The42

THERE WERE NO wild Kiwi celebrations, despite their impressive six-try performance. The All Blacks are getting used to beating Ireland again. In fairness, their fourth consecutive win against Andy Farrell’s team didn’t go down to the wire. The writing was on the wall for Ireland by half-time. So the New Zealand fans who began to head for the exits several minutes before the confusing final whistle could be excused. They had seen enough at Eden Park.

WHEN TIME RAN out of Clare’s challenge a fortnight ago in Croke Park, it not only extinguished their interest in this hurling season. It also marked the close of one of the most compelling individual careers. Shane O’Donnell had revealed in the build-up to the game, as widely suspected, that the 2026 campaign would be his last on the inter-county stage. Clare’s semi-final loss confirmed the end of the line had been reached.

IN AN ALL-IRELAND hurling final where the experience is weighed towards Limerick, Galway’s been-there, done-that management team will take on extra importance.

THE FALLOUT AND blame game have begun following England’s World Cup exit, and many fingers are pointing at Thomas Tuchel. Fans and pundits have accused the German coach of overly negative tactics.

HAPPY 2026 WORLD Cup final day! Argentina versus Spain. World champions versus European champions. Lionel Messi versus Lamine Yamal. It doesn’t get much bigger than this. Can Argentina go back-to-back on Messi’s Last Dance? Or will Spain win their first title since 2010, and just second overall? Spain are the favourites, having knocked France out in the semi-finals. They are unbeaten at the tournament, having conceded just one goal – to Belgium in the quarter-finals.

IT WAS A very tough night for Ireland. Picking out positives is difficult to do when you’ve lost by 19 points, conceding six tries along the way. And yet, there’s no doubt that Joe McCarthy was one of the best players on the pitch for either side in Ireland’s 41-20 Nations Championship loss against New Zealand at Eden Park. The 25-year-old lock was omnipresent for Ireland, making a game-leading 23 tackles and bringing some fire in some of them.

IT’S THE BIGGEST day in the hurling calendar as Limerick and Galway take centre stage for the All-Ireland final. It’s a repeat of the 2018 decider where Limerick dethroned Galway and kickstarted an era of dominance in the sport. After ending that 45-year wait for the Liam MacCarthy, John Kiely’s side went on to complete an incredible four-in-a-row between 2020 and 2023. And now they will meet Micheál Donoghue’s charges once again for the biggest prize in hurling.

LAUTARO MARTINEZ BEGAN to cry yet still maintained enough composure to touch briefly on the essence of life and football. Like every Argentinian during that semi-final win over England, he seemed capable of transforming from a ball of raging fury and intense desire to a blubbering mess of fragility whose only release was to weep. It was beautiful. The Argentina forward came off the bench in Atlanta to score the goal that sent his country to Sunday’s World Cup final with Spain.

ENGLAND OVERCAME FRANCE in a wild and wonderful World Cup third-place play-off at Miami Stadium. Thomas Tuchel’s side led 4-0 at half-time after goals from Declan Rice, Ezri Konsa and Bukayo Saka (two). France rallied through Kylian Mbappé (two) and Bradley Barcola, before Saka’s 87th minute penalty completed his hat-trick and all but guaranteed the bronze medal. Ousmane Dembélé and Jude Bellingham exchanged goals deep in extra-time to round out an insane game.

LUKE LITTLER ADMITTED he had been annoyed after beginning the defence of his World Matchplay title with a 10-6 victory over Niko Springer. World number one Littler roared out of the first-round blocks in Blackpool to take a 2-0 lead, but then lost three consecutive legs to trail at the first break. “It felt good, felt very nice. First five legs was OK but when I came back on after the break I felt very good,” Littler told Sky Sports after recording a match average of 109.53.