Latest news with #TheSundayGame
RTÉ News
7 hours ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
The Championship: Knockouts get serious in both codes
joins Damian Lawlor to assess the weekend's preliminary quarter-finals in the All-Ireland football championship. Galway's trip to Down is probably the pick of the four football games, while Kerry seek to bounce back from last weekend's wobble at home to Cavan. In the other two fixtures, Cork face Dublin in Croke Park, while Louth make the arduous journey to Ballybofey to face Donegal. It's All-Ireland hurling quarter-final weekend, with John Kiely's Limerick heavy favourites against Dublin in Croke Park, while long-time foes Tipperary and Galway face off yet again at this stage of the competition in the Gaelic Grounds. Waterford's three-time All-Star Noel Connors previews both games, while Limerick's Cian Lynch and Galway's Fintan Burke chat ahead of both games. Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday and Sunday on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-finals, Limerick v Dublin and Galway v Tipperary, on Saturday from 3.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm. Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Wicklow v Limerick and Fermanagh v Kildare, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
RTÉ News
a day ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
RTÉ GAA Podcast: Is there a shock in football's last 12, can Galway lift themselves for Tipperary
Enda McGinley and Nigel Dunne join Jacqui Hurley and Rory O'Neill too look ahead to the All-Ireland Championship preliminary quarter-finals. Galway have not reached heights many expected them to in 2025 - yet. Could Down catch them on the hop? Kerry were flat against Meath but they've been given a good chance to find their mojo once more against a Cavan side which conceded more than anyone else in the group stages. Elsewhere, Dublin and Cork are to meet at Croke Park while provincial champions Donegal and Louth will clash at a venue which is, presumably, to Jim McGuinness's liking. Jackie Tyrrell joins for the hurling and wonders if Galway have enough to beat Tipperary, even if they produce their best. While Limerick and Dublin are set to clash in championship for the first time in a decade, a period in which the Treaty men have become a different animal altogether. Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday and Sunday on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm and The Sunday Game from 9.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship quarter-finals, Limerick v Dublin and Galway v Tipperary, on Saturday from 3.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.15pm. Watch the Tailteann Cup semi-finals, Wicklow v Limerick and Fermanagh v Kildare, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
The 42
4 days ago
- Sport
- The 42
More Mayo heartbreak - 'They'll rue that loss to Cavan. That one is going to hurt for a long time'
MAYO WERE KNOCKED out of the All-Ireland senior football championship in dramatic circumstances yesterday. A last-gasp Donegal winner sealed their fate after the Green and Red thought they had saved their summer through Fergal Boland's equaliser. But Ciarán Moore had the final say just after the hooter, securing victory for Donegal and sending Cavan through to the preliminary quarter-finals instead. Advertisement The Breffni stunned Mayo in their group opener at Hastings Insurance MacHale Park last month, and while the Westerners bounced back with victory against Tyrone, they lost out on head to head and now exit the championship in mid June. 'They'll look back to that game in Cavan. It's another heartbreak for Mayo,' former Dublin footballer Ciarán Whelan told RTÉ's The Sunday Game last night. 'You can't fault their desire, their effort, their intensity, the hunger they brought to the game. They really tried to unsettle Donegal in how they play. They brought it to a game of chaos, but ultimately, if you're playing with a wind in the Hyde and you have eight shots from play in the first half and you don't have two-point scorers, ultimately that came back to bite them and that's been their problem. 'They give everything for the jersey. You can't fault the players, the passion they give is fantastic, but they just haven't been good enough. 'And still, they were there. It was small margins near the very end. It definitely wasn't Donegal's best performance, but it was because of the way Mayo played and the pressure they put on out the field. 'Listen, it's heartbreak for them and they'll rue that loss to Cavan. That one is going to hurt for a long time.' Another championship ends for Mayo with stinging regrets and lingering frustrations. Ciaran Whelan and Dessie Dolan reflect on their shortcomings #RTEgaa #TheSundayGame — The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) June 15, 2025 Former Westmeath forward Dessie Dolan also reflected on 'a tough time' for the county on the programme, after typically rollercoaster 2025. 'It is very disappointing, and very disappointing for Kevin McStay because the level of preparation that goes into a team, the sense of occasion today… we're being spoilt by the football. Mayo were still in the championship with five seconds to go. 'You have to feel extremely sorry for Mayo. In fairness to the players, after the Cavan defeat, they went up to Omagh and bet Tyrone and then put a performance like that on today, which was incredible, to the bitter end. Related Reads 'The most logical venue' - CCCC chief responds to McGuinness criticism Dublin to face Cork: here is the All-Ireland SFC preliminary quarter-final draw 'You'd feel very sorry for them. Cavan's display today probably wasn't at the level you'd expect either. It's a tough time for Kevin McStay and Stephen Rochford, the players and management team, because I think they're extremely well prepared.'
Sunday World
4 days ago
- Sport
- Sunday World
Pat Spillane: The stupidity of the GGA's biggest problem makes me channel the words of Margaret Thatcher
We are cutting off our nose to spite our face with too many matches The French Open tennis finals were exceptional. Spain v France finished 5-4 in the Nations League. And that Munster hurling final – wow. You might remember a couple of weeks ago I spoke about Rory McIroy's final round in the Masters as being my TV sporting highlight. Well, the Munster hurling final topped that, for sure. That game in Limerick had everything: excitement, tension, drama, a rollercoaster ride of emotions. It had me glued to the TV from the first whistle to the last. I remember describing a football match on The Sunday Game as orgasmic. Well, that hurling game was orgasmic – no explanation required. Neutrals who know nothing about Gaelic games were talking about the hurling final. The GAA is now hot and sexy, believe it or not. People talk about the new rules in Gaelic football and the exciting football championship. The magic of David Clifford. The Jim McGuinness factor. I should be happy. And yet I'm not. Kerry's Paudie Clifford in action during their group game against Cork. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile This whole split season thing is bothering me, it is annoying me, it is angering me. The scheduling is wrong, wrong, wrong. For years, I railed against the state of football. Thankfully, enough important people came around to my way of thinking. They got Jarlath Burns on board. He appointed Jim Gavin and his FRC colleagues. They rejigged, remodelled, and created a new game of Gaelic football. And the rest is history. This championship has been the most exciting for many, many years. And, whisper it, despite that brilliant Munster hurling final, the football championship has been far better than its cousin. That is a first. Thankfully, my crusade about the plague of Gaelic football has been, hopefully permanently, suspended. The crusade against the split season, however, will continue. And a quick history lesson about the split season. Why did it come about? It was to give certainty to club players who went months without matches. And I have absolutely no problem with that. But the reasons – and this is what people forget – that club players went months without games were down to two connected factors. First was the incompetence of county boards who couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery and couldn't put in place a proper fixtures structure for club players. And secondly, subservient county board officers who bowed to the whims and demands of dictatorial inter-county managers, having an undue influence over when club matches should and should not be played. There were many county boards, and Kerry was one, that had proper club fixtures in place. Where club players had a well-run schedule of games, played on the dates arranged. I get the argument from Cork and Galway, they are against the split season being axed because they have so many competitions to run off. But here is the gas part. Cork's football championship started this week, involving the divisional and colleges sides. And guess what? Some of the divisional teams had to pull out because they couldn't field due to some players' club commitments. Split season my arse. Monaghan's Andrew Woods tries to get away from Miceál Rooney of Down. Photo: Philip Fitzpatrick/Sportsfile Sadly, the GAA has taken a sledge-hammer to crack a nut with this split-season format. We had exclusive use of September to promote our games around our football and hurling finals. That is gone. We have taken our two main products out of the shop window for six months – August to January – and given our rival sports, rugby and soccer, a free run. And they are making hay while the sun shines. You can argue the pros and cons about club and inter-county competition, but the bottom line is that the inter-county competitions are those that generate the revenue for the GAA that can be ploughed back into games promotion and coaching. The inter-county senior football and hurling championships raise the profile of the GAA. They provide the role models Irish youngsters aspire to emulate. The split season in its present format is wrong in so many ways. We are cutting off our nose to spite our face with far too many matches, with too many competitions, too many games in too tight a time-frame. The major competitions are not getting room to breathe and not getting the profile and publicity they deserve. And let's not forget the club player now plays for 12 months of the year, so there is no split season in that sense. Many club players start playing competitive games in February and some play All-Ireland club championships in January. The inter-county players under this format are now training and playing all year round as well. The only lads who are happy are the hundreds who fly to America for the summer to play football and hurling because they know their club championship won't start until August or September. The final round of group games took place in the senior football championship on Saturday and Sunday. The second and third-placed teams will be into a preliminary quarter-final. Those teams will have played four big matches in five weeks to reach the semi-finals. And if they want to play in the All-Ireland final, they must play five big matches in seven weeks. Now don't tell me that is fair. All I can say is be careful what you wish for. I don't have a problem with the split season in theory, but it needs tweaking. Here is a lesson from history and the greatest business blunder of all time. In 1985, after 99 years, Coca-Cola decided to change their formula for the most successful soft drink in the world. The result was an avalanche of criticism and 79 days later they returned to the old formula. Lesson learned. Maybe the GAA will take that lesson on board as well and admit that there is a problem. And don't get me started on having no replays. The last three Ulster football finals went to extra-time and two to penalties. We saw an All-Ireland final last year going to extra-time and we had Munster hurling final going to penalties for the first time. Christ, just think what replays would have done for the profile of those games in the provinces and nationally. And the money generated that could be spent by the provinces on coaching. We should go back to replays for provincial finals and All-Ireland finals, with no extra-time the first day out. But, of course, I know the GAA can turn to their usual sources, rugby, soccer, American football and concerts, to make up the shortfall in revenue. What a stupidly short-sighted approach. Penalties to decide a football or hurling match are a joke. There may be plenty of drama, but it is a lottery and not a fair way to win or lose a game. Can I just remind people that the FRC recommended last year that penalty shootouts should be replaced by an overtime showdown. A next score wins format. Or one where the conceding team has an opportunity to match their opponents' score and prolong the drama. That is a brilliant idea which the GAA has chosen, in its wisdom, not to go for. I will not let up on this campaign. I will use the words of Margaret Thatcher – this lady is not for turning. Well, this man isn't either on the stupidity of the split season.
The Irish Sun
5 days ago
- Sport
- The Irish Sun
‘It's a joke' moan GAA fans as ‘stupid' RTE tradition around All-Ireland draw rears its head again
MONDAY morning saw the draw for the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals and Tailteann Cup semi-finals take place. The four first-placed teams from the round-robin that 2 The draw was held on Morning Ireland at 8.30am Credit: @RTEgaa 2 Who will end up lifting Sam Maguire next month? That meant It wound up pitting Donegal against Louth, Down versus Galway, Dublin up against Cork while Kerry will take on Cavan. In the Tailteann Cup semis meanwhile, it'll be Fermanagh against Kildare whilst Wicklow will lock horns with Limerick. But the biggest talking point around this year's draw was the same one that cropped up in 2024, 2023, 2022 and beyond. Read More On GAA It's an annual source of frustration among Gaelic football fans en masse that the all-important draw for both competitions is relegated to a radio slot on the Monday as opposed to the more glamorous backdrop of it being done on The Sunday Game. A glance at social media replies from RTE's posts related to the draw shows that most people feel it's an own goal by the national broadcaster and the Association when it comes to self-promotion. Eoin Diggins fumed: "I'm sure ye are well aware what a waste of time it is having the draw on the radio at 8.30 on a Monday morning. "Draw should be done on the TV now after the game or even during tonight's Sunday Game show. Missing a trick again." Most read in GAA Football In a similar vein, someone else commented: "Ridiculous that the draw is only taking place tomorrow morning. It should have taken place 30 mins after the conclusion of Donegal - Mayo. "Gives teams & supporters more time to prepare & make arrangements. Finding out on Monday where and when you are playing five days later. Stupid." GAA fans 'loved seeing and hearing' the late Micheal O Muircheartaigh as he features in RTE documentary Hell for Leather Patrick Hickey added: "It's a joke, do a live draw on Sunday night instead." Lastly, Muireagáin MacSeáin complained: "Absolutely daft not to have it done tonight when everyone is watching." Fergal McGill of the Central Competitions Control Committee confirmed afterwards that exact fixture dates and throw-in times will be confirmed by Monday evening. More to follow...
