There are few months quite like March on the Irish sporting calendar. The dark and cold of winter recedes and we all begin to look forward to the spring and summer months.
Add into that events such as Cheltenham, the climax of the Six Nations and Ireland v France and it's hard to beat this time of year.
So what exactly can we look forward to in March 2023?
The climax of the Six Nations
The 2023 Six Nations has so far been something of a 'walk in the park' for Ireland. A convincing opening weekend win over Wales in Cardiff was followed up with a wonderful display of free-flowing Rugby against pre-tournament favourites France.
Italy rattled the Irish cage early on but eventually proved a minor irritation. Just Scotland and England remain in Ireland's way if they are to gain a first Grand Slam and Six Nations championship since 2018.
A victory over Scotland on March 12th could seal the deal for Andy Farrell's men. Although they would have to rely on a number of other permutations going their way.
France and Scotland are still well within a shout of winning the title but Ireland remain hot favourites to lift their fifth Six Nations title.
Ireland face England at the Aviva Stadium on the final day of the tournament on March 19th. Winning the tournament in front of the old enemy would be the perfect way to round-off the campaign.
Oh, and there's the small matter of a World Cup coming up later this year too.
Cheltenham Festival
There's something wonderfully satisfying about beating our English friends. Especially on their own turf. It may not be the most frequent of events but it happens rather regularly at the Cheltenham Festival, one of the highlights of the Horse Racing season.
With the Irish being world leaders in the field, a healthy number of home-grown winners is a nigh-on formality. This year's event begins on March 14th and ends four days later on the 17th. There are huge races on every day but the main event is on the final day, the Cheltenham Gold Cup.
Three out of the last four Gold Cup winners have been Irish trained with Willie Mullins' Al Boum Photo doing the double in 2019 and '20 and the Henry De Bromhead trained Minella Indo winning in 2021.
Ireland's Rachael Blackmore famously rode A Plus Tard to victory a year ago to become the first ever female jockey to win Cheltenham's blue riband event.
Another Willie Mullins trained horse, Gallopin Des Champs is the favourite with many bookies ahead of this years Gold Cup. So If you're looking for guaranteed Irish success, then Cheltenham is the place to be.
Latter stages of the GAA leagues
March will also see the latter stages of both the National Football and Hurling leagues. The all-important final round of group games and the semi-finals will take place this month with the finals in early April.
It's been a wonderful campaign so far for surprise package Roscommon who alongside Mayo in joint first place at the top of Division 1. They've recorded impressive wins over Tyrone, Galway and Armagh before a first defeat against Monaghan last time out.
Mayo have also had an excellent campaign although are far more used to occupying the top places in this division. Elsewhere both Derry and Dublin are tied on eight points apiece at the top of Division 2 as they hope for a return the top tier.
In the National Hurling League Cork are in top spot in Division 1A whilst Tipperary sit a point ahead of Waterford at the summit of Group B. Kilkenny, under the new stewardship of Derek Lyng, are 3rd in Group B just two points off Tipp. Looking for a return to Division 1 are Kildare, Offaly, Meath and Donegal who all sit joint top of Division 2A and 2B.
Across both codes it's the top two in each division that will eventually end up as winners and so it's all to play for across both the Football and Hurling leagues.
Ireland v France
March will see the first Euro 2024 qualifier for the Republic of Ireland as Stephen Kenny faces a crunch campaign that may likely decide his future.
The Republic of Ireland face a daunting start to their qualification campaign as they host World Cup runners-up France at the Aviva Stadium on March 27th.
Kenny could do with a positive result after a poor UEFA Nations League campaign saw his side finish second bottom of the group with two wins, a draw and three losses from their six matches.
Despite the almost constant negativity surrounding the side the recent flourishing of talented forward Evan Ferguson has provided a much needed positive for the Republic of Ireland side. His participation in this game looked in doubt when he was on the end of a poor challenge by Liverpool's Fabinho during an FA Cup game early in late January but he's fighting fit and will hopefully stay injury free in the run up to the big game.
Further qualifiers against Greece and Gibraltar occur in June between this and the return fixture in September. Stephen Kenny will be hoping his side are still in contention to qualify come that second French meeting in six months time.
Shamrock Rovers v Derry and the return of the League of Ireland
Although the League of Ireland action got underway last month March sees it swing into full flow. Up this very weekend is a mouth-watering clash between rivals Shamrock Rovers and Derry City as the FAI cup holders travel to Tallaght to potentially inflict more misery onto Stephen Bradley's side.
Rovers are without a win in their opening two matches and have had disciplinary issues with a sending off in both matches.
Derry on the other hand have started their campaign relatively strongly with a draw on the opening weekend against St. Pats and a home win versus Cork City last time out. They were Rovers' closest challengers in the league last season and so will be hoping to go one better in 2023.
Shamrock Rovers will be wearing special warm-up shirts to highlight the rise of ant-immigrant sentiment in Ireland recently. They'll be emblazoned with 'Love Rovers, hate racism' and will be worn by the players before the match.
March will also see notable League of Ireland derby matches including Shelbourne v Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers v Shelbourne and Rovers again in action against St. Patrick's Athletic.
Ian Garry in the UFC
Ian Garry takes on Kenan Song on the undercard of UFC 285 in Las Vegas on March 4th in what should be an entertaining Welterweight duel.
Garry took inspiration from Conor McGregor and dropped out of college to become Cage Warriors champion in the UK. He made his UFC debut in November 2021 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
Garry is in excellent form and has gone on record saying he believes he is 'untouchable'. His Chinese opposition will have something to say about that and boasts a record of four wins from six in the UFC and 18 from 24 as a professional. His last UFC bout however, was in March 2021.
Build up to The Masters at Augusta
Golf's first major of the year takes place between the 6th and 9th April and before it comes a number of tournaments and warm-up events to test the World's best before the big event.
Rory McIlroy will almost certainly be in contention for that famous green jacket and should he win would complete the career grand slam of major tournaments. He finished second at Augusta last year and will want to go one further this time around.
McIlroy currently sits 3rd in the World Rankings after a stellar 2022 and is in arguably his best form since he last won a major back in 2014.
The Arnold Palmer invitational is taking place this weekend with McIlroy, Seamus Power, Padraig Harrington and Shane Lowry all in the field. The Players Championship and World Golf Championships Match-Play are just two of the big tournaments taking place before the big event.
Irish interests will centre around McIlroy for obvious reasons but Lowry, Power and Harrington mustn't be overlooked for success this year.
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