One of the longest associations in this country’s sport came to an end on Wednesday with the announcement of the retirement of Zaur Antia, head coach of Irish boxing. His tenure of 22 years “covered a golden period for the sport at the highest levels,” writes Johnny Watterson, in that time Antia working with nine Irish boxers who won 10 Olympic medals between them. Whatever comes next for “the godfather of Irish boxing”, “his legacy is secure”.
If the Irish football team can make it to next year’s World Cup, their legacy will be in fine fettle too. They’ll find out today who they will face in the qualification playoffs, Gordon Manning bringing you a team-by-team guide to their potential opponents. And lest you’re feeling optimistic, David Gorman reminds us of Ireland’s 10 previous efforts to qualify for major tournaments through playoffs ... their success record is a mere 40 per cent.
“What we’ve witnessed since Sunday has been a spontaneous, and then sustained, outpouring of joy,” says Ciaran Murphy of the impact of that triumph in Budapest. A “fatalism set in” after the 2017 playoffs hammering by Denmark, “it took Troy Parrott to put us back together again”.
In rugby, Gerry Thornley has a stab at naming the Irish team that will face South Africa on Saturday, the fit again duo of Josh van der Flier and Garry Ringrose “strongly under consideration”. Tommy O’Brien is likely to start again, Johnny Watterson talking to the winger who is enjoying a fine autumn series.
“One of the oldest cliches in rugby’s long book of hackneyed platitudes is that the Springboks are bigger and meaner than everybody else,” writes Nathan Johns. He gets out his measuring tape and weighing scales to test the theory.
And off-the-field, Gerry has news of an improved financial position for the IRFU who have reduced their operating deficit from €18.4 million to €4.2 million. Much of that boost was down to increased international match revenues, chief executive Kevin Potts defending an increase of around 80 per cent in ticket prices for home games over the last dozen years.
In his America at Large column, Dave Hannigan reflects on the life and times of NBA legend Michael Ray Richardson who died last week at the age of seventy. Larry Bird once described him as “the best basketball player on the planet”, but his drug use prevented him from ever making the most of his talent. “For all his preternatural gifts on the court, he wasn’t ready for prime time off it.”
TV Watch: The RTÉ News channel has live coverage of the draw for the World Cup qualification playoffs from noon today. Later, Séamus Power will be in action at the season-ending RSM Classic in Georgia (Sky Sports Golf, 1.30pm-7pm, Sky Sports Plus, 7pm-8pm), the Waterford man needing a big finish if he is to hold on to his PGA Tour card and avoid having to take the qualifying school route.
Leona Maguire is in action too at the CME Group Tour Championship, the LPGA Tour’s season finale (Sky Sports Golf, 7pm-10pm). And at 8pm, Chelsea host Barcelona in the women’s Champions League (BBC 2 and Disney Plus).
