Second Captains

Another weekend, another barely believable series of storylines. We said goodbye to Messi AND Ronaldo on the same day, clearing the way for the supporting cast to take centre-stage. Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are long-established in their own right, but Saturday felt like Kylian Mbappé's coming out party. We talk to Philippe Auclair about the French sensation who appeared in the football world apparently fully grown and self-assured. Ken was in the Luzhniki Stadium yesterday and spoke to Sid Lowe and Barney Ronay after Spain departed limply at the hands of the hosts. And today Ken speaks to us live from the cobblestones outside a boiling hot Samara Airport before heading to Brazil/Mexico, as he bemoans Mexican airplane etiquette, squashed sombreros, Cavani's cheekbone and Kasper Schmeichel's Zaire 1974 impersonation.

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Mayo have illuminated the last decade of football, but they were dumped out of the championship last Saturday night when they lost a classic All-Ireland football qualifier to Kildare in Newbridge. Oisin McConville is in studio to talk about the structure that Mayo's players need in order to get them over the line, why they might not get that with this manager, and why they're still the GAA story of the decade. Michael Duignan is with us as well as we look back on the Munster and Leinster finals from yesterday, and the essential differences between hurling in the two provinces. Plus there's Cork's belief, Boris Becker's diplomatic immunity, and Kildare winning the battle and then winning the war.

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Ulster final day is always pretty special, and Oisin McConville has been there for a few of them over the years. Leader of the DUP Arlene Foster was in Clones yesterday for her first, and we ask Oisin about the special significance of her decision to attend. Oisin and Mike Quirke cast their eye over the action on the field, as Dublin, Kerry and Donegal all completed routine provincial title wins. Shane Horgan joins us to talk about Ireland's dream rugby season - rounded off on Saturday morning with a gutsy series win against one of the Big Three Southern Hemisphere teams. We ask what's been learnt about Ireland's gameplans, and Ireland's players, on this tour?Plus there's Ryan McHugh's fly in a jam-jar impersonation, the potato-eaters' win over Phil "Crocodile" Kearns' men down under, and Felipe is on his way to educate Leinster!

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There may have been a few dissenting voices prior to this weekend, but be in no doubt now - this has been a brilliant World Cup. 27 goals in 6 games meant the tournament went turbo-charged in the last two days. Ken was on hand to see England's hammering of Panama Was he impressed? Raphael Honigstein tells us about the German reaction to Toni Kroos' impossible, magnificent last-minute goal to beat Sweden. And ahead of the last round of matches, we catch up with Oluwashina Okeleji as Nigeria's Super Eagles face Lionel Messi's Argentina. Plus there's Maurice Fitzgerald, sending referees to The Hague, and unflattering Second Captains player ratings.

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The All-Ireland hurling championship was always going to claim a few high-profile early exits, but it's still hard to believe that two of last year's All-Ireland semi-finalists, Tipperary and Waterford, are gone already. Michael Duignan is in studio to help us look back over Clare's seminal win over Tipperary in Thurles, and Kilkenny's ten-point turnaround against Wexford which saw them come back from the brink and land in a Leinster final. Shane Horgan watched Ireland against Australia, and has reasons to be cheerful despite the fact we got schooled in the air, at the breakdown and in contact. It's going to be an interesting week for Joe Schmidt, but Shane has a specific solution in mind for the threats posed by Folau, Beale and Pocock. Plus there's Ken's Presidential Time, the GAA's World Cup survival strategy, MO Salah goes down Grozny way, and bad news for Eddie Jones and his acolytes (Ken, for example).

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