07/06 The Sports Pages

Colourful caravans, recalling a time when Rod Laver and Arnold Palmer were approaching their prime, and concerns within Irish rugby – all in today’s Sports Pages.

The Sports Pages

“Colourful caravan is headed to Cork”, reads the headline in the Irish Times, beneath which Tom Humphries is his usual self. “For the fifth time in their last six meetings in Killarney, the sides drew,” he wrote. “A large Cork following spent money foolishly about the town. The great caravan moves back to Cork next Sunday for the replay. The deciding of the All-Ireland can wait till August. It’s their world – we just live in it.”

The Times also includes reports into Graeme McDowell’s impressive victory at Celtic Manor, the venue of this year’s Ryder Cup, and Rafael Nadal’s impressive victory in the French Open final at Roland Garros, when he extended his record to five wins in six tournaments. He’s lost just one match at Roland Garros, to Robin Soderling in last year’s tournament, and that defeat was avenged in style against the Swede yesterday.

The Examiner includes an investigation into events in Tembisa, Johannesburg, where “thousands of soccer fans stampeded” before a friendly international between Nigeria and North Korea, who were putting the finishing touches on their preparations for World Cup finals, which start in South Africa on Friday.

FIFA has tried to absolve itself from any culpability by declaring that it had nothing to do with the friendly, but the incident – after which 16 people, including two police officers, required hospital treatment – is sure to heighten security concerns ahead of the tournament.

Back to GAA, and the Independent’s Vincent Hogan is effusive in his praise for Louth’s performance against Kildare on Saturday evening. A 1-22 to 1-16 win over Kildare left Louth just one win away from a first Leinster final in 53 years. That was a time, said Hogan, when “Arnold Palmer was the hottest thing in golf; Jack Brabham likewise in motorsport. Rod Laver had yet to win a Wimbledon final.”

There are famines, it seems, and there are Louth famines.

Also in the Indo, columnist Eugene McGee is critical of Cork’s failure to put away Kerry in Killarney. The Rebels led by four points with quarter of an hour remaining and missed two clear goal chances to put the game to bed, allowing Kerry to fight back and claim a draw.

“So what’s new?” asks McGee. “How many times in recent years have we watched the Cork footballers dominate games against Kerry and still fail to win?”

Switching to rugby, and David Kelly feels we’re on the cusp of a vital period in the history of the game here. “Irish rugby is at an economic and sporting crossroads,” he writes. “How well it manages this transition will indicate how well prepared it is to absorb the initial shock and then thrive in the future.”

He continues, somewhat alarmingly, “Some of the Irish players based in Limerick this past week, who were preparing for the summer tour, were still unsure whether individual match fees or a flat touring fee applied for the three-Test Antipodean trek.” This, on the back of revelations that some of the IRFU’s older or less established players have been offered greatly reduced playing contracts. All is not well, it seems.