Sunday sport: Leinster beat La Rochelle in bruising Champions Cup opener
Digital Desk staff
Updated at 21:07
Rugby
Leinster finally put their La Rochelle demons behind them today with a 7 point win over the defending Champions Cup titleholders.
Ciaran Frawley was an early substitute for the injured Harry Byrne and his penalty secured a 16-9 victory for the Blues.
They were the only Irish side to win on the opening weekend of the competition.
Former Irish international Syd Millar has died at the age of 89.
The Ballymena man played as a prop for Ulster and also coached the Lions in the series win over South Africa in 1974.
He also held many administrative positions across the game including Ulster and IRFU president, as well as the IRB chairman.
ššššššš! š
A CiarĆ”n Frawley kick at the death clinches the win. š„#SRvLEI #FromTheGroundUp pic.twitter.com/P5Evm38qCmā Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) December 10, 2023
The Ireland men's sevens team lost out to Argentina in their semi-final at the HSBC Sevens Series in Cape Town.
It finished 26 points to 19.
Ireland had beaten New Zealand to qualify for the last four.
They finished fourth overall after losing the third placed playoff to Fiji by 14 points to 7.
The Irish women's side lost out to Australia in their Cup quarter-final by 24 points to 14.
They secured a 7th placed finish thanks to a 17-5 win over Great Britain.
Ā
Soccer
Newcastle suffered back to back Premier League defeats as they were well beaten 4-1 away at Tottenham.
Boss Eddie Howe says a lengthy injury list is finally taking its toll on his squad.
Manchester City ended their own poor run of form with a 2-1 win at Luton.
A 2-0 victory over Chelsea saw Everton move further clear of the drop zone, while Fulham thrashed West Ham 5-0.
Ā
GAA
Glen are the Ulster football champions once again.
The Derry kingpins held on to beat Scotstown of Monaghan by 13 points to 11 in Armagh.
They will face Kimacud Crokes in the All Ireland semi-finals.
Castlehaven will face St Brigids of Roscommon in the final four following their Munster final win today.
The Cork champions needed penalties to get past a resilient Dingle side with Damien Cahalane proving the winner for Castlehaven.
Ā
Swimming
Daniel Wiffen has ended a brilliant week at the European Short Course Championships with a world record swim.
The Irish man took the win in the 800-metre Freestyle final with a time of 7:20.46, knocking 3 seconds off the previous record
His brother Nathan finished 8th in the same final.
Earlier today, Maria Godden clocked a new personal best to finish 14th overall in the heats of the 400-metre freestyle.
