D Tuesday, November 3, 2009 METROSPORT 21 GAA Sponsor search: Dublin are looking to replace long-time link with Arnotts Dubs face losing out on shirt deal Leinster champions Dublin face the prospect of lining out in Januarys OByrne Cup opener against Wexford without a shirt sponsor. Board chiefs set themselves a november 1 deadline to find a replacement for long-time backers Arnotts, who announced their withdrawal last June. But while several companies have expressed an interest county officials were not in a position to present a new sponsor to last nights full board meeting. Metro understands that Dublin officials are privately bracing themselves to start the new year without a sponsor which would be an embarrassing situation. When signed, the new deal is expected to be worth close to 1million annually to the Dublin board and will be the biggest shirt deal ever signed in the GAA. there will be a new sponsor on board by the time we launch our league campaign [in February], guaranteed Dublin chief executive John Costello. A Dublin source revealed that at least one sponsor wanted to back the crowd-pulling footballers, but not the hurlers. However, this was ruled out immediately as county officials want an all-encompassing deal similar to the Arnotts arrangement which took in county football and hurling teams. Meath champions get little time to celebrate The new Meath senior football champions will have less than 72 hours to prepare for Sundays Leinster club quarter-final against Portlaoise. Wolfe Tones and Seneschalstown meet in the Meath final replay on Thursday night and both clubs, should they win, would want a deferral of the Portlaoise tie to properly recover. But Portlaoise have 13 Under-21 players on their senior team who are in county semi-final action the following weekend so they will not agree to a weeks postponement. In addition, the Leinster Council are generally slow to shift fixtures, particularly as Meaths delays were largely self-inflicted due to a row between semi-finalists Wolfe Tones and Navan OMahonys. To my mind you would be better off playing the Leinster club championship after Christmas, said Seneschalstown manager Damien Sheridan Sr. Kernan wants reward for provincial crowns GALWAy boss and Armagh legend Joe Kernan has demanded a change in the All-ireland championship structures. But while a weekend survey of inter- county players found the majority favour a new Champions League-style format, Kernan is adamant the provincial championships must stay. He has urged GAA chiefs to do something to make it more appealing to win provincial titles. thats where id have the problem, said Kernan (pictured), who won four Ulster titles as Armagh boss. Because of the competitive nature of Ulster i found the teams left a lot of their best football in the province. then youre often talking about up to a five-week wait for provincial winners which takes the good away from it. Wallabies back Wilko AUSTRALIA coach Robbie Deans expects Jonny Wilkinson to thrive on his international comeback. The Toulon fly-half, whose drop- goal won england the 2003 World Cup against Australia, is back to his best after six injury-ravaged seasons. And Wallabies coach Deans said: I dont think expectation will be a big deal for Jonny. hes so experienced its not as though hes just arrived on the scene. england will be more dangerous with him there. hell bring shape to their game. We expect to meet england at their best and know Jonny will contribute to that. JAMes HOOK will start at full-back for Wales in their autumn test opener against new Zealand at the Millennium stadium. Wales boss Warren Gatland has turned to the versatile 24-year- old as a replacement for fellow Lion Lee Byrne, who misses the november internationals with a foot injury. in the forwards, Gatland has decided to keep Gethin Jenkins at loosehead prop, handing Ospreys forward Paul James the no.3 shirt for his second Welsh cap six years after his debut. there are also recalls for scrum-half Gareth Cooper, in the absence of the injured Mike Phillips, and wing Leigh Halfpenny. Hook in at full-back RUGBY FORMULA ONE No rift in Munster side, says GalweyBy gAreth mAkim Leading a happy crew: Coach mcgahan and munster steadied the ship with victory over Ulster Picture: Sportsfile MUnster legend Mick Gal- wey has dismissed rumours that a rift has developed within the current squad. the province have had a be- low-par start to their season thanks to a heavy defeat by Lein- ster and a less than convincing start to the Heineken Cup. But coach tony McGahan and captain Paul OConnell both la- belled the critics as ill-in- formed after their side got back on track with saturdays impres- sive 24-10 win over Ulster, which lifted them back into the top four of the Magners League. And Galwey lashed out at un- named former players for mak- ing the controversial claims be- cause they were looking for publicity. speaking on newstalk radio yesterday, former ireland for- ward Galwey said: theres a lot of talk about a rift in the squad and what have you. i was out with the lads on sat- urday night; they were having a bit of a break. And if you saw these lads, they got on so well, they were so delighted with their win and there isnt any problem, i can guarantee you that much. there are former players out there looking for publicity and i think not naming them is the right thing. What they are trying to say is theres a rift in the camp. theres no rift there. every- thing is going well. Okay, theyre not playing as well as they would like to but at the end of the day theres always competition for places, its go- ing to be harder to get on every team, its going to be harder to perform every time. But there are people out there making statements and i think theyre very ill advised. New move: Barrichello Barrichello makes move to Williams RUBeNS BARRICheLLO will begin a new chapter in his record-breaking career next year as a Williams driver after the Brazilian was named alongside German rookie Nico hulkenberg as the teams 2010 driver line-up. Rubens needs no introduction, team founder Frank Williams said. he is not only the most experienced driver in Formula One but a passionate and talented driver who fought hard for the drivers championship this year. Nico hulkenberg won the GP2 Championship this season as a rookie and has previously won the F3 euro Series, Formula Masters, A1GP and Formula BMW Germany. hulkenberg was also the teams test and reserve driver this season. Williams thanked departing German driver Nico Rosberg, the highly rated 24-year-old who is expected to take Barrichellos place alongside Jenson Button at champions Brawn GP, and Japans Kazuki Nakajima. Toyota- backed Nakajima ended the season in Abu Dhabi on Sunday having gone all 17 races without scoring a point. TYRE manufacturer Bridgestone are to pull out of Formula One at the end of next season. The Japanese company, who have been in the sport since 1997, were appointed official tyre supplier ahead of the 2008 season on a three- year contract. The decision means F1 will need to find a new supplier to provide tyres for the teams in the 2011 season. Hiroshi Yasukawa, director of Bridgestone Motorsport, said: The decision comes after considerable and lengthy evaluations. Bridgestone to pull out index.html2.html3.html4.html5.html6.html7.html8.html9.html10.html11.html12.html13.html14.html15.html16.html17.html18.html19.html20.html21.html22.html23.html24.html25.html26.html27.html