BOXING
Katie Taylor will face Delfine Persoon next month in a rematch of last year’s contentious New York bout.
In June of 2019, Taylor claimed Persoon’s WBC lightweight title by majority decision.
The rematch will take place on August 22nd in promoter Eddie Hearn’s back garden.
Basketball
St Pauls Killarney will return to Womens Division 1 Basketball next season.
Two new teams will enter the Women’s Division 1 next season. LYIT Donegal will make their debut in the Women’s National League, while St Paul’s Killarney return for the first time since 2012, a year they also won the Cup.
The Women’s Super League is also expanding to 12 teams and will move to a Conference format for next season only. Newly promoted Castleisland St. Marys will have a 16-game regular Super League season where they will play their South Conference opponents home and away, with one match against each team from the opposing Conference. They’ll face three Cork clubs Kilkenny’s Marble City Hawks and Waterford Wildcats.
An announcement on the format of Division 1 is expected tomorrow.
RUGBY
THE IRFU HAS confirmed that a new shortened All-Ireland League campaign will start in January 2021.
With the IRFU stressing the need to focus on “player welfare and Covid-19 risk mitigation,” the 2020/21 senior club rugby season will be split into two stages.
Stage 1 will start on 26 September 2020 and conclude by 12 December 2020, with all AIL clubs competing in a new provincial ‘Energia Community Series’.
Stage 2 will run from January 2021 until May 2021, with a shortened Energia All-Ireland League season consisting of nine league games plus semi-finals and a final in all men’s and women’s divisions. Stage 2 will also involve All-Ireland cup competitions.
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The 2020 Heineken Champions Cup and Challenge Cup Finals won't be staged in Marseille as originally planned.
Due to uncertainties around the coronavirus pandemic, Marseille will instead host the 2021 finals while the Tottenham Hotspur stadium will be the venue for the 2022 deciders.
The finals are scheduled for the third week in October and the EPCR are working on securing a new venue.
Leinster and Ulster are due to play in the quarter-finals in September.
SOCCER
In the Premier League tonight, Manchester United are away to Aston Villa, with an 8.15 kick off at Villa Park.
A win for United would see them move just 1 point behind Leicester with 4 games remaining.
Solskjaers side are unbeaten since the resumption of the league and he’s hoping to keep his squad together after the season has ended.
The other matches kick off at 6, as Bournemouth host Tottenham Hotspur at the Vitality Stadium and Everton play Southampton at Goodison Park.
Leeds United can go back to the top of the Championship if they defeat Stoke City this evening. Kick off at Elland Road is at 5pm.
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Former Waterford manager Alan Reynolds has been appointed as the new Republic of Ireland under-21 assistant manager.
Reynolds joins manager Jim Crawford's staff alongside fellow Waterford native and former Ireland captain John O'Shea.
The news comes just over a fortnight after Reynolds was hired as the new assistant to Dundalk boss Vinny Perth.
The under 21 team resume their European Championship qualifying campaign with matches against Italy, Iceland and Luxembourg in October & November.
GOLF
Tiger Woods has confirmed he’ll return at next week’s Memorial Tournament in Ohio.
It will only be Woods’ third outing of 2020.
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Hideki Matsuyama and Adam Hadwin jointly lead on the opening day of the Workday Charity Open.
They’re both a shot clear of the field on 5-under par.
CYCLING
Organisers have postponed this years Rás na mBan.
Ireland’s top international stage race for women was due to take place from September 2nd to 6th but due to the continuing challenges of Covid 19, organisers have decided to delay the race for 2020.
Organisers remain committed this year and will review the situation in August.
An announcement for this years Rás Tailteann is expected to be made tomorrow.
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Four time Tour de France winner, Chris Froome will leave Team Ineos at the end of the current cycling season.
The British cyclist - who's spent a decade with Dave Brailsford's outfit - will join the Israel Start-Up Nation team.
Froome has seen his leadership at Ineos come under threat from Geraint Thomas and Egan Bernal in recent years.
GOLF
The Ryder Cup will celebrate it's 100th anniversary in 2027, and the matches between Europe and the USA will be held at Adare Manor in Limerick in that year.
It's after this year's tournament was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
It will now be held in Wisconsin in September of next year.
European captain Padraig Harrington is happy to wait 12 months.
GAA
Former Dublin senior football manager Jim Gavin says inter county players will have enough time to be ready for the Championship.
Collective training is not allowed until the middle of September, with the provincial series to begin a month later.
Gavin says the middle of October will be a crucial time.
**Gavin – Smarmy Army**
Racing
Record-breaking jump jockey Lizzie Kelly has announced her retirement from horse racing.
She and her husband are expecting their first child later in the year.
Kelly made turf history by being the first woman to win a Grade One race over jumps with Tea For Two in the Kauto Star Novices' Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day in 2015.
