ireland.com - The Irish Times

No excuse for 'horror' show
RUGBY: If France wanted a pick-me-up when they were down on the ground, Ireland's dreadful performance by Ireland in Bordeaux provided it in spades. Not alone did the scarily close margin of 32-17 - itself only embellished by a slightly contentious late try - mean that Ireland's chances of progressing in the event of a three-way tie in the shark-infested Pool D are paper thin; on this evidence Eddie O'Sullivan's team would not beat Georgia, never mind the other two contenders.

Staunton looks at options as Ireland ruled out
SOCCER: Manchester City midfielder Stephen Ireland flew home yesterday following a bereavement. The 21-year-old Corkman, who scored the first goal of Saturday's 2-2 draw in Slovakia, will not be available for Wednesday's Group D qualifier against the Czech Republic in Prague. p

Powell smashes world record
ATHLETICS: Asafa Powell showed he had recovered from his disappointing third place at the World Championships in Osaka by breaking his 100-metre world record with a time of 9.74 seconds yesterday. p

Soccer

Costly failure to close deal
Slovakia 2 Rep of Ireland 2: Steve Staunton spoke before this match about changing the mentality of a nation, convincing the people of Ireland that they should no longer settle for draws. After it, he narrowed his focus to the players who had twice surrendered the lead at the Slovan stadium in Bratislava. Re-education, though, like charity, might best be started at home and in the wake of a game that leaves his side needing to pull off an improbable win in Prague if they are to retain a realistic chance of qualification, the manager looks like a prime candidate for a spell in football's equivalent of "Room 101". p
'It's just a huge disappointment we didn't hold on'
Players' reaction: It was only his 11th appearance for Ireland so he hasn't endured too many nights like these, when fright sets in when a lead has to be defended, so it was a relatively new experience for Kevin Doyle. p
Staunton in no mind to quibble
Manager's reaction: We were curious. All week before Saturday's game Steve Staunton had sounded eerily similar, more than several of his audience noted, to a Premier League manager in the north-east of England. No, not Sam Allardyce or Gareth Southgate, the other one. p
Evidence points to a missed opportunity
There was never a threat of victory from our hosts. In fact, there was nothing really hostile about the environment where the Irish fans almost turned it into a home fixture and we should easily have worked off this passion to secure the three points. p
North fail to take advantage
Latvia 1 Northern Ireland 0: If Steve Staunton's players kick themselves black and blue on the trip from Bratislava to Prague, then Nigel Worthington's squad from the North arrived in Reyjavik yesterday equally bruised. The lack of chances created for David Healy in this drab performance in Riga may have been one of the central issues afterwards, but no one was in doubt that this was a potentially decisive missed opportunity. p
England win lifts spirits for Russia game
Group E/England 3 Israel 0: By now Steve McClaren knows he ought to wince whenever he hears a compliment. The England manager has learned how fractured a reputation can get when you plummet from the heights of praise. There had, until Saturday, been barely a kind word since he was garlanded for the merry 4-0 win in the friendly against Greece with which his tenure began. p
McFadden says Scotland won't fear France
Scotland 3 Lithuania 1: James McFadden believes Scotland have earned the right to approach their clash in France with the belief they can take something from the qualifier. p
Wales no match for Germany
Wales 0 Germany 2: Looking crestfallen and shell-shocked, John Toshack pondered for a moment before delivering an assessment that was every bit as bleak as the listless 90 minutes he had just presided over. "I know people always say you have got a chance until the referee blows his final whistle," said the Wales manager. "But I have got to be honest and maybe I shouldn't say this, I couldn't really see us getting back into the game at all." p
Hard to stay awake as cautious Italians keep dreams alive
Group B/Italy 0 France 0: In the end, it was more Machiavelli versus Richelieu than a rerun of last year's World Cup final in Berlin. After all the pre-match polemics about cheating Eye-Ties and other matters, Italy v France turned out to be a dull affair in which pragmatism triumphed over adventure. p
Shambles clearer in cold light of Monday
Locker Room: These two-leg away trips with the Irish soccer team are always tricky affairs for the poor misfortunates who scrape a living from extracting quotes and clichés from the boys. As conditions worsen I often recall the personal motto of a particularly chirpy friend of mine: just because your wife dies doesn't mean your house won't burn down. p
Time to pass the baton as Ireland suffer another Hamilton jinx
TV View: How many goals has George Hamilton cost the Republic of Ireland football team down the years? p
Planet Football
Today's other stories in brief p

Rugby

Irish in full blush from the kick-off
Pool D/Ireland 32 Namibia 17: The scoreline tells of little but embarrassment for Ireland in their opening assignment of the World Cup, and that would have been the feeling for all their supporters in the crowd too. Far from hitting the ground running, Ireland continued in large part where they left off in the warm-up matches. In truth, save for the bonus point, there was nothing in the performance for Ireland to take from this game. p
'We got worse as the game went on'
Ireland v Namibia Reaction: No doubt about it. Eddie O'Sullivan performed better in the media centre than his team did last night in a balmy Bordeaux night. The amateurs against the professionals fell the way of Ireland - the professionals - but the Namibian lap of honour was the most well received move of the evening.
Few positives in shapeless effort
Pool D: If you're scratching around for positives - and there were very few from an Irish perspective - the main one has to be simply that Ireland won the game with a bonus point. They now have to put it behind them and move on but it'll be difficult just because this effort was so unsatisfactory.
Bordeaux time-line
The match as it happened p
Bewildered O'Driscoll offers no excuses
Namibia thought that at one rip-roaring phase in the second half last night they could have pulled off the impossible and beaten Eddie O'Sullivan's side. p
All Blacks crush proud Italy
Pool C/New Zealand 76 Italy 14: Brian O'Driscoll made the point last week that respect is beating a team by as much as you possibly can. Respect is not patronising them, not taking the boot of the pedal. Respect is wiping the floor with their sorry carcass, their hopes, their aspirations. p
England bungle way to victory
Pool A/England 28 USA 10: Brian Ashton's face at the post-match press conference required no words to express his emotions following England's victory at the Stade Felix Bollaert on Saturday. It's just as well because the England coach was in taciturn form, refusing repeated entreaties to spell out just how disappointed he felt. p
Impressive Scotland hit the ground running
Pool C/Scotland 56 Portugal 10: Potent Scotland laid down a marker by running in eight tries against World Cup debutants Portugal in an entertaining Pool C clash in St Etienne yesterday. p
Kirwan blames Japan rout on organisers
Pool A/Australia 91 Japan 3: Japan coach John Kirwan has lashed out at the International Rugby Board (IRB) over the World Cup match schedule, saying the draw is unfairly stacked against the weaker teams. p
Jones calms Welsh nerves
Pool B/Wales 42 Canada 17: Wales negotiated some troubled waters by the River Loire yesterday. Until a barrage of five second-half tries in 17 breathtaking minutes sank a defiant Canada. p
Former champions put down marker
Pool A/South Africa 59 Samoa 7: As a statement of intent South Africa's opening argument at the World Cup couldn't have been more eloquent. In a hugely combative contest at the Parc des Princes they demonstrated the aptitude, mental and physical to establish their bona fides as genuine contenders to repeat their tournament success of 1995. p
The World is Oval
Today's other rugby stories in brief p

Gaelic Games

Rebels determined to do it for themselves
All-Ireland SFC Final Cork v Kerry: Seán Moran talks to Cork's versatile captain about the biggest day of his career p
Lynch set to miss final
Cork manager Billy Morgan has confirmed wing back Anthony Lynch is virtually certain to miss next weekend's All-Ireland final against Kerry after suffering a freak injury at training on Saturday. p
Derry Diamond strikes
All-Ireland Junior Championship Final/Derry 3-12 Clare 2-14: Derry took their first All-Ireland Junior camogie championship title since 2000 thanks to a hard fought victory over Clare at Croke Park yesterday. p
Five-star show by Galway blows Dublin away
Under-21 Hurling All-Ireland Final/Galway 5-11 Dublin 0-12: Well if you're going to rain on somebody's parade, you might as well do it in style and yesterday, for the opening 15 minutes of this under-21 hurling final, Galway inflicted a deluge on Dublin. p
Leacy paves way for Model win
Camogie/All-Ireland Senior Final/Wexford 2-7 Cork 1-8: Brian Cody's controversial assertion that Henry Shefflin is the best hurler ever has evoked similar debate in the camogie arena. p
GAA Digest
Today's other stories in brief p

Golf

US prevail after day of high tension
Walker Cup: The simple fact is that the United States retained the Walker Cup with a 12½-11½ victory over the Britain and Ireland team. p
Woods claims title number 60
Tiger Woods shot a flawless eight-under-par 63 to claim his 60th tour victory at the BMW Championship at Cog Hill, Illinois yesterday. p

Racing

Dylan Thomas takes second Champion stakes
Maybe those that made George Washington favourite in yesterday's Prix Du Moulin at Longchamp should have paid more attention to Kieren Fallon's assertion after Saturday's Tattersalls Millions Irish Champion Stakes that Dylan Thomas is the best he has ever ridden. p
Alexander Tango eyes NY double
Alexander Tango will attempt to bring off a Grade One New York double at the end of this month after securing the first leg with an impressive victory at Belmont Park on Saturday night p

Other

Flintoff forced to battle on
CRICKET: No pain for Andrew Flintoff will mean gain for England as they head off for their winter commitments. All-rounder Flintoff (29) provided another injury scare when he left the field in Saturday's NatWest Series-clinching victory over India at Lord's after bowling a five-over spell. p
Henin grows into a giant of the game
TENNIS/US Open Championships: Billie Jean King, one of the greatest and most-respected names in women's sport, had no hesitation in describing Justin Henin as "pound for pound the best women's athlete I have ever seen". p
Alonso hints at resuming dominance
MOTOR SPORT/Formula One Championship/Italian Grand Prix: Fernando Alonso closed the gap on the championship leader, Lewis Hamilton, with a punishing display of power here yesterday. p
Army in good form as Carey and Flynn fly the flag at Nations Cup
SHOW JUMPING: The Irish Army were in flying form at the Czech Nations Cup fixture in Prague over the weekend, with Captain Shane Carey scoring a double and Commandant Gerry Flynn just pipped for victory in yesterday's Grand Prix, writes Grania Willis . p

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