Former Cork footballer Ciaran Sheehan impressed when he played his first AFL game with Carlton this morning.

Meticulous scrutiny of Australian football matches was a central factor in Ciarán Sheehan’s selection on the Carlton side for this Saturday’s clash with Gold Coast.

Ciaran Sheehan will make his first start in the Australian Football League (AFL) for Melbourne-based club Carlton this Saturday against the Gold Coast.

The 2012 cups and shields get off to flying start at Kinsale Golf Club today with the Barton Shield semi-finals.

Kinsale Golf Club will continue its centenary celebrations in the grandest style this week when it hosts the Golfing Union of Ireland’s National Finals of the Cups and Shields, sponsored by Chartis Insurance.

Tramore were disappointed at losing to Lee Valley in the semi-final of the Barton Shield on Saturday but turned on the style yesterday in winning the senior title.

IT has not been easy for Anthony Nash to separate himself from county final hype this week.

THE International Series has provisionally been given the go-ahead for 2013 and 2014 after the GAA and AFL’s chiefs met in the Gold Coast yesterday.

PREVIEW: Biarritz v Munster

FOR the first time in its history, Munster Rugby will have a French international on its books after Lille native Julien Brugnaut signed on the dotted lines for the two-time Heineken Cup champions yesterday.

BILLIONAIRE businessman Denis O’Brien is strongly believed to be the Irish backer of a possible Super 15 franchise on Australia’s Gold Coast.

THE GAA has rejected a proposal that would see Irish clubs compensated by ‘a transfer fee’ for players lost to the AFL.

JAMES CONWAY will learn later this week if he will be part of the Derry senior football panel for the All-Ireland qualifiers, after his controversial eight-week suspension was lifted at an appeals meeting.

A HIGH-PROFILE official at a top Australian Rules club has warned the recruitment drive for Gaelic footballers is set to intensify.

Australia have named an unchanged team for Saturday’s World Cup final against New Zealand at Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium.

IRELAND coach Andy Kelly insists his side will not go chasing points in their crunch World Cup clash with Samoa in Parramatta.

Former Leeds stand-off Graham Holroyd’s debut for Ireland has been put on hold for at least nine days due to injury.

THE increasing AFL recruitment scramble in Ireland has been vindicated yet again with news that Mayo’s Pierce Hanley will make his senior debut for the Brisbane Lions this weekend – just six months after his first reserve game for the Gold Coast club.

TADHG KENNELLY wants to become the Australian Football League’s (AFL) first Irish ambassador, a role which he hopes would prevent Gaelic football from turning into a meat market for the oval code.

SYDNEY SWANS coach Paul Roos has expressed doubts about the proposed new Australian Rules team, the Sydney Celtics, which is to feature Irish players.

Former Great Britain rugby league winger Brian Carney switched codes tonight by signing a two-year contract with European rugby union champions Munster.

MUNSTER will this week announce the signing of former Great Britain Rugby League player Brian Carney, beating the Thursday deadline for adding to Heineken Cup squads.

FEARS that AFL clubs are to step up their recruitment drive in Ireland have been calmed by Brisbane Lions coach Matthews who claimed yesterday that the club has no immediate plans to snap up more promising young Gaelic footballers.

Wigan and Great Britain winger Brian Carney will join new Australian club Gold Coast in 2007.

MORE than 40 surfers cruised into the record books by riding a single giant surfboard off an Australian beach over the weekend.