Away
- Iconic, brilliant, magical, unforgettable: New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu has died at the age of 40.
- There was plenty of reaction to the news throughout the day. Brian O’Driscoll said Lomu‘had all the qualities you would hope to have in a hero’.
- Keith Wood told a story about facing Lomu in the 1995 World Cup: ‘There was an injury in the backs and Paul Burke, our sub out-half, was saying ‘I’m not going on, I’m not going on’.
- Elsewhere, Fifa duo Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini have lost their appeals against their respective suspensions and will now bring their cases to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
- Steven Gerrard is set for a Liverpool reunion but it’s not what you think.
- In a major turn up for the books, Floyd Mayweather Jr has reached out to Ronda Rousey. Yes, you read that correctly.
- Just days before his scheduled title defence, Miguel Cotto has been stripped of the WBC belt.
- Andy Murray faced Rafa Nadal in the ATP World Tour Finals today and decided to take some unusual action.
Home
- The IRFU have blocked Munster’s attempts to sign Australian captain Stephen Moore.
- Elsewhere, the Tipperary hurlers have been hit with another high-profile retirement - their fourth in a week.
- Nothing says a big win for the Irish football team than Shane Long on the guitar on Robbie Keane on lead vocals in a Dublin boozer.
The Best Thing We Shared
Yes, that is Connacht’s new jersey, complete with super-hero theme, and will be available from December. After their epic and exhausting trek back from Siberia, the new design makes a lot of sense.
Where We Were Today
Murray Kinsella was at Weston Airport to admire the planes and check in with Isa Nacewa, Quinn Roux and Mark Chisholm.
On The Record
I often see that we couldn’t keep JJ Hanrahan. JJ Hanrahan left because JJ Hanrahan wanted to leave. Paddy Butler left because Paddy Butler wanted to leave. These fellas wanted to leave and when fellas want to leave there isn’t a whole pile you can do about it.”
Munster coach Anthony Foley says that trying to persuade players to stay when they’re intent on leaving is an impossible task.
Showbiz, Baby!
In fairness, it could happen to anyone.
The Irish football team’s own super-hero has lost his cape. It was last seen in Dublin nightclub CopperFace Jacks – where many things have been lost down through the years.
