on a two-year deal.
• Les Kiss has made eight changes to his Ulster side for tomorrow’s Guinness Pro12 clash with Benetton Treviso with Irish internationals Craig Gilroy, Andrew Trimble and Jared Payne all returning.
• Pat Lam has named his Connacht side for their clash with Zebre and has also seen fit to make wholesale changes.

Tommy Dickson; ©INPHO / Tommy Dickson/INPHO Tommy Dickson; ©INPHO / Tommy Dickson/INPHO / Tommy Dickson/INPHO

• Glenstal Abbey reached their first Munster Senior Cup final in 47 years after a thrilling win over Árdscoil Rís.
• Former Down star Marty Clarke has retired from Gaelic football due to a rare medical condition.
• Boxing fans will be able to watch some of 2017’s biggest fights on eir Sport after the broadcaster added BoxNation to its stable.
• A ‘talented’ Irish amateur motocross rider has been banned for four years after he tested positive for cocaine use.

Away

• Glasgow Celtic legend and Lisbon Lion Tommy Gemmell has passed away at the age of 73.

• Arsene Wenger has played down the rumours linking him with the Barcelona job after Luis Enrique announced he was stepping down at the end of the season.
• Lukas Podolski will earn €5 million per year after signing for Japanese side Vissel Kobe and will make the move this summer from Galatasaray.
• Former NBA star Amar’e Stoudemire has apologised following a backlash over his comments that he would avoid a gay teammate.

The Best Thing We Shared

The Toughest Trade is back and here’s the full episode of the new series as Michael Murphy tries rugby in Clermont while Shane Williams togs off with Glenswilly.

Where We Were Today

Getting in a ring with a former world champion? No problem to our Alan Waldron. He was chatting to Bernard Dunne at the announcement of eir Sport’s new partnership with BoxNation.

Morgan Treacy; ©INPHO / Morgan Treacy/INPHO Morgan Treacy; ©INPHO / Morgan Treacy/INPHO / Morgan Treacy/INPHO

On The Record

He was in a no-win situation. And that’s the problem. When you get offered by the President of the United States to go and play a game of golf, it’s very hard to say no. That’s what Pádraig said and I agree fully with him. How do you turn down the office of the President of the United States?If he hadn’t played, he would have been taking a very strong political position, which would have created a lot of furore in the other direction.”

Paul McGinley had some interesting thoughts on the recent controversy surrounding Rory McIlroy playing golf with Donald Trump.

The Fixture List

Soccer (all kick-off times 19.45 unless otherwise stated)

Shamrock Rovers v Bohemians, 19.30, Tallaght Stadium
Bray Wanderers v Finn Harps, Carlisle Grounds
Cork City v Galway United FC, Turner’s Cross
Derry City v Limerick FC, The Brandywell
Drogheda United v St Patrick’s Athletic, United Park.

Rugby

Connacht v Zebre, 19.35 (Sportsground)
Ulster v Benetton Treviso, 19.35 (Kingspan Stadium)
Edinburgh v Ospreys, 19.35 (Myreside)

Payne and Carbery back in Ireland’s Six Nations squad for final two rounds

Rare medical condition forces Down’s Marty Clarke to retire aged 29