The belief Ireland had prior to losing their Rugby World Cup quarter-final to New Zealand has not "slipped away", insists scrum coach John Fogarty.

But as they prepare to begin their Six Nations defence against France, Fogarty says self-belief has not been affected by another painful World Cup exit.

"I don't think that belief hasn't slipped away," he said.

"That belief is 100% there in the squad. You can see it in mini-meetings, in unit meetings, how the players are interacting with each other.

"They're preparing to perform now. The learnings that we'll take with us are really important. The game [against New Zealand] fine margins, small margins, it's been said, it's not untrue."

Fogarty, who said Ireland have no fresh injury concerns ahead of the France match, added: "There were small margins, we need to make sure we're on the right side of those.

"What an opportunity now for this squad. Andy [Farrell] says 'go and make it happen'. There's a lot of belief in the squad, a lot of clarity and it's going to be difficult.

"Huge crowd, France at home in Marseille, it's incredibly exciting."

Ireland are entering a new era with Peter O'Mahony as captain following Johnny Sexton's retirement after the World Cup.

While the All Blacks defeat clearly devastated a much-hyped Irish side, Fogarty insists there is no need for a radical overhaul of ideas as they attempt to become the first side to win back-to-back Grand Slams in the Six Nations era.

"For us, it's building on what we've done over the last few months and couple of years," added Fogarty, who was speaking from Ireland's pre-tournament training base in Quinta do Lago in Portugal.

"You can call it what you want, that's what we're focusing on.

"We have a good body of work done, there's really good experience built into the squad, and there's been some tough days over the last number of years, and there's nice resilience built into the squad.

"We're going to build on top of what we've done, and it's unbelievably exciting to have our first game.

"What an opportunity to go and show what we can add a little bit different, or a little bit more, in Marseille with a packed crowd against a world-class side like France.

"It's a brilliant opportunity in front of us, we need to go and make it happen, make a performance happen for ourselves."

'The crowd is right there in your face'

Ireland will face France at Stade Velodrome in Marseille with Stade de France being given a facelift before Paris hosts the Olympic Games this summer.

And while the Irish have avoided a potentially painful return to the Paris venue, Robbie Henshaw admits Stade Velodrome - which staged two World Cup quarter-finals last year - can be "quite intimidating" for visiting players.

"It's an incredible stadium," said the 30-year-old centre, who played in Leinster's Champions Cup final defeat by La Rochelle at the Marseille venue in 2022.

"As opposed to playing in Stade de France, it's a tight stadium. It's obviously a football pitch and the crowd is right there in your face.

"It can be intimidating at times when the crowd are up so we got to experience that playing for Leinster a couple of seasons ago and it was different."

Three-cap British and Irish Lion Henshaw missed Ireland's thrilling win over France in Dublin last year because of injury.

He is one of four players - along with Garry Ringrose, Stuart McCloskey and Bundee Aki - competing for the two starting midfield spots in the Irish team for Friday's game.

"It's great to have competition as a player," said Henshaw.

"That's what drives you on to keep trying to get the best out of yourself and the team. For me, it's doing my best on the training pitch and being confident that what I've done in the past 12 months with Leinster has put my hand up.

"I'm feeling good and confident. All the lads are competing for those centre jerseys so that definitely drives our performance."

NEW YORK -- Ben Simmons is set to return to the Brooklyn Nets on Monday after missing nearly three months because of a pinched nerve in his back.

Simmons has played in just six games this season, none since Nov. 6, and has missed the last 38. He practiced Saturday with the Nets' NBA G League affiliate and coach Jacque Vaughn said afterward there was a "high likelihood" that the No. 1 pick in the 2016 draft would play Monday against Utah.

The Nets listed Simmons as probable to play in their injury report Sunday, then upgraded him to available Monday after he took part in their morning shootaround.

Simmons has dealt with back injuries since the Nets acquired him from Philadelphia nearly two years ago. The Nets originally thought his injury in November was in his left hip, before determining it was caused by an impingement in his lower back.

After missing 10 of Indiana's past 11 games with a hamstring injury, there's optimism that Pacers All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton will return to the lineup against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, sources told ESPN.

Haliburton suffered a Grade 1 left hamstring strain on Jan. 8 and returned for one game -- Pascal Siakam's debut in Portland on Jan. 19 -- before sitting out four more games with the injury.

Haliburton, selected as a starter for the Eastern Conference All-Stars, has had a spectacular season. He's averaging 23.6 points and a league-leading 12.6 assists this season.

Despite Haliburton's run of missed games, the Pacers (27-20) have won three straight and are sixth in the East.

Mikel Arteta dismissed speculation he could quit Arsenal for Barcelona at the end of the season as "totally fake news" and said he was "upset" by the reports.

Reports in Spain on Sunday said the 41-year-old coach was ready to succeed Xavi at Spotify Camp Nou, where he came through the club's fabled La Masia youth academy as a teenager.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

Multiple sources told ESPN that Arteta remains fully committed to Arsenal, and he reflected that position ahead of his side's Premier League trip to Nottingham Forest.

"That's totally fake news," Arteta said in a news conference on Monday when asked if he would be leaving. "What you read yesterday is ... I don't know where it is coming from, and it is totally untrue. I am really upset about it.

"I could not believe [it]. I don't know where it is coming from and it has no source. It has got nothing, and I think we have to be very cautious when you talk about personal things to put it in the way it was put yesterday.

"I am in the right place. I am with the right people. I feel really good about it. As I said many times, I am invested in a beautiful journey with this football club, with these players, these staff, our people, and there is still a lot to do.

"I am really cautious when I talk publicly about my personal things, and when someone puts a statement saying something I said or did, it is upsetting.

"I understand we are in this industry, but the second one, I don't think anyone deserves to hear in news like that and I have always been really straight and always said the complete opposite; how happy I am, how grateful I am and how much I enjoy where I am now, that is why I am upset."

Sources told ESPN that Arsenal are relaxed about Arteta's commitment to the club despite not yet opening talks over an extension to his contract, which expires in summer 2025.

"This is something [a contract extension] that will happen naturally when it has to happen, and that is it," said Arteta, who has also been mooted as a possible successor to Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.

Arteta spent three years as a coach under Guardiola prior to taking his first step into management with Arsenal in December 2019.

When the former Arsenal and Everton midfielder was pushed on whether he could ever manage another club in England, Arteta said: "Today, no. But I don't know. I played for two great clubs in this country. I moved around in different things. I am extremely young and I don't know what's going to happen."

Thomas Partey is still unavailable as he recovers from a hamstring injury, but Declan Rice and Gabriel hope to return from slight muscle strains sustained in Arsenal's previous game against Crystal Palace.

Picture the scene. Girona are one victory away from winning LaLiga and realising an incredible football fairytale by beating Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Barcelona to the title, just two years after promotion from the Segunda Division. But 1,000 miles away, Manchester City have just seen their Premier League title bid falter and the best they can achieve is second spot.

No big deal, right? You can't be champions every year, not even Pep Guardiola's dominant City team.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

But that hypothetical scenario has a strong chance of becoming a reality this season, with Girona top of LaLiga and City five points off top spot in the Premier League. The potential ramifications of that are why multi-club ownership has become such a big issue in football, prompting UEFA president Aleksandar Ceferin to say last year that regulations surrounding club ownership must be "strict."

It is all about transparency and avoiding the prospect of two or more clubs being controlled by owners with a decisive influence over them. As such, the nightmare scenario for UEFA, and football itself, is the threat of Girona being directed to NOT win LaLiga by their owners in order to ensure that City don't miss out on a place in next season's Champions League.

It sounds a far-fetched notion, but under UEFA regulations (article 5.02, to be precise) no two teams from within the same ownership group can compete against one another.

Should two clubs from the same ownership group qualify for the same UEFA competition, the side which finishes highest in its domestic championship gets the place. If the two teams finish in the same position, the one with the highest club coefficient (City in this case) would be awarded qualification. But if Girona win LaLiga and City finish second in the Premier League, Girona would play in next season's Champions League and City would drop into the Europa League.

That reality is why a remarkable LaLiga triumph for Girona could be very bad news for Manchester City -- the satellite club potentially denying the senior team in the group the prestige and financial boost of playing in the Champions League.

There is no suggestion that Girona would be told to ease off in LaLiga simply to prevent City from missing out on a place in the Champions League, but it is the possibility of undue influence that is the issue.

Girona's club crest is proudly displayed on the wall of the City Football Academy -- Manchester City's training ground -- as one of the 13 clubs within the City Football Group (CFG), alongside others including New York City FC, Yokohama F. Marinos, Melbourne City, Palermo and, of course, reigning Premier League and Champions League winners Manchester City.

The links between City and Girona are strong and undeniable. In August 2017, the CFG acquired a 44.3% stake in Girona in an equal partnership with the Girona Football Group owned by Pere Guardiola, the brother of City manager Pep, who now holds the position of Girona chairman. CFG has since increased its stake to 47% while Pere Guardiola now owns 16%, with 35% owned by Marcelo Claure, the president of Bolivian team Club Bolivar, another of the 13 clubs within the CFG group.

In the seven seasons since joining the CFG, which describes itself as "the world's leading private owner and operator of football clubs, with total or partial ownership of thirteen clubs in major cities across the world," 15 players have moved directly from City to Girona, either on loan or permanent transfer. Meanwhile, Simon Cliff is listed on the CFG website as its general counsel, while Girona's website also declares him to be a member of its club board.

Close ties and ownership issues do not just hang over Manchester City and Girona. Sir Jim Ratcliffe's imminent arrival at Manchester United with a 25% stake in the club and full control over football operations means UEFA will have to act if United and Nice, also controlled by Ratcliffe's INEOS group, qualify for the same competition. Nice are second in Ligue 1 and on course for the Champions League, so United's poor season in the Premier League -- they sit in eighth position, 11 points adrift of a top-four spot -- might delay an awkward conversation in the INEOS boardroom for 12 months at least.

UEFA has found a way around such thorny issues in the past. RB Leipzig and FC Salzburg have been allowed to compete in the Champions League together since 2017, despite both being owned by the Red Bull Group. The RB in Leipzig's name now stands for "RasenBallsport." Salzburg have had to drop Red Bull from their name when competing in Europe as UEFA does not permit sponsors' names in its competitions but, more importantly, they changed the personnel on their board to demonstrate a clear separation in the control of them and Leipzig to ensure they satisfied UEFA's requirements.

And at the start of this season, UEFA's Club Financial Control Body accepted the admission to European competition of six clubs despite a potential conflict of interest due to shared ownership models involving Aston Villa and Vitoria Guimaraes, Brighton & Hove Albion and Union St-Gilloise, and AC Milan and Toulouse.

But with the links between City and Girona so clear and so strong, it seems inevitable that UEFA will have a decision to make this summer because both appear to be on course to comfortably secure Champions League qualification. And if Girona win LaLiga and City fail to retain their Premier League title, it could be the catalyst for significant changes in the rules and regulations governing multiclub ownership.

As testing continues on New York Knicks forward Julius Randle's dislocated right shoulder, there's optimism that his timeline for a return will be measured in weeks and not months, sources told ESPN.

Randle underwent an MRI on Saturday night, and although the evaluation isn't fully completed, there's hope that Randle can avoid a surgical procedure and return after missing several weeks -- not months, sources said.

The NBA All-Star break in mid-February creates a 10-day gap in games for Randle and the Knicks, too.

Randle landed hard on his shoulder late in a 125-109 victory over the Miami Heat on Saturday. It is also helpful that Randle is a left-handed player.

Randle has been at the forefront of the Knicks' outstanding season, which includes 12 wins in 14 games in the month of January. He's averaging 24 points and 9.2 rebounds this season.

Randle had played all 46 Knicks games this season -- and 95% of the franchise's games since arriving as a free agent in 2019, according to ESPN Stats and Information data.

Newcastle Falcons lock Sebastian de Chaves has signed a new deal to remain with the Premiership strugglers for a further two years.

The club re-signed De Chaves, who won the Championship with the Falcons, in 2022 after his spell with US Major League Rugby side Austin Gilgronis.

"I feel really excited about signing here for another two seasons," he said.

"I've loved my time here, both the city and the club, and I enjoy being around the boys.

"I'm very positive about the future here at the Falcons. Everyone knows results haven't gone our way but we're working towards something, and we've got really good people here."

Virgil van Dijk has cast doubt over his future at Liverpool following Jurgen Klopp's announcement that he will leave the club at the end of the season.

Asked if he saw himself being part of the club once Klopp leaves, Van Dijk said: "That's a big question -- I don't know.

- Stream on ESPN+: LaLiga, Bundesliga, more (U.S.)

"The club will have a big job on their hands. That is well known. To replace the manager and replace not only the manager, the staff is leaving, and there are so many things that will change.

"So the club has a big job on its hands and I am very curious which direction that will go in. But when that will be announced we will see our situation. I can't say much about it."

The Netherlands international, who joined the Merseyside club in 2018, has been a stalwart in the Klopp era that has seen the club win the Champions League in 2019 and and the Premier League in 2020 -- the club's first league title for 30 years.

He won the FA Cup and Carabao Cup in 2022 and following Jordan Henderson's move to Al Ittihad last summer was named club captain.

Like Mohamed Salah and Trent Alexander-Arnold, Van Dijk has just 18 months to run on his contract but he has said his focus remains on giving Klopp a trophy-laden send-off this season.

"Obviously it will be the end of Jurgen Klopp's era," he said. "I am very glad that I am still part of it. That is why I don't like to speak about it. I am still part of it.

"That is my main focus and we will see at the end of the season. Hopefully, we have the success that we all dream of and fight for each day and, by then, there will probably be more clarification for what the club wants for the future and then we will see."

The 5-2 win over Norwich in the FA Cup on Sunday keeps Liverpool in the hunt for four trophies this season. They are top of the Premier League, five points clear of second-place Manchester City, and face Chelsea in the Carabao Cup final on Feb. 25. Their opponents in the Europa League round of 16 are yet to be announced.