Jose Mourinho’s hints of an imminent return to England after Tuesday’s Champions League semi-final exit to Borussia Dortmund may have been more desperate than they first looked.

For an organisation that loves to nit-pick at the smallest details, it’s amazing how long some utterly stupid rules and regulations are allowed to exist in the GAA.

Payments to players in Irish club rugby will be outlawed from September 2014 as the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) effectively seeks to return the domestic game to its amateur roots.

In a wonderful contest made even better by the colour and pageantry of the rival fans, the only silence on the day came when Clermont captain Julien Bonnaire addressed the massive Clermont hordes, ten minutes after this Heineken Cup semi-final.

Booed like a B-movie villain at the Saturday morning picture show, and embraced by old foes at the end of the reel come Saturday evening, Paul O’Connell got through another indefatigable 80 minutes at rugby’s highest level to end what must have been a trying two weeks for the Munster icon.

“Sizzled, suffered, then won” – that was how L’Equipe chose to set the tone for what was a day of high drama at the Stade de la Mosson on Saturday.

Monaghan 2-16 Meath 3-08

Limerick 0-16 Offaly 1-11

Mickey Harte’s instinct when Marty Duffy blew the final whistle was to make a beeline for the referee and ask why he had failed to award Tyrone a free seconds earlier after Sean Cavanagh was bundled to the floor.

Armagh’s Jamie Clarke has cleared Paul Grimley of all responsibility for Sunday’s defeat by Cavan, but questioned referee Maurice Deegan’s decision not to allow him advantage in scoring his second-half disallowed goal.

The botched “ambushing” of Mick Wallace by a government minister in the course of a TV debate should serve as a reminder that Fine Gael’s pre-election promise of a new and more honest, upfront brand of politics in Ireland was just that — another promise.

Dermot Earley believes inter-county players will be paid to play in the future but also maintains the commitment required to play at the top level means careers will be shorter.

Last Sunday week, Tommy Carr informed RTÉ Radio One listeners that Cork’s footballers were arrogant.

The Irish players aren’t the only ones glad to see the back of this season’s Six Nations.

Dublin Airport’s arrivals hall has been the scene of many a triumphant homecoming for Irish sporting stars and fuelled the dreams of future generations of icons, and yesterday, it saw a few more march through.

Last Saturday afternoon, the car carrying Giovanni Trapattoni made its way along the A50 motorway south of Stoke city centre and pulled up alongside the red-brick Britannia Stadium.

Probes into the recent food scandal highlight the importance of new opportunities for Irish-British co-operation, says Joe McHugh

Maybe history will prove me wrong, but in terms of monumental daftness, I reckon the following two ideas will cause severe embarrassment in the years to come.

Ezequiel Schelotto’s second-half equaliser salvaged a point for Inter last night in the Milan derby as AC had to settle for a 1-1 draw.

Manchester City have apologised to United defender Rio Ferdinand after he was struck by a coin during the closing stages of his team’s 3-2 win at the Etihad Stadium.