Republic of Ireland manager Vera Pauw will get another opportunity to assess the fringe players in her squad when the Irish women play Zambia in a friendly in Tallaght on Thursday evening. Zambia, like The Republic will make their World Cup debut next month and their first round games will be played in New Zealand.
Irish women’s captain Katie McCabe has been given the green light to link up with the Republic of Ireland before tomorrow night’s game after a long-running clubs vs. countries dispute reached a resolution. McCabe was one of several high-profile names impacted by the European Club Association’s directive that players should only be released for international duty from June 23, a day after The Republic play Zambia. Manager Vera Pauw named the Arsenal star in her 31-player World Cup training camp, but admitted she was unsure when exactly McCabe would be able to link up. A compromise was reached with Women’s Super League clubs, who gave clearance to the English FA to bring players into camp on June 19.
Pauw said there is no guarantee McCabe will play tomorrow night as she carefully manages her players’ work load. The manager said: ‘‘Everything is related to the health and safety of the players. The plan is to not play her. But we need to see how she comes in of course. We train with live heart-rate monitors, and it’s related to how fast she recovers from explosive actions if she will play against Zambia, so we will see.’’
Ireland’s three U.S.-based players, Denise O'Sullivan, Sinead Farrelly and Marissa Sheva, will arrive at the Irish training camp after the Zambia game as the NWSL season is ongoing. Pauw will name her final 23-player squad for the tournament on June 29 ahead of a farewell friendly against France on July 6. The squad will fly to Australia the day after that game, with a warm-up game versus Colombia pencilled in for July 14 in Brisbane.
The Irish team begin their World Cup campaign against Australia in Sydney on July 20.
Johnny Sexton has a nervy wait. [Inpho/Dan Sheridan]
SEXTON FACES
SUSPENSION
Former Irish international Bernard Jackman says that talk of Johnny Sexton missing the Rugby World Cup due to suspension is outlandish and predicted the situation would likely be resolved with a fine. Jackman is now a rugby coach and media analyst. Sexton is facing a nervy wait to see if the European Professional Club Rugby comes down heavy on him for allegedly approaching referee Jaco Peyper and his match officials after Leinster’s loss to La Rochelle in the Heineken Champions Cup final at the Aviva Stadium last month. If the 37-year-old out half was to be found guilty of threatening match officials, he could receive a ban of up to 24 weeks, which would shatter his hopes of featuring at the autumn’s World Cup in France.
However, Jackman doesn’t expect the outhalf to receive anything like that sort of punishment. He said: ‘‘We are not sure how strong this case is and certainly some of the speculation about a 24-week ban and things like that seems to be quite outlandish. You would imagine the EPCR, if they are going to bring discipline into it, they would need to do it quite quickly. If there is going to be a disciplinary action I would say it would be a fine or maybe a small suspension, maybe putting him out of warm-up games. Sexton is still recuperating from a groin injury but he has been named in Andy Farrell’s 42-man summer training squad, with the players starting camp this week. Sexton has not played since the Grand Slam win over England on March 18.
CCCC TO ‘LOOK AT’
HURLING FINALS
GAA president Larry McCarthy has intimated that the Munster and Leinster senior hurling finals will be played on separate days from next year onwards. Both finals were played back-to-back on June 11, with McCarthy conceding that the arrangement wasn’t ideal. He said: ‘‘I think we will look at it. Having the two of them on the one day is not optimal for us, it could be changed for next season. We will get the CCCC fixture committee to look at it.’’
Meanwhile former Galway star Joe Canning says the Leinster hurling final should be moved out of Croke Park and played at a provincial venue like O’Moore Park, Portlaoise or O’Connor Park in Tullamore. The attendance at Croke Park for the Kilkenny-Galway final ten days ago was only 24,000 in a stadium that can accommodate 82,000. Canning said: ‘‘It’s a pity the Leinster final wasn’t played in Tullamore or Portlaoise for the atmosphere and supporters. There was a sell out crowd of 43,000 in Limerick for the Munster hurling final between Limerick and Clare. We could replicate that atmosphere by playing the Leinster final in Tullamore or Portlaoise. Everybody wants to play in Croke Park, but Clare didn’t accept going to Pairc Ui Chaoimh in Cork. We saw more supporters wearing Galway jerseys in Limerick than in Croke Park.’’
RULES MORE GAELIC
THAN GAELIC ITSELF
Former Irish International Rules captain Michael Murphy wants the International Rules series to be revived, claiming it highlights the skills of Gaelic football more than Gaelic football does itself. The Donegal man who has now retired from intercounty football, captained Ireland in 2013 and 2014 and competed in 2017 when the series was last played, reckons Gaelic football is getting boring for some people and sees the hybrid game as an enjoyable alternative. However, GAA President McCarthy has said that the International Rules concept is off the table for the foreseeable future.
O’CONNOR
REACHES 100
Kerry-born Mark O’Connor has chalked up his 100th appearance in the AFL. The Dingle native became just the sixth Irish player to reach the milestone, in Geelong Cats’ 110-72 defeat to Port Adelaide. The other Irish players who have broken the 100-game barrier are: Jim Stynes (264), Zach Tuohy (262), Tadhg Kennelly (197), Pearce Hanley (161) and Seán Wight (150). O’Connor a 2015 All-Ireland minor winning captain with Kerry, has made a major impression with Geelong since joining them in October 2016.
POWER IS OUT
Tipperary senior football manager David Power is the first inter-county manager to step down this summer. The Kilsheelan clubman, who led Tipp to their first Munster senior football title in 85 years on the 100th anniversary of Bloody Sunday, has vacated his post after four years in charge. He previously guided Tipp to the All-Ireland minor football title in 2011 and served as Tipp under 21 manager and was Wexford senior manager before being appointed Tipp senior manager
