With Andy Farrell set to name his Ireland squad for next month’s four Test matches on Wednesday, Stockdale is expected to be included in the panel for games against New Zealand, Argentina, Fiji and Australia.
Whether he can displace Leinster’s James Lowe on the left wing for what would be a first cap since before the last World Cup will be another matter.
Either way, Stockdale feels he has done all he can to put himself in the frame
“Whether I play or not, obviously I want to, don’t get me wrong, but it doesn’t really matter to a certain degree as I’m doing what I can out on the pitch at the moment.
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“I feel like I’m doing everything I can to warrant getting an opportunity.
“If it doesn’t come, it doesn’t come but I’m feeling good.”
Indeed, perhaps the only way he could be preparing for Ireland camp in a better frame of mind would be if he was coming in off a career hat-trick.
Between his first and second scores against Ospreys on Friday night, he had dotted down once more only to have the try chalked off by the TMO for a forward pass after both the conversion and restart.
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“I was a bit unhappy, to say the least,” he said.
“It seems a bit crazy to me to hit the conversion and hit the restart and then get brought back for the TMO.
“Where does it end? Is it going to be at a point where we’re 15 minutes later and someone says, ‘oh, that try you scored earlier doesn’t count anymore’.
“I don’t know, fair enough if it’s forward, but it needs to be called earlier.”
Uefa has been urged to make “meaningful change” for disabled football fans by charity Level Playing Field.
The charity offers support, information and advice around disabled spectator access, and is attempting to set up a meeting between disabled fans and “decision makers”.
“The need for urgent action on the standards of access and inclusion for away fans in Europe is clear,” said Tony Taylor, chairman of Level Playing Field.
A total of 232 disabled supporters responded to a survey, which raised concerns over accessibility and inclusion at grounds in Europe.
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Of the 43% who said they had been to away games in Europe, 29% rated Uefa’s communication with disabled fans as “non-existent”, while 20% said that the governing body’s commitment to providing accessible matchdays was “poor”.
“The results of this survey have proven ongoing anecdotal reports of substandard access. It is important the governing body now sees this as an opportunity to work with clubs and venues to ensure they deliver for disabled supporters, allowing fans to travel with confidence,” Taylor added.
“We will assist clubs to make use of this report, to help identify how they can provide relevant support to their disabled fans, but Uefa must display leadership and a commitment to inclusion, in order to bring about meaningful change.”
Another key issue raised in Level Playing Field’s European survey was the placement of accessible seating, with 79% of wheelchair users saying they had been required to sit in sections alongside home supporters.
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“This is a worrying statistic, as it represents a significant safety concern,” read the Level Playing Field report.
“The risks should not be ignored when it comes to positioning disabled supporters, particularly since over a quarter of disabled fans have identified ‘the attitudes of others’ as a barrier to attending.”
Did you miss the debut of UFC 308 “Countdown” or just want to watch it again? Check out the main event preview now.
The segment takes a special look at the featherweight title fight between unbeaten champion Ilia Topuria (15-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) and challenger Max Holloway (26-7 MMA, 22-7 UFC), a former champ who has won five of his past six, including the “BMF” belt.
UFC 308 (pay-per-view, ESPN+) takes place Saturday at Etihad Arena in Abu Dhabi. “Countdown” goes behind the scenes with the two fighters, and you can watch the full segment above. And don’t miss the entire episode in the video below.
For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 308.
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Be sure to visit the MMA Junkie Instagram page and YouTube channel to discuss this and more content with fans of mixed martial arts.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has slammed Red Bull Racing‘s front bib adjustment device as “outrageous”, as he suggested the FIA may yet look further into the matter.
Red Bull was at the centre of technical intrigue over the United States Grand Prix weekend after it emerged the FIA was ramping up monitoring of a system the Milton Keynes-based squad has to raise and lower its front bib height.
While the presence of the device, which has to be adjusted by a tool, is allowed, what would be against the regulations would be for it to be changed under parc ferme conditions.
That is why the FIA fitted a seal to it over the Austin weekend to ensure it was not altered between qualifying and the race. Furthermore, the team has promised to make more permanent changes to its car for later this season.
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The FIA’s head of single-seater matters Nikolas Tombazis says there is no indication that Red Bull used the device in the past, and so considers the matter closed. However, that may not necessarily be the end of the matter.
Wolff, whose team has battled Red Bull hard in the past, thinks that the situation is far from acceptable as he hinted that senior figures at the FIA – including its president Mohammed Ben Sulayem – may yet be pressured to take things further.
Speaking about the Red Bull system, Wolff said: “My view is, from the distance of what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, it’s outrageous.”
Explaining more about why he felt that way, Wolff said that it was highly suspicious for Red Bull to have fitted such a complicated device to its car, simply to help change ride heights in practice sessions.
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“I think we’re all designing parts that are F1 standard, and that are to the highest specifications that are within the regulations.
“Sometimes on things like aero elasticity, you would probably try to go as far as you can — but there’s other things overall and certain parts where you would question why they exist.”
He added: “Why would you design such a thing and put two marks on it for two positions, like you want to (change things)? Is that the precise decision-making [we have] in F1?”
Red Bull Racing RB20 front bib detail
Photo by: Andreas Beil
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A ‘Bugs Bunny’ tool
Wolff also suggested that Red Bull pulled off a charade in showing to the FIA a tool that it said was used to alter the device. He reckons that the settings could easily be altered in a much simpler way.
“I really like that when they put this real broom [device] in the car to demonstrate that that is the only way of that getting changed! I wonder how long it took them to make this up, and to stick it in there.”
One rival team has nicknamed the two-foot long socket that Red Bull showed the FIA a ‘Bugs Bunny’ device – because it seemed such a cartoon-type tool considering the sophistication levels normally expected in F1.
Wolff backed this idea. “I didn’t know that in F1, we were using such Bugs Bunny devices. It’s not good enough to say that this is it, and we promise that we are not going to do it again.”
He told the newspaper: “When I first heard the rumour of Lindsey’s comeback three days ago, I couldn’t imagine that you could ski really fast with an artificial knee joint.
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“But looking at it from a distance, I say: If anyone can do the seemingly impossible, it is the one and only Lindsey Vonn.”
Olympic legend and Tiger Woods’ ex Lindsey Vonn shares gruesome injury snaps in inspirational post about her career
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Vonn made her Olympic debut back 2002Credit: Getty Images – Getty
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She won the Laureus Spirt of Sport Award in 2019Credit: Getty – Contributor
Meanwhile, Austrian coach Sepp Brunner believes that Vonn is being “very ambitious”.
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He added: “I was able to watch Lindsey Vonn train gliding curves in a very ambitious manner on the Rettenbach glacier.”
Vonn made her Olympic debut back in 2002 at the games in Salt Lake City.
She won her Olympic gold medal in the Downhill event eight years later in Vancouver, Canada.
This success came the year after she won the World Championships in the Downhill and Super-G events.
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Between March 2013 and May 2015, she was in a relationship with golf star Tiger Woods.
She has since revealed that she found it “really hard” being with the golfing legend due to all the scrutiny they were under as a celebrity couple who were both at the peaks of their respective sports.
Former Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp is moving into a new role from January, as head of global soccer at Red Bull – who own the Reds’ Champions League opponents RB Leipzig.
Will he feel a little torn when the two sides meet on Wednesday? To mark the match, we’ve produced a rather special quiz.
Yes, this isn’t just a simple true or false challenge. Oh no! It’s Good Klopp, Bad Klopp.
See a correct statement, click on Good Klopp. If you suspect a lie, Bad Klopp is the button. Enjoy!
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