There’s not much worse than old-timers waxing lyrical about how things were better in their day.

World Rugby has announced the match official appointments for the men’s Six Nations 2020 as the road to Rugby World Cup 2023 begins in earnest for the world’s top referees.

In the difficult matter of serving up bad news, those PR execs in sharp suits like to talk of getting out in front of the story. Beating the naysayers to the punch and controlling the narrative insofar as that’s possible and plausible.

Whatever your taste in sports, odds are it has been soured at times by a decision from a referee or an official of some other hue. Bill White, a former baseball player and commentator, got it just right when he said that umpiring is tough because, no matter what the decision, you’re always half-wrong.

Romain Poite will take charge of Saracens' visit to play Munster at Thomond Park on Saturday week as the referees for the back-to-back Champions Cup games were announced.

Peter Butterly, a 35-year-old father of three, was shot dead on March 6, 2013 outside The Huntsman Inn in Gormanston, Co Meath. He died from gun shots wounds to his neck and upper back.

Eve Kelliher gets set to hit the Open House trail.

A talent academy review is expected to recommend U19 become the only inter-county under-age grade.

After Cork’s 16-point shellacking at the hands of Tyrone in O’Moore Park 12 months ago, Ronan McCarthy stood defiantly in the tunnel and declared he knew the way forward.

If the GAA is a rich tapestry of culture and community, of hope and heroes, there’s very little of it that former Cork GAA secretary Frank Murphy hasn’t seen.

Connacht coach Andy Friend is using today’s clash at Thomond Park to blood more players as they keep an eye on next weekend’s PRO14 quarter-final showdown with Ulster.

So that’s Friday nearly wrapped up. Here’s some of the stories we published on irishexaminer.com today which we hope will help you make sense of it all this evening.

Frank Murphy’s tenure may have ended in Cork but Bobby Hazelwood is still standing, 31 years after he took the reins as secretary of Castletownroche GAA club.

Two men who played roles in the murder of dissident republican Peter Butterly have been jailed by the Special Criminal Court this morning.

Cork County Board chairperson Tracey Kennedy has insisted that both she and county secretary Kevin O'Donovan acted in good faith with regard to the redundancy of former senior administrator Diarmuid O'Donovan.

Billy Holland will make his 200th appearance for Munster when he lines out against Connacht in Saturday’s crucial Guinness PRO14 game at the Galway Sportsground.

It may have been an evening marked by rancour but this latest meeting of Munster and Leinster was bookmarked with brief moments of levity on the part of the visitors despite their frustrations and a rare defeat.

Frank Murphy’s appointment as referee for Leinster’s visit to Munster was a topic for conversation long before the first whistle.

Let’s put this game into context, writes Donal Lenihan.

Give a team of Leinster’s quality the kind of start they enjoyed in last year’s corresponding fixture at Thomond Park and the game is as good as over.

If you were a Cork club delegate going to tonight’s annual GAA convention at Páirc Uí Chaoimh, what questions would you ask based on the revelations in yesterday’s Irish Examiner?

A year before the IMF, ECB, and European Commission landed in Dublin, the GAA’s own equivalent of a troika was ready to bail out a besieged Cork County Board and its long-time secretary Frank Murphy, writes Kieran Shannon.

The company which runs Croke Park is now overseeing the commercial aspects of Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

Outgoing Cork County Board secretary Frank Murphy has expressed concerns regarding the running of county championships in the current landscape of expanded inter-county competitions.

A Cavan man has pleaded guilty before the non-jury Special Criminal Court this morning to helping an unlawful organisation murder dissident republican Peter Butterly.

The man who recommended the change for minor from U18 to U17 insists the decision has been a major positive for the GAA.

Cork County Board vice-chairman Kevin O’Donovan was confirmed last night as successor to long-serving board secretary Frank Murphy.

Former coaching officer Kevin O’Donovan is veteran administrator Frank Murphy’s replacement as Cork GAA secretary, Examiner Sport can confirm.

Eamonn Ryan has stepped down as a Cork senior football selector, having informed the county executive of his decision last month.

We should have known, when GAA Congress decided not to define the melee, that this would become The Year of the Melee.

Cork County Board secretary Frank Murphy has reiterated his opposition to the GAA decision to change the inter-county minor grade from U18 to U17, and he also maintains the U20 All-Ireland finals should not replace the minor deciders as senior curtain-raisers.

The term ‘Tiger-proof’ entered golf’s lexicon after the aforementioned Eldrick Woods claimed the US Masters by 12 shots.

The same day Roy Keane adorned the front page of this paper by flying back into his hometown to launch the Liam Miller tribute match also happened to be the 25th anniversary of him joining Manchester United for a then record British transfer fee.

The GAA have said they will further consider the proposal to host a Liam Miller tribute match at Páirc Uí Chaoimh.

With the process to appoint a new Cork GAA secretary about to get underway, John Coleman takes a look at what Frank Murphy's successor will have to do to be successful.

The Government may fall before the long-awaited Public Health Alcohol Bill passes through the Oireachtas, Fianna Fáil health spokesman Stephen Donnelly has warned.

Waterford 1-20 Cork 1-23: So foolish we were to think Waterford would go gently into the night.

Former Offaly hurler Brian Carroll has accused the GAA of behaving in an elitist fashion by preserving the Munster SHC “at all costs”, while, at the same time, tearing Leinster apart.

Cork County Board secretary Frank Murphy has expressed concern that the Munster MFC may not be changed, despite systemic problems.

Donnacha Ryan has come a long way in a very short time, from Tipperary across the Pyrenees via Paris for a crack at joining one of rugby’s rarest breeds.

Next to Frank Murphy, there are very few who have given as much service to the GAA as Joan Cooney.

Connacht make their final away trip of a disappointing season when they face another searching evening in Glasgow against a Warriors side aiming to wrap up a home quarter-final in the PRO14.

They share more than a surname, principally a red-blooded passion for Cork GAA, with a combined 88 years of astonishing service to the cause.