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Your Essential Guide To An Insane Weekend Of Sport

Your Essential Guide To An Insane Weekend Of Sport
Gavin Cooney
By Gavin Cooney
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Ireland finally establish Test status after more than a century of waiting and...it rains. The weather is taking a turn for the worse this weekend, which, while unfortunate for proceedings in Malahide, is timely for those of us looking for an excuse to wear a groove in the couch during a phenomenal weekend of sport.

Here's your indispensable guide to a fairly magnificent couple of days 0f sport on Irish TV this weekend.

Saturday 

For the (very) early risers 

If you're a big rugby fan and have no real reason to sleep, you can catch a quadruple-header of Super Rugby actions from, er, 4am on Sky Sports Action. The fixtures down for decision are Sunwolves v Reds, Crusaders v Waratahs, Highlanders v Lions and Brumbies v Melbourne Rebels.

At a more reasonable hour...

...we HOPE that we'll have some action from Malahide between Ireland and Pakistan. It's live on Sky Sports Cricket (via the Red Button) from 10.55am.

For the non-cricket fans

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The largely-unwatchable Soccer AM might be worth at least watching between your fingers this week: Dimitar Berbatov and Robbie Keane are on the sofa with whoever the hell hosts that show now.

Alternatively, follow practice and qualifying at the Spanish Grand Prix on Sky Sports Main Event and eir Sport from 10.30am and 10.55 am respectively.

To kick off the afternoon 

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The Premier League concludes on Sunday, but there are plenty of football across Saturday to keep you occupied. The first leg of the League One playoff between Scunthorpe and Rotherham is on Sky Sports Main Event from 12.15pm. You can also catch the League Two playoff between Lincoln and Exeter on the same channel from 2.45pm. If you want to watch football at a higher (and entirely uncompetitive) level, Bayern Munich are playing Stuttgart on BT Sport 3 from 2.15pm.

Alternatively, settle in for a marathon golf session: Day 3 of the Players Championship is on Sky Sports Golf from 1.30pm right up to midnight.

The Main Event 

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The big event bridges Saturday afternoon and evening: Leinster against Racing 92 in the Champions Cup final. It is live on Sky Sports Action and BT Sport 2 from 4pm, kicking off at 4.45pm.

If you aren't a citizen of Rugby Country...

...why not watch the first leg of the Championship playoff semi-final between Aston Villa and Middlesbrough. It's live on Sky Sports Main Event from 5pm.

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Anything to sustain the evening? 

Absolutely. The golf will be on all evening, while Inter Milan face Sassuolo on BT Sport 2 from 7.45pm. 15 minutes earlier, another League Two playoff semi-final kicks off: this one between Coventry and Notts County, and it's live on Sky Sports Main Event.

And if you didn't have access to the biggest games above: RTE have highlights of the Pakistan game on RTE2 from 11pm, while TG4 are showing the best of the Champions Cup final at 8.25pm.

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Sunday 

Should I go to bed?

No. Michael Conlan is fighting Spanish hopeful Ibon Larrinag on the Linares/Lomachenko undercard at Madison Square Garden. The card is live on BoxNation from midnight.

Okay, what's on the agenda once Sunday morning breaks? 

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Loads. Ireland/Pakistan migrates to Sky Sports Mix - and is live from 10.55am. There's an early double-bill of Scottish fitba' too: Celtic/Aberdeen is on Sky Sports Main Event while Hibs/Rangers is on BT Sport 1 - both games kick off at 12.30pm.

And it only gets better...

Holy hell, take a look at Sunday afternoon. Some tough decisions to be made here. The final day of the Premier League is live across Sky Sports, with all ten games kicking off at 3pm. Liverpool/Brighton is on Main Event, Newcastle/Chelsea on the Premier League Channel while Southampton/City is on Sky Sports Mix.

Alternatively, it's the first Sunday Game Live of the year! A double-header on RTE 2, with coverage beginning at 1.15pm. Dublin face Kilkenny in the Leinster hurling championship at 2pm, while Mayo host Galway in a massive Connacht clash at 4pm.

Alternatively, you can follow the Players Championship from 4pm on Sky Sports Golf.

Is..that...it? 

Not quite. BBC 2 Northern Ireland has deferred coverage of Cavan/Donegal at 7pm, Shrewsbury face Charlton in a League One playoff on Sky Sports Football from 5pm, while there is a host of Italian football to watch: Bt Sport 1 has Roma v Juventus at 7.30pm; Atalanta face AC Milan at 5pm on BT 2; Sampdoria v Napoli is on BT 3 from 7.45pm.

Any highlights shows to ease myself out of the weekend? 

Just the three. The final Match of the Day of the season is on BBC One at 10.30pm, the first (proper) Sunday Game is on RTE 2 at 9.30pm while RTE have highlights of the third day of action from Malahide at 11.15pm on RTE Two.

 

 

 

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