Saturday sport: Ireland to face Poland in women's World Cup qualifier

Soccer

The Republic of Ireland will hope to record back-to-back wins in their World Cup qualifying campaign on Saturday afternoon.

Carla Ward's side welcome Poland to the Aviva Stadium, fresh from a 3-2 win over the same opposition in Gdansk midweek.

Kick-off at Lansdowne Road is at 3pm.

Shamrock Rovers remain top of the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division on Saturday morning.

Graham Burke's first-half brace helped the Hoops to a 2-1 win over bitter rivals Bohemians at Tallaght Stadium on Friday night.

Colm Whelan scored a penalty for the visitors with 10 minutes to go, and Rovers manager Stephen Bradley admits they had to dig in for the final exchanges.

The bottom two square off in tonight's sole fixture in the top-flight.

Sligo Rovers welcome Waterford to the Showgrounds for a 7:45pm start.

Brentford continue their push for European football in the Premier League's lunchtime game.

Keith Andrew's side are just a point off sixth-placed Chelsea, ahead of hosting Fulham from 12:30pm.

Rugby

Ireland continue their Women's Six Nations campaign with a first-ever game in Galway on Saturday evening.

Scott Bemand's side host Italy at Dexcom Stadium, in a game on course to break the attendance record for a stand-alone Irish women's rugby game.

Kick-off is at 5:40pm.

GAA

Galway and Kilkenny is the pick of Saturday's Leinster Hurling Championship action, which gets up and running in the afternoon.

The Tribesmen were emphatic 36 points to 17 winners over the Cats in their league encounter last month.

Throw-in at Pearse Stadium is at 4:30pm.

Two games get underway at 6:30pm - Offaly meet Dublin in Tullamore,

While Joe McDonagh cup winners Kildare do battle with Wexford at St Conleth's Park.

Snooker

Mark Allen is among those in first-round action on Day One of the World Snooker Championship at the Crucible in Sheffield.

The Antrim native trails China's Zhang Anda by 2 frames to 1, with the first to 10 going through.