Why golf needs Tiger as much as he needs the game
BRENDAN Rodgers described Celtic’s 7-1 Champions League thrashing by rampant Paris Saint Germain in the French capital as ‘a sore one’.
But he defiantly attempted to put a brave face on another heavy European defeat after an earlier 5-0 home loss to PSG and a 7-0 hammering by Barcelona in the Nou Camp last season.
“It was a sore one for us but certainly I am nowhere near as disappointed as I was against Barcelona,” claimed the Celtic boss, who described PSG as ‘quality’.
Former PSG youth player Moussa Dembele fired Celtic into a stunning first-minute lead but the home side reacted to conceding their first goal in the Champions League this season with a Neymar double and goals from Edinson Cavani and Kylian Mbappe before the break.
The big-spending French club did not let up in the second half with Marco Verratti, Cavani and Dani Alves compounding the Scottish champions’ misery.
With Celtic still in contention for the Europa League, Manchester United missed their chance to qualify for the Champions League knockout stages in a 1-0 defeat in Basel, while Chelsea progressed with a comfortable 4-0 win over Qarabag in Azerbaijan. RICHIE McCAW has backed Ronan O’Gara to succeed in New Zealand after the Ireland legend confirmed his move to the former All Black captain’s old club, The Crusaders.
Racing 92 yesterday released their assistant coach from his contract to allow him join the Super Rugby champions on an initial one-year deal that will see him take a pay-cut of around €50,000.
O’Gara (below), who has been with the French club since 2013 and was contracted to remain until the end of next season, negotiated a release to allow him take up his new position in Christchurch on New Zealand’s
South Island.
McCaw spent his entire playing career with the Crusaders and made his international debut alongside their head coach Scott Robertson.
And he is excited to see how his former adversary O’Gara gets on in what is a rare move by a Northern Hemisphere coach.
“It’s quite exciting from a Crusaders point of view to have a first Northern Hemisphere influence,” he said.
“I’m guessing that the time Ronan had at Racing around guys like Dan Carter and Casey Laulala, he felt it was the right place to go. The Crusaders boys will ask the same questions. There is no doubt that he has a pretty good rugby brain and he will bring new ideas that the Crusaders boys will be keen to hear.”