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Sport

20th Jun 2018

An hour-by-hour guide to ensure you don’t miss a minute of an amazing weekend of sport

Rudi Kinsella

sporting weekends

We are in for a treat.

This is what weekends are all about. When you’re bored in work dreaming about the weekend, this is what you think of.

A weekend filled with sport, sport and more sport.

Although the weather is supposed to be particularly beautiful, we think you’ll be spending most of your time on the couch either way.

If ever there was such a thing as too much sport, it could be the case this weekend, but luckily there is no such thing as too much sport. And we understand that looking at the fixtures might have you feeling a little bit overwhelmed…

Well that’s where we come in.

We’ve come up with a step-by-step, hour-by-hour guide to help you get through a huge weekend of sport. So turn off the phone, ignore all responsibilities, kick your feet up and enjoy.

SATURDAY

8am

Your alarm goes off. We know, it’s incredibly early, but it’s not like you’re getting up for work or anything. You can sleepily make your way downstairs, and plant yourself on the couch.

You can bring a blanket too if you want. Just make sure you’re comfy, you’re going to be there for a while.

8.35am

It begins.

Sky Sports Main Event is where you’ll be for the first few hours.

France v New Zealand in the rugby. New Zealand will be looking to make it three from three in the series, but the French will be keen to stop them. This should get you in the mood for the day ahead.

11am

Ireland v Australia. The decider. Huge. Massive.

This will be a cracker.

The test is currently tied one apiece, so the winner takes it all with this one.

You won’t even have to change channel from the last one here.

An Ireland win would have us buzzing for the entire weekend.

1pm

Perfect timing.

Just after Conor Murray wins the game for us over on Sky Sports, we can switch over to RTÉ Two and settle in for an afternoon of World Cup action.

First up we have Belgium vs Tunisia. Belgium were one of the better teams in the opening round of games, and it will be interesting to see if they keep the momentum going here.

Plus, half of Ireland have either Eden Hazard or Romelu Lukaku in their World Cup fantasy team, so they’ll want to keep tabs on their star men.

4pm

And we go straight from Belgium v Tunisia into Mexico v South Korea on RTÉ Two.

Mexico blew everyone away when they defeated the current World Cup holders 1-0 on Sunday. The Germans couldn’t live with their counter-attacking style, and it will be really interesting to see how they fare against a “lesser” side.

5pm

OK, now your day gets slightly more difficult.

For this you might need a laptop or tablet. Hell, even a phone will do.

You get the RTÉ Player up, and you throw the World Cup on there.

Then you head to Sky Sports Arena, where you’ll get to see Tipperary play Mayo in the second round of the qualifiers in the All-Ireland football championship.

Tipp will be out to cause an upset as favourites Mayo travel to Thurles. This should be a good ‘un.

7pm

We hope that you haven’t put that laptop away, because if you’re looking to make sure you don’t miss anything, you’ll need it.

Kerry will travel to Páirc Uí Chaoimh to take on the rebels, in what will definitely be a feisty affair.

And we’re staying with RTÉ to see the World Cup holders in action.

The Germans will surely be out for blood here, and we wouldn’t be surprised to see them put two or three past Sweden.

That being said, Sweden are currently above Germany in the group, sitting pretty with three points. All the pressure is on the footballing giants, and it’s going to be great to see how this game pans out.

The coverage here will end at 10.30pm and you can head back to bed, or maybe go out into the real world.

We recommend the bed, because…

SUNDAY

11am

You’re getting a lie on here because of the emotional damage yesterday has undoubtedly done to your body…

But you do need to be up by 11am. You can head to the shop, get a few snacks (nothing too heavy), maybe just a bag of peanuts and a packet of chocolate biscuits.

If you really want, you can get a few beers, but that’s up to you…

Take your time, you just need to be back in time to get ready for a second day of sport.

12.30pm

England are in action against Panama, in what should be a routine victory for Gareth Southgate’s boys. You might want to watch this one on BBC One, just so you can see the blind British delusion in all its glory.

And although England should have the firepower to win this one handily enough, just imagine they lose… You don’t want to miss this one just in case.

14:00

Get the laptop out, because the RTÉ Player is needed again.

You’ve got Donegal taking on Fermanagh in the Ulster final in the football, with Fermanagh looking to take down the favourites. You’ll find this one on RTÉ One. 

You can have most of your attention on this one, unless Panama score an early goal…

4pm

Next up we have two of the best underdogs so far: Japan vs Senegal. We’re big Senegal fans here at JOE, so we’ll be watching this one intently.

This is one of the first games of the tournament where two teams sat on three points each will face off, so it could mean that the winner of this game is as good as qualified.

So much at stake. We love it.

Unfortunately, you’re going to have to do a bit of multi-tasking here again, as Dublin vs Laois kicks off at the same time on

Although there is very little chance of anything but a Dublin win here, you’ll want to see them in action, as it’s as good a chance as any to see some top quality football.

And you never know, Laois might cause an upset…

7pm

Next up is Poland v Colombia, in a game where both teams are in desperate need of a win.

Colombia were favourites to top this group before it started, but after a shock defeat to Japan, they’re left at the bottom of the group.

They’ll feel they need a win, but Poland are no slouches. This should be a cracker.

9.30pm

You can finally have a bit of a breather.

The live action has ended for the weekend has ended, and you can just relax and watch the highlights.

The Sunday Game will air on RTÉ Two at and will feature the action from all of the weekend’s games.

You might want to order a bit of food at around nine, so it comes just in time for the highlights to start.

And if you’re worried about the ‘summer body’, don’t worry. Think of  what you’ve been through this weekend. You deserve it.

So to recap…

Saturday:

France vs New Zealand – Sky Sports Main Event – Coverage from 8.00am

Ireland vs Australia – Sky Sports Main Event – Coverage from 10.30am

Belgium vs Tunisia – RTÉ Two – Coverage from 12.30pm

South Korea vs Mexico – RTÉ Two – Coverage from 3.30pm

Tipperary vs Mayo – Sky Sports Arena – Coverage from 4.30pm

Germany vs Sweden – RTÉ Two – Coverage from 6.30pm

Cork vs Kerry – RTÉ One – Coverage from 6.35pm

Sunday: 

England vs Panama – RTÉ One – Coverage from 12.30pm

Donegal vs Fermanagh – RTÉ One – Coverage from 1.35pm

Japan vs Senegal – RTÉ One – Coverage from 3.30pm

Dublin vs Laois – RTÉ One – Coverage from 3.30pm

Poland vs Colmbia – RTÉ One – Coverage from 6.30pm

The Sunday Game (highlights) – RTÉ Two – Coverage from 9.30pm

Enjoy!