RTÉ Delivers a Blockbuster Week of Free-to-Air local, national and international sporting events
This week, RTÉ is the home of unmissable live sporting action, delivering a jam-packed schedule of world-class events free-to-air across video, audio and online with exclusive coverage of local, national and international sporting events. With access you won’t get anywhere else from the Champions League to the Six Nations; from the European Indoor Athletics Championships to the Allianz League, sporting fans can follow every moment, wherever they are across multiple platforms with expert analysis and coverage.
The action kicks-off tonight (Wednesday) with Champions League Live showdown as Liverpool travel to Paris to take on Paris Saint-Germain in the Round of 16, first leg (7.30pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) while tomorrow sees the first of four days of thrilling competition featuring 20 of Ireland’s top Olympians and athletes as we broadcast comprehensive coverage from the 2025 European Indoor Championships in Apeldoorn in the Netherlands across RTÉ One, RTÉ2, RTÉ Player and RTÉ Radio 1.
A very strong Irish team is travelling to the Netherlands featuring a host of Olympians including Sharlene Mawdsley (400m), Sarah Healy (3000m), Jodie McCann (3000m), Sarah Lavin (60mH), Kate O’Connor (Pen), Andrew Coscoran (1500m), Cathal Doyle (1500m) and Paralympian Orla Comerford (60m), RTÉ will be with them every step of the way.
Coverage begins on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player at 6.00pm tomorrow; Paul O’Flynn will be joined by Derval O’Rourke, Rob Heffernan and Sonia O’Sullivan with David Gillick reporting from trackside with Greg Allen and David Matthews on commentary. The Athletics continues across the weekend on RTÉ One, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with radio coverage across all news bulletins and on Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
This weekend, the rugby begins on Friday night (7.35pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) in Cork as Ireland’s U20s take on France when Daire O’Brien will be alongside Darren Cave and Hannah Tyrrell for live coverage from Virgin Media Park, Cork. Commentary comes from Connor Morris and Fiona Coghlan. Meanwhile RTÉ Player will have standalone coverage of England v Italy from Bath.
Saturday sees the highly anticipated live clash from the Aviva Stadium as Ireland take on France in the Guinness Six Nations. Jacqui Hurley will be joined from 1.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player by Jamie Heaslip and Stephen Ferris with commentary from Hugh Cahill, Donal Lenihan and Bernard Jackman. On RTÉ Radio 1 Des Cahill will be live from the Aviva with analysts Niamh Briggs and Shane Byrne while Michael Corcoran will bring listeners all the action along with co-commentator James Downey. Pitch side, we’ll be getting immediate reaction from the players with Damien O’Meara.
The Guinness Six Nations continues on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player with Jacqui Hurley joined by Donal Lenihan, Fiona Coghlan and Stephen Ferris for live coverage of England v Italy from Twickenham with commentary from Des Curran and Darren Cave. Monday sees a look back at all the weekend’s games on Against the Head (8.00pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ player) when Daire O’Brien and guests Bernard Jackman, Darren Cave and Donal Lenihan will have highlights and analysis from a defining weekend in this year’s Guinness Six Nations.
In Gaelic Games, the Allianz Leagues in Football and Hurling are heating up ahead of this year’s GAA Championships which begin next month, Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1 will have live commentaries and reports across the weekend while on Sunday night (9.30pm, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player) Joanne Cantwell will be joined by Jackie Tyrrell and Liam Sheedy for highlights and analysis of a very busy weekend of Hurling including Limerick v Galway, Clare v Cork and Kilkenny v Tipperary. In Camogie, RTÉ Sport Online will have the latest from the Very National League including Galway v Tipperary, Dublin v Waterford and Cork v Kilkenny.
RTÉ Sport Online will have live blogs, previews and reports on all the major events as well as highlights of the action on RTÉ social media platforms and the RTÉ website and RTÉ News app. GAA, soccer and rugby podcasts and the thoughts of top name columnists including Jonny Holland (rugby), soccer with Eoin Doyle, Shane McGrath on hurling and Gaelic football columnist Lee Keegan will have up to date reaction and analysis for listeners on the go.
Sport has the power to bring people together, inspire future generations, and create lasting moments. By making these major events free-to-air, RTÉ delivers all the live action whether you’re watching at home, tuning in on radio, streaming RTÉ Player on the go or catching up across RTÉ Podcasts, our expert analysis and in-depth storytelling ensure you get the most from every game.
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5 March 2025
RTÉ Communications: Fergus McCormack and Jilly McDonough