1) Granit Xhaka looks every bit a £30m player

There is no limp as Shane Long walks into the Complexe Sportif Montbauron.

John O’Mahony spends 48 hours at the world’s 24-hour race

“Let the festival continue” was how the French reacted to Ireland’s win over Italy on Wednesday. And so say all of us.

And then there was one.

Tears welling up in his eyes, Robbie Brady paused to reaffirm Ireland’s tendency of thriving in the face of adversity. It’s hardly surprising the trend has surged since his arrival on the scene given the personal history he’s endured in overcoming the odds.

I said here on Wednesday morning that if Ireland put in a performance in Lille, they would be Italy, writes Liam Brady

Greetings from Belgium — yes, Belgium.

Good morning. Here’s everything you need to know before you start your day.

If it’s true that all games are won and lost long before they begin then Ireland were a beaten docket by the time Cuneyt Cakir blew the first whistle at the Nouveau Stade de Bordeaux on Saturday.

Not a great weekend for Tipperary forwards, then. Gortnahoe- Glengoole attacker Shane Long might have been manhandled around Bordeaux (might? - absolutely everybody), but John ‘Bubbles’ O’Dwyer of PTT Killenaule could have no complaints about his early red card yesterday in Thurles.

The final draft report of a review launched by the HSE’s National Ambulance Service (NAS), in May 2014, following the 2010 death of a student, has been sent to the teenager’s family.