Dizzying opening weekend in Connacht sets tone for season of surprises

Well, have you got your breath back after that weekend of sport? We have 10 pages of reading for you to reflect on it all, and a bunch more online, so be prepared to be transported from Augusta to Anfield, Cork to Castlebar, with stopovers in Ennis and the Bronx. You’ll have a mountain of air miles by the time you’re done.

Sean Moran looks back on a dizzying opening weekend in the football championship, with the county of New York producing the biggest of the shocks with that penalty shoot-out win over Leitrim. Roscommon, meanwhile, got the better of Mayo while Clare saw off Cork, so those who forecast a season of surprises weren’t wrong.

More predictable, though, was Limerick’s National Hurling League final victory over Kilkenny, Denis Walsh telling us how they won by 11 points despite shooting 15 second-half wides. Imagine when they find their range.

Jon Rahm certainly found his at Augusta, Philip Reid writing about how the Spaniard reeled in Brooks Koepka to win his first green jacket by a margin of four strokes. There was no joy for the Irish in the field, though, Philip examining how it all unravelled for Rory McIlroy who missed the cut.

Leinster haven’t missed the cut all season, their Champions Cup quarter-final win over Leicester on Friday extending their unbeaten run to 22 games. Gerry Thornley looks ahead to a decidedly mouth-watering semi-final against Toulouse, hears from Leinster coach Leo Cullen and talks to man-of-the-match Garry Ringrose.

In soccer, Joe Callaghan reports from Austin where Pennsylvania-born Sinéad Farrelly made an impressive debut for the Republic of Ireland in their 2-0 defeat by the United States, while Ken Early looks at the raft of Premier League sackings this season, concluding that coaches have become more dispensable because “they aren’t as important as they once were”.

In his Tipping Point column, Denis Walsh writes about Stephen Hendry’s failure to qualify for the snooker World Championships and asks how could “one of the greatest players that ever lived descend from such imperiousness to such fragility”.

And Brian O’Connor previews today’s Irish Grand National, while also telling us about Willie Mullins’ eight winners on Easter Sunday. (Look away now: If you had a Euro on him achieving that feat, you’d now be €113,999 the richer).

Telly-watch: It’s Irish Grand National day, with a hefty €275,000 prize awaiting the winner. RTÉ2 and ITV4 bring us live coverage from Fairyhouse (2.30-5.35), with the National due off at 5.0.