Are Leinster a cut above the rest?
The rugby season is almost at an end and with the World Cup coming up later in the year, the performances of the Irish teams in Europe and in the Pro14 have come under added scrutiny.
Leinster have proven that they are a cut above the rest in the past four or five years and they underlined that last Sunday when they were outstanding against Toulouse. Their clash with Saracens in the final will be eagerly awaited. Without doubt they are the two best teams in the competition and the winners over the past two years clashing in the final. It was great for Leinster and for Ireland that Johnny Sexton and Robbie Henshaw were back to their best. Joe Schmidt needs every one of them for the trip to Japan.
If Leinster were impressive against Toulouse, Munster were well beaten by Saracens and they have fallen behind in terms of their place on the European stage. Yes, they have done very well to get to the semi-final and they have an excellent manager in Johann Van Graan but they will have to recruit two or three top class players of they want to take it a stage further.
Connacht are having a great season and now they can look forward to Champions Cup rugby in 2020. They are probably a good bit away from being contenders but they will be hard to beat at the Sportsground. Jack Carty’s star continues to rise and he looks a certainly to be included in the Ireland squad for the World Cup.
Sligo end Ladies’ league hopes
Roscommon’s ladies footballers were pipped by Sligo in Longford last Saturday so another chance of promotion in the league has come and gone. But it’s not the end of the world for Michael Finneran’s charges. They have every chance of reversing that result in the championship and apart from Meath, Roscommon have been well capable of competing and beating any other team in the division they were in. The great work that’s going on in the county in the game in general is beginning to pay off and Roscommon’s super win against Mayo in the minor ‘A’ semi-final last Friday night was a further step along the road.
Ladies Football in general has a long way to go in terms of public appeal. Last Saturday in Longford on what was a perfect day, there was a very attractive double bill of Division Three and Division One semi-finals, yet there were certainly no more than 250 people there. I was reading Cliona Foley in the Irish Independent on Monday and she made the exact same point about the action in Nowlan Park where Dublin and Cork served up a thriller in the other Division One semi-final in front of another tiny crowd. The game has made massive strides in recent years and over the past decade in particular but there is still a long way to go.
Championship just a month away!
It’s only a little over two weeks to the big championship game against Leitrim, and Roscommon will be stepping up their preparations over the next week or ten days. Players like Brian Stack, Diarmuid Murtagh and John McManus are back in the fold and that is very welcome.
Leitrim will come to Dr. Hyde Park with a fair bit of confidence after their great run in the league and subsequent promotion, and Roscommon will have to be very careful.
However, it would be more than a shock if Leitrim were to prevail so all eyes will be on MacHale Park in Castlebar on Saturday, May 25th. We will be going into that in far more detail over the next few weeks but it is 33 years since Roscommon beat Mayo in the championship in Castlebar. We have to win down there some year. Why not this year? But let’s go one step at a time!
Lowry can take confidence from Heritage
The previous weekend we saw one of the greatest golf stories in the history of the game and while last weekend’s fare was not nearly as prestigious, there was plenty of drama as Shane Lowry was in contention at The Heritage in South Carolina.
The Clara man missed out by just two shots in the end but it was a great tournament for Lowry who was so disappointing at The Masters the previous week. In fact, he looked like winning it in the last round until he missed a very short putt on the 9th green and he was never the same after that. The Chinese player CT Pan and the wily old fox Matt Kuchar passed out Lowry in the final few holes. But to finish joint third was a splendid effort and it will give him huge confidence looking ahead to the rest of the season.
I have said it consistently here over the years that on his day Lowry is as good as any other player on the tour. His short game is magical and if he can manage to drive it well he can win again this year.
Seamus Power did well last weekend too which was good to see. The Waterford man has been hanging on by his fingernails on the PGA Tour over the past few years, but now after a very good top ten finish, he has plenty to look forward to for the rest of the year.
Will Solskjaer get boardroom support?
While the battle for the Premier League title goes down to the wire and the Champions League semi-finals are looming there has been much talk about the demise of Manchester United over the past few weeks. Their ‘performance’ against Everton last Sunday was pathetic. When Ole Gunnar Solskjaer took over United looked a team transformed, but over the past four weeks the chickens have come home to roost and the players who were not good enough when Van Gaal and Mourinho were there are still not good enough! There has been no transformation.
I do not agree that giving the manager job to Solskjaer was too hasty and a mistake. He is a United man through and through and understands the club and what’s required. St. Peter himself couldn’t manage that shower!
However, the big question is will he be allowed to bring about the fundamental changes that are needed? There are eight to ten players who have to be shown the door. Mata, Sanchez, Matic, Lingard, Rojo, Bailly, Phil Jones, Ashley Young and Martial are just some of the names that have to be included in the cull. I would also get rid of Pogba who seems to only bother his backside when it suits him, and Lukaku who is simply not a top class centre forward. The major surgery needed will cost a fortune and I am not sure that United have the people at the top who have enough vision to allow that to happen. At the end of the day this is a billion pound business and profits are as important as anything else which is the depressing reality.
Remember that after a period of dominance that lasted for over 20 years it took Liverpool almost 30 years to launch a creditable title bid once again. United’s famine is now seven years and counting. I can’t see anything happening there for at least five years more. Solskjaer will do as good a job as anyone. The culture whereby there are vastly overpaid players who could not care less about the club will have to be changed or there will be many years of disappointment ahead.
The way it stands this season it looks like United will be playing in the Europa League in season 2019/20 with games on Thursday nights meaning most of their league games will be on Sundays. Hardly an appetising prospect going forward and not easy to attract top class players either.
