Curtis Cup heroine Stephanie Meadow will today bid to become the first Irish winner of the Ladies British Open Amateur Championship since Lilian Behan 27 years ago.

Ulster’s try-scoring hero Craig Gilroy has been fending off suggestions that his superb touchdown against Munster on Sunday will put him on the Ireland tour of New Zealand this summer.

To listen to Mircea Lucescu, you’d think everything in Ukrainian football is stacked against him and his Shakhtar Donetsk side.

Cheltenham Gold Cup winner Synchronised is becoming increasingly likely to take his chance in the John Smith’s Grand National at Aintree next Saturday.

Professional sports are all about competition and drama.

Sometimes it snows in April, a man once sang, and this past week, Ronan Rafferty has got to know just how true that is.

1 MENTAL BAGGAGE

JUST six months ago few had heard of Alex Cuthbert, even within Wales, yet now the Cardiff Blues wing has been caught by the trappings of fame.

THE statistician who compiles player data for Easter Sunday’s match programme at Thomond Park won’t have any quirky job specs to attach to the players.

WITH five of the eight quarter-finalists coming from Ireland and France it appears strange that the national sides of both are left disappointed with mid-table finishes in the northern hemisphere’s trophy international tournament.

Their national side is amongst the most feared in world rugby. So why aren’t Welsh teams replicating that success at club level?

English clubs go missing again...

Pádraig Harrington is having none of that statistic that winning the Par 3 Contest on the eve of the Masters precludes a golfer from winning the main event.

Martin O’Neill has issued a hands-off warning to clubs looking to prise James McClean away from Sunderland.

Ireland’s Caroline Ryan produced a phenomenal performance to win a bronze medal in the Points race at the Track World Championships in Melbourne yesterday.

Denis Lynch has Lantinus and All Inclusive to choose from in the first round of tomorrow’s Global Champions Tour in Doha, Qatar, though yesterday he had yet to decide which horse to use.

President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to folk musician Barney McKenna, the last surviving member of The Dubliners, who died yesterday aged 72.

He has been best described as a youngster with an old head on his shoulders.

Munster skipper Paul O’Connell last night downplayed his history with Sunday’s match referee Romain Poite.

Fresh noises from the Italy camp continue to highlight the mixture of concern and respect with which the Azzurri view their meeting with Giovanni Trapattoni’s Ireland on June 18 in Poznan.