NO COMPETITION in Irish sport has delivered as consistently in the past decade.
The Munster Hurling Championship is that rarest of things: a revered tradition improved by tinkering.
But the introduction of the round–robin formats to Munster and Leinster in 2018 was actually more than tinkering: it was an overhaul that risked the sanctity of the Munster competition.
Instead, it renewed it. What makes Munster so good is the closeness of the teams, with Cork–Limerick emerging as a brilliant new rivalry, and the old Limerick–Clare one revitalised.
The standard has been staggeringly high as well: in the six editions of the new format played — 2020 and 2021 saw reversions to straight knock–out during the cursed pandemic years — the province has produced three different All–Ireland champions.
The heavy expectation is that Munster will produce the champions again this year. Before then, there are six frenetic weeks to leave us gasping.
Here are five classics the new format has already produced.
1 Cork 3–28 Limerick 3–26 (2024)
Seconds from exiting the Championship, Cork rebounded
They were gone and then they were saved. Hurling’s redemptive powers inspire a religious fervour in its believers.
On this warm Saturday evening in early May, with the restorative waters of the Lee flowing nearby, Cork’s summer was resurrected.
Seconds from exiting the Championship, they rebounded and the momentum carried them all the way to the All–Ireland final.
This tumultuous night in Páirc Uí Chaoimh will stand as a classic for as long as the game is played, and recalled, and loved.
It was one of those games that was an obvious all–timer even as it unfolded.
Cork went into the match having lost their first two matches, a shock loss away to Waterford followed by defeat to Clare in the Páirc.
Their season and the tenure of Pat Ryan were hanging by the finest of threads.
The consequences of defeat in this match, against a Limerick side with designs on five All–Irelands in a row, would have been unsparing.
Cork produced a defiant display and were eight points to the good late on. Then came the inevitable Limerick fightback, but the game turned on a late home penalty.
Patrick Horgan scored it, and at the final whistle the place dissolved into a river of red.
It was unforgettable.
2 Limerick 2–20 Clare 1–24 (2023)
This match brought Limerick’s first defeat in the Championship since 2019
Clare have been one of the great successes of the Munster round–robin, thanks mainly to the leadership of Brian Lohan.
Only two times in six seasons under the format have they failed to reach the All–Ireland series, but more impressive has been the consistent opposition they provided to mighty Limerick in that time.
This match brought Limerick’s first defeat in the Championship since the All–Ireland semi–final loss to Kilkenny in 2019.
Clare had been getting close (see below), but they had lost to Tipperary in Ennis six days earlier, conceding five goals and finding their season balanced on a razor’s edge less than a week into the Championship.
What followed was Lohan’s Clare distilled to its fierce essence. They would not step back; they would not allow Limerick’s awesome machine to roll over them.
Not on this day.
For all the technical demands made by hurling at its highest level, the past two decades have seen an absolute premium placed on physical power.
What Kilkenny began under Brian Cody, John Kiely has refined to shuddering effect.
Clare matched them on this riotous afternoon in the Gaelic Grounds, the defiance of John Conlon at one end of the field complemented by vital flashes of Tony Kelly’s otherworldly talent.
Limerick would get revenge in another breathless Munster final six weeks later, but Clare’s fierce resolve would bring the ultimate reward in 2024.
3 Clare 0–29 Limerick 1–29 (2022)
It took extra time to separate Clare and Limerick
Before they rolled the rock all the way up in 2023, Clare had to survive falling under its weight.
In 2022 they drew with the champions in Ennis in a reliably frantic clash, and the two teams would meet in the provincial final in Thurles.
It took extra–time to separate the sides on a day that showcased the very best of Kiely’s fearsome team.
Victory in Semple Stadium brought Limerick four provincial titles in a row for the first time since 1936; within two years, they would extend that to six in a row, a record for any Munster county and a fair reflection of just how good they have been.
This was arguably the season they were in their imperial pomp, and they needed all that class against a relentless opponent.
Declan Hannon looked to have won it in normal time before Barry Nash was forced over the sideline by a ravenous band of Clare tacklers.
Tony Kelly scored the resulting sideline cut from a bewildering angle.
Limerick’s fitness and bench resources won the game for them in extra–time, with inspirations like Aaron Gillane finding the energy to decide the match as exhaustion spread all around him — on the pitch and in the stands.
4 Tipperary 0–25 Limerick 0–25 (2023)
Liam Cahill was sent off in the game
Liam Cahill took over Tipperary in the aftermath of a disastrous 2022. The county lost all four matches in the province, and the memories of the 2019 Liam MacCarthy triumph felt distant that barren autumn.
They opened this summer campaign by scoring five goals to beat Clare in Ennis, then conceded four in drawing with Cork next time out.
In this merciless competition, their round–four meeting with Limerick was a game with something for both teams. Limerick were on the rebound having seen their unbeaten record ended by Clare a round earlier, while the point that Tipp earned would prove vital in squeezing them into third place and a spot in a preliminary quarter–final.
Cahill ended up being sent off in the game, with Limerick defender Barry Nash also dismissed during the contest, and the match had the familiar temper of a Munster clash.
John McGrath scored the equaliser for Tipperary, a fortnight after he missed a free that would have put them ahead against Cork. This ended Limerick’s growling recovery from a slow start. At one point, they looked primed to pip Tipp in injury time, before McGrath intervened.
But this was a match elevated by primal instincts: the hits on the field were throwbacks, with each new collision sending the Thurles crowd into a higher frenzy.
5 Waterford 2–22 Tipperary 2–22 (2018)
Waterford were left furious by the decision of an umpire that had a crucial bearing
Controversy is at the heart of the best legends, and in the first year of the rebooted Championship Waterford were left furious by the decision of an umpire that had a crucial bearing on a brilliant match.
Waterford were depleted by injuries but produced a superb first 45 minutes to draw victory tantalisingly close.
They had led at half time by six points, with Tipperary a man down after the dismissal of Michael Cahill just before the break.
Waterford extended the lead to 11 early in the second half and looked good for the win.
But Tipp were given a remarkable boost in the 62nd minute when an umpire decreed that Austin Gleeson had carried the ball across the line after making a catch.
Footage and photographs showed he clearly hadn’t, and there were ugly scenes at the end as the officials required escorts from the pitch. In fact, there would be another contentious call favouring Tipperary, with a Ronan Maher shot awarded by the referee in injury time than an umpire had waved wide.
Waterford’s miseries in the Munster round–robin are well advertised: they have yet to get out of the province under that format, despite producing some excellent performances over the years.
They haven’t been denied in crueller fashion than they were here.
