Kildare among the counties to opt against pushing back throw-in time to accommodate rugby fans

Kildare are just one of six counties who were offered the chance to push back the start time of their National League clash on Saturday week to accommodate fans who wanted to watch the Ireland-England rugby match directly beforehand.

The St Patrick's weekend Six Nations game kicks off at 5pm on Saturday, while Kildare play their pivotal league game against Down in Páirc Esler, Newry at 7pm, meaning there could be floods of people entering the ground late after watching the end of the rugby.

Down and Kildare were offered the chance to push their games back to 7.30pm by the Central Competitions Control Committee but reneged on the opportunity, just as the county boards of Kerry, Dublin, Donegal and Tyrone did too. Carlow opted to take the CCCC up on their offer, so the throw-in time for the Division 4 clash with Waterford will now be 7.30pm.

While Kerry and Dublin can fall back on the fact that 12,000 tickets have already been sold for the game, and Donegal and Tyrone can back on the heated local rivalry background to their clash bringing in the crowd, it could be a different story up in Newry for Kildare and Down.

The game will be broadcast live on Eir Sports, meaning that plenty of fans will probably opt to stay in the pub or on the coach once the rugby is over, ensuring they can take in both games without missing any of the action from either.