Daniel Wiffen won't be forgetting his trip to Doha anytime soon. Sunday will somehow conclude the trip with, as Ian O'Riordan puts it, “an absolute masterclass in freestyle swimming”. This gave the 22-year-old his second gold medal at the World Aquatics Championships, adding to the 800m title he won earlier this week, as well as the 1,500m freestyle title. And, not surprisingly, he was awarded the trophy for best male swimmer at that competition. The talk so far has been whether Ireland can win their first medal at this championship level – after two gold medals and two incredible performances, Wiffen said: “The whole swimming world is talking. It has become”.
Meanwhile, there is a new candidate to replace Stephen Kenny as Ireland manager, with Gavin Cummiskey reporting that Chris Coleman could be given the job. Lee Carsley, the FAI's first choice, is likely to remain in charge. England U21 representative.
It was a busy weekend in the Football League for Gaelic games, but Cullen Park's Gordon Manning witnessed another bad day in his office for Kildare, who lost by 14 points to Armagh. “The game from Kildare never happened until it was all said and done,” wrote manager Glenn Ryan in a testy exchange with a local reporter.
Sean Moran witnessed Galway's narrow win over Tyrone, while Paul Brennan traveled to Tralee to watch David Clifford work his magic again. And on Saturday, Malachy Clarkin was in Croke Park, Con O'Callaghan shone as a full-forward for the Dublin squad and an emotional manager Dessie Farrell spoke about the loss of selector Shane O'Hanlon, who passed away last week.
In rugby, Gerry Thornley gives an update on Ireland's preparations for Saturday's Six Nations meeting in Dublin, with Hugo Keenan's knee injury the most pressing concern. And we have reports from all the URC matches in the province over the weekend, with Nathan Johns at the RDS watching Jamie Osborne shine for Leinster in a big win over Benetton. Connacht had a rare win over Cardiff at the Arms Park and Munster had their first away win away against the Scarlets, but a last-minute drop goal saw Ulster lose 19-17 to the Ospreys.
Also in Rugby, Dennis Walsh writes about the BBC's three-part series Slammed, the latest episode of which focuses on the 1980s. Times have changed since then. “What the rugby landscape was like before rugby became professional, before there was a World Cup, before there was a European Champions Cup, before rugby became a weekly and year-round live broadcast staple. It's easy to forget. In the Northern Hemisphere, the rugby season revolved around rugby. No other rugby game commands more glamour, status and attention. [the Five Nations] We were in the same galaxy. ”
watch tv: Hockey fans can watch Ireland's FIH Pro League match against world No. 1 Netherlands on TNT Sports 2 at noon today. Then you can check out the weekend's Gaelic football (TG4 8.0) or rugby matches (RTÉ). 2 8.0). At the same time, Everton and Crystal Palace will face off in the Premier League (Sky Sports, 8.0).
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