Irish Independent Sport

14/06/2026

‘Our costs are out of kilter’ – URC chief Martin Anayi on rugby’s business model, Croke Park and expansion talk

14/06/2026

There were so many games scheduled for this weekend that the average follower must be completely lost. The matches should have been split over two weekends and the throw-in time for the game in Derry last night must have been designed to keep anyone from Meath travelling. A 7.0pm start is far too late and it’s no surprise that not many made the journey. It should have been at 3.0 or 5.0.

At least there will be action in Kingspan Breffni today with the Dubs in town. There is a lot of justifiable anger and frustration in Dublin over the difference in the treatment of Ger Brennan and Jim McGuinness. The sour taste will last a long time.

The travelling army is small, so there won’t be long tailbacks in Virginia — would somebody bypass the place quick please and allow the good locals a bit of peace? Anyway, a match will break out between two teams who, unlike Virginia, have been bypassed by the championship so far.

Read the full column on our website

14/06/2026

John McGinn on target as Scotland mark World Cup return with 1-0 win over Haiti

13/06/2026

The word from Donegal since the start of the year was that Jimmy was preparing solely for Kerry. Somebody should have told them there are other teams in the championship. It might be an idea to start broadening out the training.

As for Roscommon, they don’t seem to have trained at all since they won Connacht.

Gerry Fitzmaurice, from the last Roscommon team to win a match in Croke Park (August 1980 against Armagh), coached the Michael Glavey’s juniors to the 2017 Roscommon championship. He takes up the story.

“It was great at the start of the year because we only had the bare 15, so everybody was happy. But as the word spread and the fun got better, we had 16, then 17, and eventually a squad of 20, so now I had a conundrum: How was I going to pick the team? Eventually, I suggested we should organise a bit of training and that we should put it to a vote. The boys got into a huddle and had a quick chat. The motion was defeated 20-0.”

For the full story, see the link below ...

13/06/2026

The US have kicked off their World Cup campaign with a win in Los Angeles as Seán O'Connor chatted to some locals about their Irish links.

13/06/2026

It was a busy day for Seán O'Connor who flew straight to LA for the US' opening game the morning after an unforgettable day at the Azteca in Mexico City!

13/06/2026

Newbridge clash between Kerry and Kildare was as one-sided as many feared it might be 👇

13/06/2026

Even those watching from a perfect perch behind in the Balor Theatre would’ve been stunned at how this one went off-script. 👇

13/06/2026

With this being the most expensive World Cup ever for fans, it seemed fitting for joint hosts USA to kick off their campaign at the most expensive stadium on the planet.

The SoFi Stadium (or the Los Angeles Stadium to Fifa folk) is a colossus. A sprawling beast that looks more like a spaceship than a football ground. More sci-fi than SoFi.

Opened in 2020, it is the newest of the 16 World Cup stadiums and at a scarcely believable price tag of $5.5bn, the costliest by a distance too.

If the Azteca Stadium in Mexico oozes the sort of history and tradition that only Pele and Maradona can bestow, then this gleaming behemoth acts as a nod to the future.

Situated in Inglewood, just south of LA, the venue is home to NFL sides the Chargers and the Rams - the latter controlled by Arsenal owner Stan Kroenke - but this is far more than a sports stadium.

Typically, the action on the pitch is the main attraction but here, it feels almost secondary.

For the full story, see the link below ...

13/06/2026

Pat Spillane: GAA+ is here to stay but they need to be smarter about the games they show

It seems like every year, one of the hottest summer topics is the live televising of championship matches and the GAA’s policy of putting some games behind a paywall.