01/05 The sports pages

It’s the end of a rollercoaster ride for a plucky Connacht side that fell at the penultimate hurdle of the Amlin Challenge Cup at the Sportsground last night. Michael Bradley’s men put on a terrific display and despite being desperately close to the line on more than one occasion, they couldn’t get over for a much need five pointer and were ultimately punished by the ruthless boot of Jonny Wilkinson.

There’s plenty more rugby to come this weekend, however and hopefully the other provinces in action will have a little more luck than the Westerners. After weeks of speculation, it was finally confirmed that Jonny Sexton will miss out for Leinster on a day when the Blues revisit the scene of one of their finest hours, a wonderful 41-35 defeat of Toulouse in Le Stadium in 2006. Keep an eye on our rugby section for all the news ahead of the big game which we’ll be following live on JOE Sports Saturday.

The tabs are awash with rumours that Rafa Benitez is outta here in the summer, with the Spaniard refusing to rule out a move to Italian giants Juventus. Alex Ferguson will be hoping his foe from across the M62 will do him a favour against league leaders Chelsea tomorrow in what will be a massive day in determining the Premier League champions. It looks like Chelsea’s to lose, but the way this season has gone so far, you can never be sure.

Before that, however, there’s the small issue of the final Champions League spot to sort out and today will go a long way to deciding who ends up in the elusive fourth place. Manchester City can end Aston Villa’s hopes should they defeat them at Eastlands, while Tottenham Hotspur should be able to stay in the race with a win over Bolton at White Hart Lane today. Both games kick off at 3pm and we’ll keep you informed with live updates in JOE Sports Saturday.

The first classic of the flat racing season, the 2000 guineas takes place in Newmarket, where all eyes will be on Aidan O Brien’s sensation, St Nicholas Abbey, who has been tipped for greatness. There’s loads more sport elsewhere to keep you entertained this weekend, the under 21 All-Ireland Football Final kicks off in Breffni Park in Cavan at 7pm this evening and the semi-finals of the World Snooker Championships will come to a conclusion at the Crucible.

We’ll be keeping in touch with it all here JOE.ie. Keep in touch with JOE Sports Saturday for live updates, while we’ll have the latest news, previews and match reports for all the sport this weekend in our rugby, football, GAA and sports sections.