Archive January 27, 2026

Captain Caelan Doris says Ireland are determined to atone for a disappointing end to last year’s Six Nations, starting with next week’s tournament opener against holders France.

Ireland beat England, Scotland and Wales to secure the 2025 Triple Crown before their bid for a third successive title fell apart in a hugely demoralising 42-27 loss to France in Dublin.

While Ireland endured a mixed autumn campaign that included losses to New Zealand and South Africa, Doris says the squad are targeting a statement win over Les Bleus in the Thursday night curtain-raiser at Stade de France.

“The way the fixtures fell last year we obviously had the Triple Crown after three games and it was the last two games that let us down,” the 27-year-old Leinster back row told the BBC.

“We obviously won in Rome but the nature of the performance wasn’t where we would have liked it and having lost to France the week before, it left a bit of a sour taste in the mouth.

Doris, who has made 23 Six Nations appearances, will lead Ireland out against a France side shorn of some high-profile players.

While fit-again captain Antoine Dupont is back, head coach Fabien Galthie opted not to select France’s all-time top try-scorer Damian Penaud, veteran centre Gael Fickou and back row Gregory Alldritt, who skippered the side in Dupont’s absence last year.

Having faced Alldritt on several occasions for both club and country, Doris admits he was surprised by the 28-year-old’s omission.

“If you look at the Top 14 week in, week out, there’s so many quality players at the top level, they’ve got an abundance of talent to choose from,” added Doris.

“I was surprised Alldritt wasn’t in it. I obviously faced him and La Rochelle a few weeks ago. I rate him very highly but they’ve got quality across the back row and I’m sure [Anthony] Jelonch will represent the eight shirt very well.

Needing a positive result to avoid the Champions League knockout play-offs, Galatasaray are not the side Manchester City would choose to face.

In four recent meetings between Premier League clubs and the Turkish giants, Galatasaray are unbeaten. You must go back to December 2014 – a 4-1 win for Arsenal in Istanbul – for the last time an English side triumphed.

In 2023, Galatasaray finished above Manchester United in their Champions League group – sending Erik ten Hag’s men packing in last place – thanks to a 3-2 win in their most recent visit to the north-west before taking on Manchester City this Wednesday (20:00 GMT).

A chaotic 3-3 draw in Turkey followed. Then last season, they inflicted the only Europa League group phase defeat on eventual champions Tottenham.

Most recently, earlier in this Champions League campaign, Galatasaray outplayed an off-colour Liverpool to win 1-0 thanks to Victor Osimhen’s first half penalty.

So why do Cimbom – the enigmatic nickname for Turkey’s most successful football club – have such a good record against English teams?

According to assistant manager Ismael Garcia Gomez, it is because the Turkish league is the most English outside England – and Galatasaray is the most English Turkish club of all.

“I think sometimes with the more dynamic, transitional games we face against teams from England, we are very used to that,” Garcia Gomez told BBC Sport.

“The Turkish league is not at the same level, but we are more Premier League than all other European leagues, more than Italy and Spain where the tempo is lower. English teams, the ones we face, we feel comfortable because they are open.

“I have never had the experience of working in English men’s football, but I have experienced it as a fan. England is for the fans, the football for fans is the best.

Thousands of Galatasaray fans will bring that passion to Manchester this week.

After a shock loss at Bodo/Glimt, Manchester City find themselves in 11th place and outside the top eight on goal difference. They are one of eight teams on 13 points in a congested table with three points separating third from 15th.

City need to win their final league phase fixture and hope other results go their way to avoid going through the knockout play-offs.

Galatasaray meanwhile are 17th on 10 points, after a run of three successive European wins – sparked by victory over Liverpool – has given way to three winless matches.

The top eight is realistically out of reach, but avoiding defeat will secure a play-off spot.

Like when they faced Liverpool, Galatasaray will be playing a Premier League side out of form but Garcia Gomez is wary of City’s style of play, which is atypical of most English teams.

“Their priority is to control the game, so it will be more difficult,” he said.

“It’s going to be very different. When we were facing Liverpool in October it was a different moment in the season. The pressure is now to win three points and maybe qualify for the next round.

“For them it is same importance to get in top eight as it is for us to get to the next round. Of course we are the underdog, it is the same for 95% of clubs City face – a draw is a good result. But if we are at a good level we can face anything, we are very confident.”

Galatasaray also have two key players who know Manchester City very well – Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gundogan.

Sane, who won two Premier League titles in four seasons with City, has played 90 minutes in each of Galatasaray’s past five Champions League games.

At 35, Gundogan is less of a mainstay but offers impressive grit and experience to Galatasaray’s midfield. He is back on familiar ground, having left City for Istanbul last season following a second spell under Pep Guardiola.

Gundogan is a modern City hero, helping them win the 2023 Champions League plus five English domestic titles.

“Sane and Gundogan have been massive signings,” said Garcia Gomez. “Sane, he was out of contract, and a lot of teams tried to sign him – he has been one of the best players in the past five years in Europe

“Gundogan, Guardiola said he is most intelligent player he coached. They are giving us the highest level of quality. That experience on the non-football side is helping.”

In total there are six former Premier League players in the Galatasaray first team squad. Alongside Sane and Gundogan, are former Spurs defender Davinson Sanchez and midfielders Lucas Torreira, Mario Lemina and Gabriel Sara – formerly of Arsenal, Wolves and Norwich respectively.

“Premier League teams and players, they suit well in Super Lig,” says Garcia Gomez. “Physical and dynamic players are working well here.

“Sane is good one on one, while Gundogan gives a lot of control to his team. For the fans it is lovely, I have friends from all over Europe who love watching games in Turkey.”

Watch highlights of every Champions League game from 22:00 GMT on Wednesday on BBC iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app.

Extreme heat impacted the Australian Open again on Tuesday, with the tournament reaching its maximum “heat stress” rating.

Temperatures in Melbourne reached 42.7C and could reach as high as 45C.

The start of the wheelchair events, featuring British defending champions Alfie Hewett, Gordon Reid and Andy Lapthorne, have been postponed until Wednesday.

Play on the outside courts, where the junior matches are taking place, has been moved forward to 09:00 local time (22:00 GMT) and were completed before the highest temperatures arrived.

The four singles quarter-finals – which include world number ones Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka – and various doubles matches take place on Rod Laver Arena and Margaret Court Arena, both of which have retractable roofs.

The roof on Laver was closed at 13:30 local time, shortly after Sabalenka completed a 6-3 6-0 victory over Iva Jovic, and stayed shut for Alexander Zverev’s match against Learner Tien.

Temperatures previously reached 40C on Saturday, with play on the outside courts postponed for about five hours.

The heat scale measures four factors – radiant heat (or the strength of the sun), air temperature in the shade, relative humidity, and wind speed – to decide when conditions have become too challenging.

Although all players are affected by the temperature extremes, Lapthorne has highlighted the additional physical challenges facing wheelchair competitors.

Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Sports Extra, the 35-year-old defending quad wheelchair men’s doubles champion said: “There are players within our category that can’t sweat if they’ve got a spinal cord injury.

“They don’t have the ability to cool down, so it can be quite dangerous if they’re in really extreme heat.

“I’ve had [cramp] in my forearms before because we’re pushing a wheelchair as well as hitting the ball and once that gets hold you, it can be very difficult to stop.”

While the tournament organisers have been proactive in responding to the weather, not only altering schedules but also providing numerous facilities to help fans cool down, not all players will get the benefit of playing under a roof.

“Do you know who suffers the most? The junior players. They are trying to play two junior matches at 09:00, before coming back at 18:30 and hoping it will cool down,” BBC Sport’s tennis correspondent Russell Fuller told the Australian Open Daily podcast.

“Those on at 09:00, it’s still going to be boiling. It is tough for the juniors under those conditions. Some of them are 15, 16 years of age.”

Men’s second seed Jannik Sinner was among those impacted by the temperature on Saturday and admitted he “got lucky with the heat rule” during his four-set victory over world number 85 Eliot Spizzirri in the third round.

The Italian defending champion, who had lost the opening set, was a break down in the third and struggling with cramp when the scale hit its maximum, forcing the umpire to call play to a halt.

Sinner left the court during the eight-minute delay while the roof was closed on Rod Laver Arena and broke back immediately when play resumed before going on to win 4-6 6-3 6-4 6-4.

Under the roof, the temperature dropped to about 26C during the fourth set.

British junior Hollie Smart was also in action on Saturday and was forced to retire from her first-round match against Japan’s Azuna Ichioka in the third set after struggling with cramp, leaving the court in tears.

If you take a look at Tuesday you can see that the wind is coming in from the north, that’s because the very warm, dry interior of Australia is really heating up, with temperatures in the 40Cs in Alice Springs.

When you get that northerly wind, all of the heat is dragged down to Melbourne.

But when the wind switches to a southerly, we have colder air coming through from the Antarctic, and from Tasmania – and that’s why we get these huge temperature swings in Melbourne in particular.