SATURDAY 17 May
Leinster SHC round 4
Wexford v Offaly, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 5pm
Galway v Antrim, Pearse Stadium Galway, 2.30pm
Joe McDonagh Cup round 4
Westmeath v Carlow, TEG Cusack Park, 3pm
Down v Kerry, Ballycran, 2pm
Christy Ring Cup round 5
Derry v Wicklow, Celtic Park, 1.30pm
London v Tyrone, Ruislip, 1.30pm
Meath v Donegal, Trim, 1.30pm
Nicky Rackard Cup round 5
Fermanagh v Mayo, Brewster Park, 2pm
Louth v Roscommon, Dowdallshill, 2pm
Sligo v Armagh, Tubbercurry, 2pm
Lory Meagher Cup round 5
Cavan v Leitrim, Kingspan Breffni, 2pm
Monaghan v Longford, Inniskeen, 2pm
Warwickshire v Lancashire, Birmingham, 2pm
SUNDAY
Munster SHC round 4
Tipperary v Waterford, FBD Semple Stadium Thurles, 2pm
Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds Limerick, 4pm
Leinster SHC round 4
Kilkenny v Dublin, UPMC Nowlan Park, 3pm
Joe McDonagh Cup round 4
Laois v Kildare, O'Moore Park, 3pm
ONLINE
Live blogs and live scores on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app across Saturday and Sunday.
TV
Live coverage of Tipperary v Waterford and Limerick v Cork on RTÉ2/Player from 1.30pm Sunday. Galway v Antrim and Kilkenny v Dublin live on GAA+ (subscription required).
Highlights on The Saturday Game (9.40pm) and The Sunday Game (9.30pm) on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player.
RADIO
Live commentaries and updates on Saturday Sport/Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1, Spórt an tSathairn/Spórt an Lae ar RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
WEATHER
Saturday: Remaining sunny and warm. Highest temperatures generally of 17 to 22 or 23 degrees, with coolest conditions again in eastern coastal counties, in light to moderate easterly breezes.
Sunday: Widespread sunshine continuing through the day. Highest temperatures of 20 to 24 with light to moderate northerly winds. For more, visit met.ie
After two weekends of slimline hurling offerings, we're back to full-fat championship this week and a full slate of games across both provinces.
Though they are the only county not involved this weekend, Clare will be extremely interested onlookers.
Following last week's failed comeback against Tipperary, the All-Ireland champions, who appear to have lost free-taker Aidan McCarthy, are relying on other counties to keep their chances of progression alive ahead of the final-round trip to Limerick.
Ideally, they want Cork to beat Limerick and Tipp to topple Waterford, which would give them the chance to edge the Treaty on the head-to-head next week, unless the Déise get a result against the Rebels at the same time.
There are various scenarios where multiple teams end up on three points, in which case it would come down to scoring difference, and Clare are considerably behind Cork, Limerick and Waterford on that front.
A draw between Cork and Limerick this Sunday would eliminate the Banner ahead of the final round, as would wins for both Limerick and Tipperary.
A win for Limerick and win or draw for Waterford would mean Clare having to close what is currently a 26-point scoring gap to Cork while hoping they would lose again to the Déise next week. A win for Cork and win or draw for Waterford would mean closing only a slightly more realistic 17-point gap to Limerick while also hoping Waterford lose big against Cork if they draw with Tipp.
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Clare's slim hopes of survival aside, the two Munster clashes this weekend should be cracking grudge matches.
Cork are one of only two teams to have beaten Limerick in successive championship games since John Kiely took over and Clare did it back in 2018 before the Treaty had won the first of their five All-Irelands under him. Ending the five in a row tilt in last year's All-Ireland semi-final was another level entirely.
Though squandering a 12-point lead to draw in Ennis doesn’t look like the form of title favourites, given subsequent events, and the thumping of Tipp carries an asterisk (Note to GAA fans, Asterix is a French comic-book character) considering had an extra man for the entire game.
So here is a chance for Cork to show that they have truly overtaken Limerick as top dogs and confirm a first Munster final spot in seven years at the same time.
Likewise, Limerick can reassert their superiority and prove that, as Kiely said, their golden generation have "years left in the tank".
Maybe neither would mind a draw at the sold-out Gaelic Grounds, given its consequences for Clare, but don’t expect any Ruud Gullit-Mick McCarthy style gentlemen’s agreement between two of the main contenders for Liam MacCarthy.
Shane Barrett is back for Cork, having been sent off in the draw with Clare. He replaces veteran Seamus Harnedy, who scored five points from play in the victory over Tipp but is rumoured to be carrying an injury.
Limerick are unchanged from the XV that always looked in control against Waterford, though Peter Casey, former captain Declan Hannon (yet to appear so far) and Barry Murphy replacing Ethan Hurley, Donnacha Ó Dálaigh and Eddie Stokes in the substitutes.
Cork are all about goals, Limerick, with Dan Morrissey and Sean Finn back in the full-back line, gave the Déise very few opportunities. Will they be able to repeat the trick?
Despite their comprehensive win over 14-man Tipp, the Rebels did cough up some goal chances. Shane O’Brien and Aaron Gillane will be licking their lips.
Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Sean Finn, Dan Morrissey, Michael Casey; Diarmaid Byrns, Kyle Hayes, Barry Nash; Adam English, Will O'Donoghue; Gearoid Hegarty, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Shane O'Brien, David Reidy.
Subs: Shane Dowling, Peter Casey, Colin Coughlan, Seamus Flanagan, Declan Hannon, Barry Murphy, Aidan O'Connor, Fergal O'Connor, Darragh O'Donovan, Paddy O'Donovan, Cathal O'Neill.
Cork: Patrick Collins; Niall O'Leary, Eoin Downey, Sean O'Donoghue; Ciaran Joyce, Robert Downey, Mark Coleman; Tim O'Mahony, Ethan Twomey; Declan Dalton, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Shane Barrett; Patrick Horgan, Alan Connolly, Brian Hayes.
Subs: Brion Saunderson, Damien Cahalane, Ger Millerick, Cormac O'Brien, Tommy O'Connell, Luke Meade, Brian Roche, Diarmuid Healy, Seamus Harnedy, Robbie O'Flynn, Shane Kingston.
For Liam Cahill and Tipperary, it’s a chance to banish the ghosts of 28 May 2023, when Waterford came to Thurles having already been eliminated.
A win and Tipp would have been through to the Munster final, ensuring Limerick (now chasing seven in a row) wouldn’t have contested it in the process.
Instead, Waterford won the first half against the flat hosts by nine points and closed it out by six. One more score for Cork and Tipperary would have been out, but as it was they ended up having to play a preliminary quarter-final against Offaly and were beaten by a fresher Galway team seven days later.
That defeat against a county he had managed for three years torpedoed Cahill’s first season in charge of Tipp and it felt like they had never really gotten over it until last weekend's win over Clare, a first in almost two years in the province.
Confidence will thus have been restored but the task is tougher this Sunday than two years ago: anything apart from a win in what is their final game will leave them depending on other results for qualification.
Waterford are also in contention themselves, having beaten Clare as well, before a familiar inability to live with Limerick’s power. That might also prove a problem against a Tipperary side that appears to have beefed up a bit this term. But aside from aerial threat Mikey Kiely, Waterford have pace up front, which is something their opponents have struggled with, and have won the four championship meetings since 2019.
Cahill has made just one change, Willie Connors replacing the injured Alan Tynan in midfield. Darragh McCarthy, who helped the Premier Under 20s to retain the provincial title on Wednesday, returns among subs after his first-minute dismissal against Cork. U-20 captain Sam O’Farrell starts, having only played 20 minutes midweek.
Peter Queally brings in Kiely and Gavin Fives for Patrick Fitzgerald and Patrick Curran. A win for Waterford would guarantee knock-out hurling in Queally’s first season in charge, even before the final round of games. The Déise have yet to advance in five previous instalments of the round-robin.
Tipperary: Rhys Shelly; Robert Doyle, Eoghan Connolly, Michael Breen; Sam O'Farrell, Ronan Maher, Bryan O'Mara; Willie Connors, Craig Morgan; Conor Stakelum, Andrew Ormond, Noel McGrath; Jake Morris, John McGrath, Jason Forde.
Subs: Barry Hogan, Joe Caesar, Sean Kenneally, Seamus Kennedy, Darragh McCarthy, Peter McGarry, Brian McGrath, Oisin O'Donoghue, Johnny Ryan, Darragh Stakelum, Billy Seymour.
Waterford: Billy Nolan; Ian Kenny, Conor Prunty, Iarlaith Daly; Mark Fitzgerald, Tadhg de Burca, Gavin Fives; Paddy Leavey, Darragh Lyons; Stephen Bennett, Kevin Mahony, Jamie Barron; Jack Prendergast, Mikey Kiely, Dessie Hutchinson.
Subs: Shaun O'Brien, Patrick Curran, Shane Bennett, Tom Barron, Patrick Fitzgerald, Conor Sheahan, Sean Walsh, Austin Gleeson, Kieran Bennett, Padraig Fitzgerald, Reuben Halloran.
Things are a bit less exciting in Leinster, which has tended to have healthy internal competition, despite unfavourable overall comparisons to the strength of Munster teams.
But Kilkenny are well on course to make an eighth provincial final in a row regardless of how they fare on Sunday against the only other team with a 100% record: Dublin.
The Dubs are thriving in Niall Ó Ceallacháin’s first season in the hot seat, having already won what has often been the third-place decider against Wexford and nipped the Offaly revival in the bud.
A first championship victory over Kilkenny since the standout summer of 2013 would be quite the statement, especially down at Nowlan Park. The Cats also haven’t lost in the round robin for just short of two years.
Ó Ceallacháin makes two changes to the team that cruised to victory in Antrim: Andy Dunphy is replaced by Paddy Dunleavy at wing-back while Colin Currie comes in for Ronan Hayes at corner-forward.
Richie Reid and Adrian Mullen return from injury to the Kilkenny starting side, with Tommy Walsh and Harry Shine dropping out from the XV that crushed Offaly. All-Star forward Eoin Cody remains sidelined with a hamstring injury.
Kilkenny: Eoin Murphy; Mikey Butler, Huw Lawlor, Paddy Deegan; David Blanchfield, Richie Reid, Mikey Carey; Cian Kenny, Jordan Molloy; John Donnelly, Billy Ryan, Stephen Donnelly; Adrian Mullen, TJ Reid, Martin Keoghan.
Subs: Aidan Tallis, Tommy Walsh, Padraic Moylan, Zach Bay Hammond, Killian Doyle, Fionan Mackessy, Luke Hogan, Luke Connellan, Owen Wall, Billy Drennan, Gearoid Dunne.
Dublin: Eddie Gibbons; John Bellew, Paddy Smyth, Conor McHugh; Paddy Doyle, Chris Crummey, Paddy Dunleavy; Conor Burke, Conor Donohoe; Brian Hayes, Cian O'Sullivan, Darragh Power; Sean Currie, John Hetherton, Colin Currie.
Subs: Sean Brennan, Daire Gray, Ronan Hayes, Andrew Jamieson-Murphy, David Lucey, James Madden, Riain McBride, Diarmaid O Dulaing, Iain O hEithir, Conal O Riain, Fergal Whitely.
Galway need to beat Antrim and hope Dublin lose to set up an effective Leinster final play-off in Parnell Park next week.
Micheál Donoghue has handed a championship debut to Joshua Ryan while changing a third of his team but will still expect to have enough quality to win in Salthill.
The Clarinbridge man takes the No 2 jersey, with Sean Linnane, Ronan Glennon, Conor Cooney and Anthony Burns replacing Padraic Mannion, David Burke, John Fleming, Tiernan Killeen and Colm Molloy.
Antrim boss Davy Fitzgerald's only change is Cormac McKeown for the suspended James McNaughton, whose absence adds to those of Keelan Molloy and Conor Johnston.
Galway: Darach Fahy; Joshua Ryan, Fintan Burke, Darren Morrissey; Sean Linnane, Gavin Lee, TJ Brennan; Cianan Fahy, Ronan Glennon; Tom Monaghan, Cathal Mannion, Conor Cooney; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Anthony Burns.
Subs: Eanna Murphy, Jack Grealish, Cillian Whelan, Shane Cooney, Michael Garvey, Dan Loftus, Evan Niland, John Cooney, Jason Flynn, Donal O'Shea, Kevin Cooney.
Antrim: Ryan Elliott; Stephen Rooney, Niall O'Connor, Paddy Burke; Joe Maskey, Conor Boyd, Conall Bohill; Gerard Walsh, Eoghan Campbell; Ryan McCambridge, Nigel Elliott, Scott Walsh; Cormac McKeown, Eoin O'Neill, Joseph McLaughlin.
Subs: Ruairi McCormick, Eoin McFerran, Declan McCloskey, Sean McKay, Ryan McGarry, Rory McCloksey, Paul Boyle, Aodhan McGarry, Fred McCurry, Niall McGarrll, Jack McCloskey.
57min: Galway 0-22 Wexford 2-14
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 10, 2025
It's a two-point game with ten minutes or so left to play thanks to a second Wexford goal from Cian Byrne.
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Wexford will have to overwhelm Offaly to keep their slim hopes of advancing alive. Though anything other than a Dublin win in Kilkenny will end them if Antrim can’t also get a result in Galway.
Manager Keith Rossiter has brought in Cian Molloy at corner-back and Cian Byrne, who scored a goal off the bench last weekend, at corner-forward. Conor McDonald is again on the bench having played his first 20 minutes of the season in the loss to Galway.
Johnny Kelly keeps his faith in the same team that lost by 15 points in Kilkenny.
Offaly and Antrim will both be looking for improved showings on the road though may have one eye on what is already a relegation decider in Tullamore next weekend.
Wexford: Mark Fanning; Cian Molloy, Liam Ryan, Simon Donohoe; Conor Foley, Damien Reck, Eoin Ryan; Conor Hearne, Cathal Dunbar; Jack O'Connor, Lee Chin, Kevin Foley; Seamus Casey, Rory O'Connor, Cian Byrne.
Subs: Andrew Kennedy, Charlie McGuckin, Niall Murphy, Darragh Carley, Conor McDonald, Shane Reck, Jack Redmond, Corey Byrne Dunbar, Mikie Dwyer, Darren Codd, Tomas Kinsella.
Offaly: Mark Troy; Ben Conneely, Ciaran Burke, James Mahon; Ross Ravenhill, Donal Shirley, Jason Sampson; Cathal King, Colin Spain; Killian Sampson, Daniel Bourke, Oisin Kelly; Dan Ravenhill, Charlie Mitchell, Brian Duignan.
Subs: Liam Hoare, Sam Bourke, Eoghan Cahill, Brecon Kavanagh, Jack Clancy, Eoin Burke, Padraig Cantwell, David King, DJ McLoughlin, Ben Miller, David Nally.
In the Joe McDonagh Cup, Laois can confirm their place in the final with one round remaining with a fourth consecutive win but Kildare heads will be high after their surprise win over Carlow.
Carlow need to bounce back from that defeat against Westmeath. A victory for the hosts could ensure a three-way tie for second heading into the final weekend, a third loss means they wouldn't be safe.
Kerry can relegate Down in Ballycran while ensuring their own survival, but a win for Ronan Sheehan’s men would drag the Kingdom back into the mire.
In the final round of the Christy Ring Cup, unbeaten Wicklow (7 points) travel to second-placed Derry (6). A draw would be enough for both but if London (5) can inflict a fifth defeat on already relegated Tyrone then they will join the winners in the final. Meath (4) have a faint chance of scraping into the final with victory against Donegal (2); they would need both Derry and London to lose to catch the Oak Leafers on the head to head.
In the Nicky Rackard Cup, 100% Mayo visit 0% Fermanagh with their respective final place and relegation already confirmed. Roscommon (5 points), who missed out on points difference last year, can set up a meeting with their neighbours by winning at Louth (2). Third-placed Sligo (5) or Armagh (4) can pounce if they slip up, Sligo could also pass out the Rossies by making up a seven-point scored deficit.
In the Lory Meagher, Cavan are already in the decider and will close out their preparations against Leitrim (3). They will be joined by Monaghan (6) or Longford (5) who meet in Inniskeen. Warwickshire (2) host Lancashire (0) in the England derby in the battle to avoid the wooden spoon.
