Shamrock Rovers became the first League Of Ireland team to reach the knockout stages in a major European competition when they defeated Borac 3-0 in a European Conference League game on last night at Tallaght Stadium.
Rovers remain unbeaten in the group stage and head to Chelsea next Thursday; a draw in London would likely be enough for them to get a top-eight position and a bye to the round of 16.
TIX HIKE NOT RULED OUT
The IRFU has not ruled out a further hike in ticket prices after successfully selling out all four Autumn Nations Series games. The Union say they benchmark ticket prices off other unions and concerts in Ireland and closely monitor the market. Despite a mixed reaction to the match-day experience at the Aviva Stadium and complaints from supporters from outside of Dublin about the cost of coming to international games, the union are still putting up the sold-out signs on a regular basis.
Senior men’s international matches represents about 80 per cent of the union’s €71.5m in revenue and, having lost €18.6m last year, they say there is pressure on them to increase the amount of money they get in a challenging television market. It doesn’t want to dip too far into its €69m in cash reserves or liquidate its €87m in assets, while it is also trying to ensure its programmes are not cut. Chief executive Kevin Potts also says he expects all of the leading out-of-contract internationals to stay in Ireland despite speculation linking several players, including Robbie Henshaw, Jack Conan and Tadhg Furlong, to France.
WEST VS. SOUTH RUGBY
GAME FOR CASTLEBAR
GAA Central Council has approved Mayo’s application to host a Connacht Rugby game at MacHale Park, Castlebar next spring. The Castlebar venue will stage a game between Connacht and Munster in the URC competition on March 29, just eight days before MacHale Park hosts the Connacht football championship quarter-final game between Mayo and Sligo. It will be the first rugby game to be played in MacHale Park and is set to provide Mayo GAA with a significant financial boost. Other GAA stadia such as Croke, Park Páirc Uí Chaoimh in Cork and Breffni Park in Cavan have also hosted Rugby game in recent years.
Munster have confirmed that the province is still conducting a wider search for a permanent head coach after announcing last week that Chris Boyd has been brought in as ‘performance consultant.’ The 66 year-old New Zealander has extensive coaching experience with clubs like Wellington, New Zealand Under 20s, the Hurricanes and Northampton in the English Premiership and is seen by Munster as a steadying influence while the province seek a full-time replacement for Graham Rowntree. Munster have been working in conjunction with the IRFU to oversee the transition to a new head coach and the IRFU’s head of athletic performance and science, Nick Winkelman, was pictured at squad training at the University of Limerick last week. Boyd will help interim head coach Ian Costello prepare the team for a busy schedule of games coming up.
ST. CONLETH’S HOSTS
SUNDAY SEMI-FINAL
The recently revamped St Conleth’s Park in Newbridge will host the first of the All-Ireland club senior hurling semi-finals between Munster champions Cork and Ulster champions Slaughtneil which throws in at 1.30pm on Sunday next. Semple Stadium is the venue for the second semi-final between Leinster champions Na Fianna and Connacht champions Loughrea and that game will throw-in at 3.30pm.
GILROY QUITS
IN PROTEST
Pat Gilroy, the former Dublin footballer and manager, has stepped away from the Croke Park Management Committee in protest at the way the GAA is treating its amateur status. The St Vincent’s clubman, who began Dublin's unprecedented decade of success when they beat Kerry in the 2011 All-Ireland final, has resigned from the GAA’s Audit & Risk Committee. Gilroy said: ‘‘In the past three or four months the GAA has been going down a path that I don’t think is compatible with what the organisation should be. The things that are concerning me is this talk of paying managers and the use of Croke Park. I am all for helping the likes of rugby when they are in trouble. The idea of an inter-county manager standing in front of players who are not being paid, I cannot get my head around it.’’
MCDERMOTT JOINS
COBH RAMBLERS
League of Ireland first division club Cobh Ramblers last week confirmed the appointment of 50-year-old Mick McDermott as manager, where he replaces Gary Hunt. The Belfast native has worked as assistant coach to Carlos Queiroz with Iran and Qatar. He also held coaching positions at Al Ain FC and Al Nasr FC in Abu Dhabi and Esteghlal FC of Iran. McDermott assisted Queiroz with Iran at the 2018 World Cup before briefly linking up with him again in 2023 with Qatar. Closer to home he also managed Irish League club Glentoran where he won an Irish Cup final in 2020. At a youth in Belfast McDermott played for Cliftonville and Distillery and later won a scholarship to the University of Rhode Island. He later coached in the USA at Connecticut Wolves, Quinnipiac Bobcats and Oregon State Beavers. The Cork club has recently been taken by the FC32 football group, who also have a stake in Austrian club SKN St Polten.
CATS’ FOGARTY RETIRES
Another well-known hurler has quit in Kilkenny with confirmation last week that Conor Fogarty, a four-time All-Ireland winner, has retired from inter-county hurling scene after 14 years with the Cats. He joined the senior team in 2011 and became a key player, also winning nine Leinster titles and five league medals. At 34, Fogarty's contributions to the team were recognized by Kilkenny manager Derek Lyng, who praised his work ethic and discipline.
LIMERICK SPEND LESS
Limerick’s failure to reach a fifth consecutive All-Ireland hurling final saw the team spending fall below the €2m mark for the first time in three years. With no All-Ireland final costs incurred this year, Limerick’s team expenses figure of €1,987,431 represented a 16 per cent decrease on last year’s €2.37m total. The year 2021 was the last time Limerick’s team spending came in under the €2m mark, but given the €1.3m figure of three years ago was significantly influenced by the pandemic-shortened season, as was the case in 2020 also, the 2024 total is the county’s lowest year-round team spend since €1.48m was plowed into the various Limerick hurling and football teams in 2019.
TERRY GRIFFITH, 77
The death occurred recently of former world snooker champion Terry Griffiths at age of 77 after a long battle with dementia. Griffiths, who hailed from south Wales, came through the qualifying rounds to win the 1979 Crucible title as a qualifier, and also won the Masters and the UK Championship to complete the sport’s illustrious triple crown. In later years Griffiths became an accomplished coach, inspiring the likes of Stephen Hendry, Mark Williams and Mark Allen.
