A weekend that promised to be a financial bonanza for Irish rugby ended in disappointment at the Stade Felix Mayol yesterday with Leinster’s defeat by Toulon following on Ulster’s elimination by Saracens at Ravenhill on Saturday.

As the days ticked by and Ireland’s medal count climbed higher and higher at the Paralympic Games, the fear mounted just as quickly that people might get the wrong impression that it was all just a wee bit too easy.

Ireland’s Paralympic team took a break from the medal trail yesterday after six positively greedy days here in London but the pursuit will resume today when Mark Rohan and Jason Smyth attempt to double up on golds claimed earlier this week.

For a few moments, the hubbub that soundtracked Brands Hatch from early morning and through to teatime seemed to melt away into the sun-kissed Kent countryside, as James Brown and Damien Shaw cocked an ear towards the track’s tannoy.

They just keep on comin’.

Paralympics Ireland will hold a celebration today to recognise the outstanding achievements of Darragh McDonald, Jason Smyth, Catherine Walsh, Francine Meehan and Helen Kearney in winning medals over the weekend.

This was the weekend that kept on giving for Team Ireland as our Paralympians lifted the country’s medal haul to a magnificent seven.

When Bethany Firth touched the wall after one minute and 8.93 seconds of the 100m backstroke S14 final shortly before 8pm last night she thought she had done enough to win a bronze.

Four dreamlike weeks have slipped through London’s fingers since Jessica Ennis, Mo Farah and Greg Rutherford delivered three gold medals on a never-to-be-forgotten night at the Olympic Stadium that was, inevitably, dubbed Super Saturday.

You may have heard by now about Frankie Boyle’s tweets during the Paralympic Games opening ceremony on Wednesday night and, in particular, his crack about how the Saudi Arabian team consists mostly of thieves.

The Paralympics are underway in London this morning with several Irish athletes involved.

Joey Barton will look to press home his protracted move to Marseille this week, having last night lifted the lid on the depth of his rift with QPR.

Joey Barton last night called on QPR to finalise a deal that will see him move to Marseille, claiming he can “only take so much” after being frozen out at Loftus Road.

Cyclist Laura Trott’s family have spoken about how they find it hard to believe she has become a double Olympic gold medalist after they feared she would not survive when she was born with a collapsed lung.

There was golden glory for the British team today as Victoria Pendleton became queen of the velodrome, its cyclists smashed a world record and rower Katherine Grainger finally realised her Olympic dream.

Great Britain’s men’s team pursuit squad claimed a thrilling Olympic gold in a world record time on the second day of competition at the London 2012 Olympic Velodrome.

France

BARCELONA secured top spot in Champions League Group H, finally shaking off AC Milan in a cracker at the San Siro last night.

REGULAR readers won’t be surprised to hear that I contrived to miss Robin van Persie’s 29-second opener on Sunday.

Fans will have the chance to gain a flavour of what next year’s Olympics will be like over the next 18 months in a number of test events that were announced today.

THEY MAY have heard the cheap jibes about Munster being funded by the IMF, and allegations about the state of Irish hospitality at Thomond Park but one wonders what the Munster brains trust will make of Toulon owner Mourad Boudjellal’s latest outburst against Tony McGahan’s men.

GLOUCESTER hostelries will be praying for a Connacht win at the Sportsgrounds tomorrow.

WHEN big Rocky Elsom touched down last Sunday in the same corner of Croke Park where he had denied Munster’s Ian Dowling an early try in that epic Heineken Cup semi-final earlier this year, you feared the game was up for Ireland.

Marseille 6 FC Zurich 1

Madonna has travelled to France to visit the families of the men killed when her stage set collapsed.

Marseille 1 Liverpool 2

EARLY DAYS and all that but if first impressions count for anything, then New Zealand have set an awesome standard. I was fortunate to be in the Velodrome in Marseille on Saturday where the men in black delivered as clinical a performance as one could expect against respected Six Nations opposition.

CHAMPIONS Barcelona came unstuck last night as Real Madrid triumphed 2-0 in El Classico at the Bernabeu.

Rangers manager Alex McLeish has made Marseille skipper Brahim Hemdani his second signing of the summer, according to the club's official website.

SOUTH COAST derbies between French sides Monaco and Marseille are always a tightly contested affair - with the stakes arguably even higher than usual this season.

ALAN SMITH has admitted his controversial move from Leeds to Manchester United could not have gone much better.

Fabien Barthez’s chances of playing for Marseille before Christmas were all but ended today when FIFA upheld the decision not to allow him to move outside the transfer window.

THERE was nearly an hour on the clock when Marseille’s most famous supporter, Zinedine Zidane, ended hopes of a shock result in their first Champions League game of the season.

TWO goals from Ronaldo and one apiece from Roberto Carlos and Luis Figo allowed Real Madrid to come from a goal down to claim a 4-2 win over Olympique Marseille in their opening Champions League Group F match at the Bernabeu last night.

David Beckham is the star sports chiefs want to kick off next year's Commonwealth Games in Manchester.