There are cheaper ways to give sport a boost, Minister

“Life is about timing,” said the American track and field star Carl Lewis — and he ought to know.

Nowhere is that more true than in the world of sport, so it was interesting to tune into Morning Ireland last Monday and hear Leo Varadkar tell the nation about the Cabinet meeting the following day when the bid to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup was subsequently rubber-stamped by the government.

The prospect of such an attempt had long since been flagged. Politicians and the IRFU had spoken openly about it and the GAA passed a resolution as long ago as last March when the association agreed in principal to the idea of the All Blacks, the Wallabies et al tearing it up in a number of their grounds across the country.