SUNDAY 11 JUNE
Munster SHC final
Clare v Limerick, LIT Gaelic Grounds, 1.45pm
Leinster SHC final
Galway v Kilkenny, Croke Park, 4pm
ONLINE
Live blog of both games, live scores and match reports on RTÉ.ie and the RTÉ News app.
TV
Both finals will be shown live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, coverage begins from 1pm.
RADIO
Live updates on RTÉ Radio 1's Sunday Sport.
WEATHER
A mix of cloud and scattered showers but there will be some sunny spells at times too. Highest temperature of 20 to 24 degrees with little wind. For more go to met.ie.
The two biggest provincial hurling games of the season are down for decision this Sunday, much to the exasperation of those who'd like to take in – or even watch – both.
There is some good news for Galway and Kilkenny fans heading to Croke Park with the ground opening early at 1.15pm so the Munster final can be shown on the big screens. No need to try and find a TV in a cramped pub around Jones’ Road so.
No matter where you watch, we could be in for a special day’s hurling.
Munster magic
The 2023 Munster championship will live long in the memory, and the cherry on top of a storming final – just like last year please - would surely elevate it to one of the best ever.
It’s no wonder that it took just 23 minutes for tickets released to the public to sell out for the Gaelic Grounds clash.
Limerick will have home advantage after the counties reached an agreement on the final venue, but Clare did win here in April in the Munster championship so they should hold no fear of the setting.
That victory ended Limerick's 17-game championship unbeaten run and it set about a three-game winning streak that saw Brian Lohan’s side finish top of the pile after an opening day loss to Tipperary when they conceded five goals.
"There's a psychological tilt towards, 'why can't we beat them?'" - @BrenCummins1 says Limerick remain a supreme team, but some of the old fear factor they possessed may be fading I @jacquihurley #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/B2MjxX4KV4
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) June 8, 2023
It’s now 25 years since Clare tasted Munster glory, and how they’d love to get their hands on the Mick Mackey Cup.
Their final record doesn’t make for enjoyable reading though. In their history, pretty much for every title they win (6), they lose four finals (23). This will be their sixth final appearance since that '98 success – a season that would ultimately end in controversy following the Offaly protests over time-keeping after the semi-final – and they have lost five times since, in 1999, 2008, 2017, 2018 and last year’s extra-time epic with Limerick.
There is a spark there this season though. The collection of goals conceded against Tipperary in round one were best watched through the fingers, the unfortunate Eamonn Foudy losing his place in goals to Eibhear Quilligan from there on in, but the response has instilled a Banner belief that will surely bring war this weekend.
Limerick away was next on the schedule after that Tipp loss and a defeat their would had left Clare’s season teetering on the brink, but the likes of David Fitzgerald, Aidan McCarthy and Tony Kelly drove them to their first championship win over the Shannonsiders at the venue since 1901.
Waterford were dismissed before they showed real steel, booking their final spot in the process, as an additional-time Diarmuid Ryan winner left Ennis rocking against Cork.
The fact that it's Limerick awaiting them must be somewhat demoralising for the other contenders.
John Kiely’s side flirted with championship elimination in Munster, and a scoring difference of +2 after four rounds speaks volumes of how hard they were pushed – but here they are, attempting to become the first county apart from Cork (who have achieved the feat three times) to win five consecutive Munster titles.
It looked like business as usual throughout the league with plenty of pundits wondering if they had their strongest squad yet.
The question marks flowed throughout the Munster championship however, but Tipperary’s surprise reversal at the hands of Waterford gives them a chance to deliver an emphatic answer.
Cian Lynch came off the bench for the final minutes of their crucial Cork win last time out, and a few weeks’ rest on his hamstring is most welcome for Kiely. What a time this would be for Gearóid Hegarty and Lynch to see their seasons catch fire.
Much of the fight has been carried by Diarmaid Byrnes, immense against the Rebels, and he'll be relishing another big occasion on home turf to remind the country of just how good they are.
"Teams start to catch up. There’s a psychological tilt towards, 'Why can’t we beat them?’ and I think a lot of the counties have gone to that level now," Brendan Cummins opined on the RTÉ GAA podcast earlier this week. Sunday should tell us a lot more about that perception.
Languid Leinster
While the Munster championship has been a roller-coaster of emotions, Leinster has had a more relaxed, languid feeling to it, apart from Westmeath’s shock win over Wexford.
Once Galway defeated Wexford and Dublin dropped a point in Belfast on the opening day, there was always a feeling that the big two would be in the final shake-up. And so it came to pass.
The race for the Bob O’Keefe Cup has undoubtedly played second fiddle to events further south, but avoiding that helter-skelter environment may pay off further down the line.
That will certainly be what managers Henry Shefflin and Derek Lyng will be hoping anyway, and victory on Sunday means a lot more than the silverware on offer.
The losing side will enter at the All-Ireland quarter-final stage and will almost certainly face a huge challenge against Tipperary, who first have to navigate past Joe McDonagh Cup finalists Offaly. The winner, of course, advances to the semi-final. Last year, Kilkenny took advantage of that as they took out pre-match favourites Clare who looked out of legs after an exhausting Munster campaign and the need for a tough quarter-final against Wexford.
This has been a regular final fixture since Galway’s admission to Leinster in 2009.
In fact, this will be their eighth final meeting with Kilkenny 5-3 ahead.
Surprisingly, they are rarely tight affairs bar 2018 when a replay was needed. The winning margin over the other six games is a sizeable 6.17 points. A draw in the group stage points towards a tighter affair this time around though.
We may have gotten use to Brian Cody not being on the line for Kilkenny games, but if they are to succeed it’ll still be strange not seeing him looking up to his players on the steps of the Hogan.
The last time Kilkenny were in a Leinster final without Cody in charge – 1997 – current boss Derek Lyng was a minor unable to break onto the inter-county panel.
Six All-Irelands and two All-Stars point to a late bloomer but he’ll be hoping for an early start here in the Cats’ succession plan.
The shadow boxing is done - Galway v Kilkenny in the Leinster SHC final this weekend will be a pulsating heavyweight contest - and a must-win for the Tribesmen, says Brendan Cummins #RTEgaa pic.twitter.com/NJCX2Crhji
— RTÉ GAA (@RTEgaa) June 8, 2023
Their group stage campaign ended with a loss to Wexford but with their final spot already guaranteed, the real pain came in the form of a growing injury list. Richie Reed and Paddy Deegan were already on the treatment table heading into the game, and Mossy Keoghan, Mikey Butler and Adrian Mullen all joined them last time out. The latter’s hand injury is of particular concern with reports his season could possibly be at an end.
Kilkenny scored heavy in the group stages but their goal-scoring was a bit erratic. Ten was an acceptable tally, but they drew three blanks with five-goal hauls against Antrim and Wexford. Martin Keoghan [4] has nearly half of those with Eoin Cody [3], TJ Reid [2] and Tom Phelan the others to raise green flags.
Shefflin’s Galway hit the net 13 times, Conor Whelan with five of those and Brian Concannon and Kevin Cooney helping themselves to a brace apiece.
RTÉ analyst Shane McGrath feels that there is plenty of pressure on Galway heading into the fixture.
"For Henry and his troops they need to win this Leinster title. There needs to be a cup on the table with the group that's there.
"Especially with Henry going in and getting involved, the high expectations and standards he has himself personally, what he's done as a player, as a manager with his club; he'll want to bring that in.
"He's a notorious winner so he'll want silverware. He needs something to back up the work that they're doing there. That's where Galway really have to go at this."
So after that languid group stage, expect a bit more blood and thunder. Munster may have garnered the headlines, but Leinster could be in for an explosive finish.
Watch a provincial hurling final double-header on Sunday, Limerick v Clare (1.45pm) and Kilkenny v Galway (4pm), follow a live blog on all matches on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to updates throughout the day on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
