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Another bumper GAA weekend in May, with top billing shared between a number of games.
The two biggest contenders in my book are naturally Pearse Stadium for the clash of Galway and Kilkenny and the most important Cork-Tipp contest for years. Sorry Liam Kearns, that’s in the small ball.
Thurles will surely see the biggest attendance of the two days because both sets of supporters will travel.
They will each realise the gravity of the situation, the home side needing all the lift they can get, while the visitors are on a roll and what better place to see that in action than Semple Stadium. Add to that the opportunity to possibly remove Tipp from the Munster equation.
That is now a live possibility after just one week. A loss here for the Premier a would make it a very long way back for them.
Having witnessed this Cork side in action up close last Sunday in Pairc Uí Chaoimh I strongly believe the Tipp forwards will struggle to cope with the Rebel backs because on last week’s evidence, they are superb.
I haven’t seen a faster set of defenders and not only are they quick, they are prepared to trust that speed with discipline. They do not give up soft frees. This is not the back six you want to face when trying to rediscover your spark.
There was no fire on view in the Gaelic Grounds if you were a Tipp supporter. That must have been the most devastating aspect of the defeat, because Limerick didn’t even need to go full throttle. They were not flattered by the six point margin and I just wonder if that failure to pad the scoreboard late on will come back to haunt them.
Unlike Leinster where the top three are already clear, in Munster after week one we have two home wins. By Sunday night it could well be four, possibly six in another week’s time.
It is not a bold prediction to anticipate that positions two, three and four could well be decided by score difference. In such situations, with the game almost over, a wide is not necessarily as good as a score.
Tipp off the pace
Tipp are already minus six and right now Michael Ryan would take a minus five at half three on Sunday if you offered it to him. There is no county in Ireland to reach crisis mode quicker than Tipp and it is baffling how that is so.
They are too good on paper to be written off, but consistency in two year blocks seems beyond them.
All-Ireland champions in 2016, they battled Galway to a standstill in last year’s semi-final but looked woefully off the pace at about 2am on Sunday night when I eventually sat down to watch their opening Munster championship match (new Pairc Uí Chaoimh, same slow traffic jams).
As someone whose Sky Plus recordings contains only GAA matches, I was beginning to think I hit the wrong button and was watching the league semi-final between the pair earlier in the year, until I remembered that game had more life to it.
How can they bring calm and confidence back to this squad in seven short days?
It’s a tall order because in previous years when they were caught early in Munster there was usually a month to get their house in order. In a week, the best you could do is to get one room painted.
With so much to play for the tried and trusted will surely be back, 100% fit or not. It mightn’t be enough because Cork have now won four games on the trot in the Munster championship.
This is their time of year, no better county than Cork for momentum.
I’ll be in Cusack Park but I’ll have an ear on Thurles. I’ll need a radio and a phone because the other ear will try and tune into Galway and Kilkenny.
If the Tribesmen are still the same animal as last year they will win this one well. If they are slightly vulnerable they still win, but not so well.
Leinster’s puzzle was solved when the Dubs came up agonisingly short two Sundays in a row. Wexford will breathe a little easier now and while Offaly might be fancying their chances in Tullamore, I don’t see the shock coming there.
Wexford will be even stronger physically than the Cats were seven days earlier and also a game fresher than the Faithful.
In Ennis we don’t know which Waterford will be coming to visit, but I’m hoping it is the one that doesn’t like the place because Clare have a good record against them at home.
I fancy Clare to improve on last week and establish themselves early against a side coming in cold.
Football
I believe there is football on too this weekend.
It is here that Tipp might be able to get one over on Cork, scuppering the grand plans for a Cork-Kerry Munster final back in the beautiful new Pairc Ui Chaoimh!
This could just be an aperitif for what is already looking like a strange and wonderful year. All we need now is for Wicklow to take an immense liking to Portlaoise on Sunday and give the Dubs an hour of it. I’ll need a second radio if that happens!
Leinster should bank the first ever double of Champions Cup and Pro14 titles when they host Scarlets this Saturday night in the Aviva.
The best side by a distance in European rugby were vulnerable last weekend against Munster, due to that tricky tie falling just a week on from Bilbao.
Leinster though managed to get through that test, even with the likes of Kearney and Sexton rested, but expect close to the full monty lining out this weekend.
This is no end of season finale with summer holidays beckoning either, as most of those on Leinster duty will be travelling to Australia with Ireland for three test matches in just over a fortnight.
The Scarlets come to Dublin as previous party spoilers, having defeated Munster in last season’s showpiece, and do boast an identical league record to Leinster, but they will not have faced a team as strong as Leinster in a final.
Parting gift
There will be some fond farewells for Isa Nacewa and Jordi Murphy (if they start), emotional substitutions only possible of course when the result has already been wrapped up.
All that is needed to round off the most impressive season ever put together by an Irish provincial side is champagne rugby. The weather will cooperate, have no doubt the champions elect will as well.
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