Saturday sport: Leinster and Munster face off at Croke Park, Ange Postecoglou sacked
Kenneth Fox
Rugby
Munster are looking for a famous Croke Park victory when they take on their rivals in the URC later.
Leinster host their neighbours at GAA HQ, with the visitors having started the season with three wins from three.
Tadhg Beirne returns to their starting lineup while Josh van der Flier captains the Blues.
Kick-off is at 5:15 pm.
The calm before the storm 💙
Just 9️⃣0️⃣ minutes to go until showtime at Croker 💥#LEIvMUN #NeverLessThanEverything pic.twitter.com/8bTPZqY2eu
— Leinster Rugby (@leinsterrugby) October 18, 2025
Ulster have kicked off the first leg of their South African tour.
They are taking on the Sharks in Durban and lead 20-5 in that one.
Michael Lowry and Werner Kok crossed over for a pair of early tries for the visitors.
Already on Saturday, the Lions beat the Scarlets 29-18 to get their first victory of the season.
Soccer
Nottingham Forest sacked manager Ange Postecoglou following a 3-0 defeat to Chelsea.
Captain Reece James scored and assisted as the Blues came away from the City Ground with the victory at lunchtime.
The Australian leaves after failing to win any of his eight games in charge.
Five games have reached halftime in the Premier League.
Manchester City are 2-0 up at home to Everton.
High-flying Bournemouth are 2-0 up on Crystal Palace at Selhurst Park.
Ahead of that game, Palace captain Marc Guehi informed the club he will not be signing a new contract.
It clears the way for the defender to join Liverpool after a deal between the clubs in the summer collapsed.
Newcastle have made the long trip to Brighton, where they trail 1-0 thanks to a Danny Welbeck goal.
Meanwhile, Sunderland are 1-0 up on Wolves with struggling Burnley also 1-0 up on Leeds at Turf Moor.
The evening game sees Fulham welcome Arsenal to Craven Cottage from 5:30pm.
The Republic of Ireland have fallen one place in the latest Fifa World Rankings.
Heimir Hallgrimsson's team now sit in 62nd, just 8 places above their lowest ever placing of 70th.
Wales have fallen 4 places to 34th, Scotland are up 5 to 38th, and Northern Ireland have jumped 3 places to 68th.
Spain still leads the way in first, while England remains 4th in the rankings.
Ireland's next set of fixtures is next month when they welcome Portugal to Dublin before travelling to play Hungary.
Golf
Shane Lowry is three shots off the lead following the third round of the DP World India Championship.
The Offaly native carded 69 today to move up to third on 14-under-par, with Keita Nakajima of Japan leading the way on 17-under.
Earlier, Rory McIlroy carded 68 in New Delhi to sit on 10-under.
GAA
A number of hurling finals have been postponed in Cork due to the oncoming weather.
The deciders in the Senior A and Intermediate A championships will be refixed to next Saturday as part of a triple header at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
Meanwhile, Waterford's Scor na nÓg final has been postponed in the interest of health and safety for those travelling.
