Who is popular today?

It’s a grim state of affairs when the immediate aftermath of England’s first major tournament final is dominated by matters off the pitch but that has been the case since Italy lifted the European Championship trophy at Wembley on Sunday with the racist abuse of England players dominating the news. Marcus Rashford, Jadon Sancho and Bukayo Saka were all targeted on social media after missing penalties in the shootout with manager Gareth Southgate branding the abuse as unforgivable. Last night Rashford - someone who has proved himself to be not just a good footballer but a remarkable human being - released a powerful statement in which he apologised for missing a penalty but said he will “never apologise for who I am.” As the issue rumbled on throughout the day yesterday, England defender Tyrone Mings took aim at UK home secretary Priti Patel for her condemnation of the racist abuse despite the fact that she called the taking of the knee “gesture politics” at the start of the tournament and also refused to speak out against those who booed players doing so. The fallout is reflective of the divisiveness across parts of British society at the moment and, from London this morning, Denis Staunton writes that Boris Johnson has sought to take the moral high ground on the issue despite his own record.
On to rugby and the Lions left the chaos of Gauteng province behind them yesterday to head to Cape Town where it is no strongly suspected that the rest of the tour will take place, given the area’s lower Covid-19 incidence rate. However, as Bill Corcoran writes from the capital of South Africa, all is not rosy in Cape Town either and there may well be plenty more bumps on the road for the tour along the way. On the Ireland front, Andy Farrell’s side have ended the year with a spring in their step and there are plenty of positives to take into next season’s campaign, writes Gerry Thornley. Finally, Ireland under-20s will bid to secure second place in the Six Nations table this evening when they meet France in a match which Richie Murphy has made seven changes for.
In golf, the build-up to this week’s British Open at Royal St George’s continues with defending champion Shane Lowry speaking to the press yesterday. Lowry - who finally returned the claret jug after having it for two years - will not have all of the same obligations of a defending champion this week due to some Covid restrictions and that suits the Offalyman just fine as he focuses purely on golf. It’s been quite a few weeks for Australian golf with back-to-back winners on the European Tour and this morning Philip Reid asks if the claret jug might be heading down under with the Aussies in such good form. For all you need to know about this week’s final Major of the year including TV times, favourites and weather forecast, you can read our Open guide.
On to GAA and Kevin McStay writes in his column this morning that Mayo’s annihilation of Leitrim at the weekend showed that this outdated championship structure has to go. “Sunday may have been a significant day for the GAA in that it has become painfully clear to everyone that the charade of the Big Day Out has to stop,” he writes.