ireland.com - The Irish Times

Ireland can deliver now
RUGBY: The extended farewell to Lansdowne Road is officially billed as the Guinness Autumn series. Hereabouts, we like to take some licence with the seasons by deeming them autumnal games. p

Fenlon's men show fighting qualities to lift title
SOCCER/Shelbourne - 2 Bohemians - 1: And so, in the end, they really did do it on the pitch. Had they thought it was going to be anything like this few neutrals probably would have begrudged Shelbourne the replayed game against Bohemians Ollie Byrne had been fighting for in recent weeks but no matter, they didn't need it. Goals from Stuart Byrne and Glen Crowe were enough to deliver a third championship title in four years to Tolka Park. p

Shamrock Rovers are almost there
SOCCER: Shamrock Rovers will be confirmed as champions at St Colman's Park this evening barring a combination of absolutely freak results in the last round of games, reports Emmet Malone . p

Soccer

Tributes roll in for an all-time great
Iconic forward Ferenc Puskas, who died yesterday aged 79, has been hailed as a football visionary. Puskas played in the Hungary team who inflicted England's first defeat in Wembley with a 6-3 thrashing in 1953 - followed by an even more embarrassing 7-1 defeat in Budapest a year later. p
Benitez anchored in a campaign of mediocrity
Dominic Fifield talks to an unusually emotional Liverpool boss who is running out of plausible excuses p
Ferguson irritated by Scolari
Alex Ferguson yesterday launched a robust defence of his assistant Carlos Queiroz after the Manchester United number two had been heavily criticised by Luis Felipe Scolari, Portugal's manager p
Kenny's reign fails to end in parade
Derry City - 1 Cork City - 0: Stephen Kenny ended his tenure at the Brandywell on a winning note against Cork City but, unfortunately for Derry City it was not enough to win the league title, with Shelbourne securing the top honour on goal difference following their victory over Bohemians at Tolka Park. p
Drogheda ensure European quest
Drogheda Utd - 1 Waterford Utd - 0: Drogheda United ensured qualification for Europe and a defence of the Setanta Cup with this hard-fought victory over a dogged Waterford side who belied their position at the bottom of the table. p
Connor looking forward to his new job
An opportunity he couldn't turn down was how new Bohemians manager Seán Connor summed up his appointment at his official unveiling at Dalymount Park yesterday morning. p
Maguire may miss out on cup final
Longford Town - 0 St Patricks Athletic - 0: FAI Cup finalists St Patrick's Athletic had to settle for a share of the spoils in this low-key encounter at Flancare Park last night. Despite dominating possession in the early stages, Longford were almost caught on the break after 20 minutes. Colm Foley headed wide after getting on the end of Brenton Leister's pinpoint free-kick. p
Ten-man Sligo dig deep to earn draw
Bray Wanderers - 1 Sligo Rovers - 1: Among the reasons Rob McDonald gave for accepting the Sligo job was a desire to return to a "British style of football". Having managed in the Netherlands and South Africa, the former Newcastle United player got his wish last night as his Sligo players dug deep for a point in a keenly-contested, frantic end-to-end game. p

Rugby

Boss introduction may be one game too soon
International Ireland v Australia: In many respects an international team's performance reflects the national character. The current Irish generation expects a good life and certain luxuries. Victory is one of them. The demand for success has become part of modern society; I'm an Australian because my grandparents were raised in Ireland on a different mindset. p
Australians rule, okay mate
Australia's passion for sport and winning can at times border on intimidation. Johnny Watterson looks for some of the reasons behind it p
Who will win? View from outside
John O'Donoghue Minister for Sport: "I watched the South Africa match at Lansdowne Road and was very impressed with Ireland's performance. The Southern Hemisphere teams are a very different prospect from any other rugby sides. If we are to hold out any real chance of doing well in the Rugby World Cup next year in France then Ireland have to hope for a convincing display this weekend. p
Food buff Best well able to dish it out
Gerry Thornley talks to the fiery flanker who learned to 'curb the beast' and earn his place in the Ireland set-up p
All Blacks to spoil the party again
International/France v New Zealand: Yesterday, tourists took guided tours around the wonderful Stade de France and posed for photographs in the November sunshine. It ought to be an auspicious weekend for French rugby, with the federation celebrating 100 years of international competition with a full house for a mouth-watering Test against the marauding All Blacks under lights tonight. But after the shocking implosion in Lyon came six days and nights of anguished introspection. p
Rotational policy the key
In Focus/The All Blacks: Warren Gatland, the former Ireland and Wasps coach and current Waikato coach, gives an insight into what has made the All Blacks the best team in the world p
England may sink even lower if defeated
International/England v South Africa: Rarely have the consequences of a home defeat at Twickenham been starker. If England lose today they will plumb new depths in terms of successive losses and sink below Scotland to eighth in the world rankings. At a pinch they might just accept being labelled the worst team in English history but there are limits. p
IRB approve change in scrum law to tackle engagement problems
The International Rugby Board council have approved a change to the law that governs the scrum, based on advice from sundry subsidiary committees within the organisation, including the Medical Committee. The law change will see the implementation of a four-stage "crouch, touch, pause, engage" sequence for the initial scrum engagement at all levels of the game from January 1st, 2007. p
Welsh dole out the expected thrashing
Wales - 61 Canada - 26: Wales last night handed out the expected beating to Canada - by nine tries to two - and can now get down to the business of preparing for next week's visitors, the All Blacks - with or without Gavin Henson. p
Cusiter's chance to make impact
Scotland v Pacific Islands: Chris Cusiter, the Borders scrum-half who has been recalled to the Scotland side to play the Pacific Islanders at Murrayfield this afternoon, wants to hold on to his place after a spell on the bench behind Edinburgh's Mike Blair. p
Connacht face tough test after disruptive week
Celtic League/Cardiff Blues v Connacht: Declan Kidney noted recently, albeit with a wry smile, that Munster are currently out of the Heineken European Cup equation for next season. With so many internationals unavailable, Connacht have a genuine opportunity to increase their eight-point lead over their southern cousins in the Magners Celtic League. p
Trinity finally break their 10-year UCD hoodoo
Colours match/Dublin University - 16 UCD - 13: Dublin University broke a 10-year hoodoo that included nine losses and one draw to shock UCD in last night's colours game at Donnybrook. p

Gaelic Games

Not just a case of mind over matter
GAA coaching and medical conference: Keith Duggan talks to three key speakers who will address next weekend's conference at Croke Park p
Weekend Previews
This weekend's matches p
Galway may lose two greats
Galway footballers Michael Donnellan and Pádraic Joyce could have played their last game for the county. The two former footballers of the year have been left out of the squad which resumed training this week as they try to battle long-term injuries. p
Carlow player banned
The father of Carlow footballer Brian Farrell has been effectively handed a lifetime ban for striking a referee after a recent match and the player himself has also been banned for 12 weeks after being sent off in the same fractious encounter. p

Golf

Harrington keeps in touch
JAPAN TOUR: Tiger Woods vaulted into the lead at the Dunlop Phoenix tournament with Ireland's Padraig Harrington in close pursuit after the second round in Japan. p

Racing

Geraghty gets Inca
Punchestown and Cork previews: Barry Geraghty will be just the fifth jockey to ride the champion hurdler Brave Inca when he returns to action in tomorrow's Grade One feature at Punchestown. p
Salmon 'in good form'
Beef Or Salmon's record in Britain reads a dismal nought for six but the leading Irish chaser will be hoping to make it seventh time lucky at Haydock today when he takes on Britain's great white hope Kauto Star in the Betfair Chase. p

Other

Right time, right place, right man
Interview/George Kimball: From golf with Michael Jordan to being married by George Foreman, from nude saunas with Joe DiMaggio to drinking sessions with Hunter S Thompson, from living in JFK's former home to friendship with Muhammad Ali - legendary American sports writer George Kimball guides Keith Duggan through some parts of his amazingly colourful life p
Sports fans can be an unforgiving lot
Sideline Cut: Professional sport glides along so smoothly and looks so glossy you can often forget the performers are actually human. Then, every so often, the cracks appear. Regardless of the pleasure we in this country traditionally take from witnessing England's downfall through any of her sporting jewels, it would take a cold heart not to have felt some way sorry for England coach Andy Robinson last weekend. The plain-talking rugby man, with the ruddy features of a yeoman and a naturally morose expression, looked like the loneliest man on earth as he sat in Twickenham, the fortress of yesteryear while Argentina became the latest country to boss the world champions into submission. p
Australian reputations may go up in Ashes smoke
CRICKET/The Ashes: Richard Gillis on why, after their Ashes defeat last year, for Australia players this series is about more than winning, it is about preserving their legacy p
Harmison a doubt for first Ashes Test
CRICKET: Steve Harmison is a doubt for next week's first Ashes Test in Brisbane after suffering a side strain in England's final warm-up match, according to England coach Duncan Fletcher. p
Sports academy launched
ATHLETICS: Up to 100 of Ireland's top athletes are to become members of DCU's new Sports Academy, which was officially launched yesterday at the Helix by Taoiseach Bertie Ahern p

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