NEWS THAT ANDY Lee’s Thomond Park title defence has been cancelled and rescheduled for Manchester came as a massive disappointment to Irish sports fans.

But the move has added to what was already shaping up to be one of the biggest sporting weekends of the year.

The WBO middleweight champion will now face Billy Joe Saunders at the MEN Arena in Manchester on Saturday 10 October.

It kicks off a massive 24 hours with both the Irish rugby team and the Irish soccer team in action the following day.

At 4.45pm on Sunday 11, Joe Schmidt’s side take on France in the Rugby World Cup.

The result of that clash will determine the final standings in Pool D, and could decide which country progresses to the quarter-finals as pool winners.

Later that evening, all eyes will turn to Warsaw when Ireland take on Poland in their final Euro 2016 qualifier at 7.45pm.

The Boys in Green currently lie fourth in Group D, four points outside the automatic qualification places.

But if results go their way against Gibraltar, Georgia and Germany, they could still be in contention come the final round of matches.

Clear the calendar and book your spot on the couch. It could be a weekend for the ages.

Loss of Andy Lee fight could cost Limerick quite a bit of money