It's too early yet to let the permutations boffins set about their work. But the margin for error in the Munster SHC is narrowing.
No ground is as redolent of the current era of the Munster SHC - and it may well be looked back on as a golden era - as the artist formerly known as Cusack Park on a sunny day. Back in the time of the provincial knockout, it was confined to the status of a league venue.
18,000 supporters packed into a tight, atmospheric little ground. The Gen Z contingent in their shimmering yellow and blue jerseys occupying the central flank of the West Terrace, bouncing up and down after big, gangly Peter Duggan slips home a goal. Scores whizzing over faster than you can keep track of.
Ennis is regarded as the archetypal 'fortress' venue, though the picture is more complicated in reality. Tipperary have gone three from three on Clare's home turf since the current format was instituted. Bizarrely, all six Clare-Tipp games have been won by the away team in the round-robin era.
Tipperary's home record in the Munster SHC is the poorest of all, potentially not helped by the fact that their stadium has traditionally been regarded as the de facto home of Munster hurling (well, hurling altogether) and is one that all profess to love. The fact that they've been heavily outnumbered by Cork supporters in their last few 'home' matches against them is presumably a factor there too.
The last three Clare-Limerick round-robin games have likewise gone the way of the visiting team, with the caveat that last year's fixture was of little consequence.
In that context, this weekend's meeting could be seen as the resumption of the premier Munster hurling rivalry of the early 2020s after a year's hiatus.
Limerick, seeking their first points, head to Ennis while missing their two most irreplaceable attacking players.
John Kiely's side had reclaimed the tag of All-Ireland favourites in the wake of their league final display, when Aaron Gillane was at his terrifying best.
But he was side-lined with injury on the week of the championship and sat out the two-point defeat to Cork.
There was Cian Lynch's rush of blood when lashing out irritably at Tim O'Mahony in the second half last week. James Owens may have embraced light-touch regulation in deference to Munster championship norms - but he wasn't so laissez faire as to let that one pass.
This may well have cost Limerick a game they were leading up to that point and have left them without one of their most creative players heading into a crunch tie with their neighbours.
There has been a degree of regeneration in the Limerick team in the last couple of years. Previous bit-part players like Aidan O'Connor and Shane O'Brien have been elevated to the status of front-rank stars.
Adam English, another player with no minutes logged in an All-Ireland winning campaign, is a fixture in the middle-third engine room and one of their most reliable point-scorers from play.
One by-product of this turnover is the bench has weakened slightly. Tom Morrissey, who had fallen out of favour, made minimal impression on the game when introduced with eight minutes remaining. However, according to Friday's named team, Morrissey is in this weekend in place of David Reidy.
A loss will mean they'll miss out on the Munster final for the first time since 2018. However, it'll be very far from fatal to their hopes of progression from the province. Last weekend's draw in Walsh Park was very helpful from that perspective.
Between ourselves, Tipp and Waterford could do with Clare not winning this, unless they have strong notions of going to the Gaelic Grounds and winning, something neither have done in the championship in the Kiely era.
Clare had experienced their customary fallow year in the wake of an All-Ireland victory - they resemble the Tyrone footballers in that respect.
After Davy Fitzgerald and Paul Kinnerk oversaw their bolt-from-the-blue victory in the trippy All-Ireland championship of 2013, Clare were the first serious hurling team to make their exit the following summer. More or less the same occurred last year.
They've won eight from eight competitive fixtures in 2026, though we're probably still awaiting further clues as to their form.
Brian Lohan was undiplomatically blunt in admitting that they didn't want to get stuck down in Division 1B for longer than one year and "letting standards drop".
The chief benefit of their stint in 1B, he said, was giving a host of newer players game-time, in a way that wouldn't be possible in the top tier.
The most exciting graduate being 21-year old Clonlara hurler Diarmuid Stritch, who caught the eye both for his elegant point-taking and the striking mane of blonde hair that escapes from underneath his helmet.
Their two most relevant league fixtures came against Dublin, in the opening round and then again in the decider/curtain-raiser in the Gaelic Grounds.
Their forwards were in blistering form in the ludicrously free-scoring opener against Waterford, racking up a record score.
Lohan may have been the most celebrated full-back of the 1990s but his team is these days renowned for their all-out attacking style, with a fondness for shootouts. The Clare manager has expounded at length on his distaste for sweepers, believing that the crutch of an extra body tends to dull defenders' instincts.
Whatever about the strength of their form, in other respects, they are as known a quantity as there is. Their two leading forwards of the era, Tony Kelly and Shane O'Donnell, both with Player of the Year awards on their resume, remain as central as ever.
O'Donnell made an unseasonal appearance in this year's league, a competition which usually falls in the middle of his sporting hibernation. He had an unexpected late cameo in Cushendall, popping over a point in the facile win over Antrim.
They both hit 0-04 from play apiece in the score-fest against Waterford, though both were upstaged on that front by Inagh-Kilnamona newcomer Sean Rynne.
They are part of that select group of veterans - alongside John Conlon - who have the unusual distinction of holding two All-Ireland medals and no provincial medal. (Though Jake Morris joined that grouping last year).
The Clare-Limerick rivalry was the definitive one of the early 2020s. Brian Lohan's side were the one team to consistently make life uncomfortable for Limerick during the peak of their dominance.
Clare v Limerick, Ennis...
— The Sunday Game (@TheSundayGame) May 3, 2026
A fixture that has embellished the round robin era of the Munster hurling championship.
Watch live on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, or listen on RTÉ Radio 1. Throw in, 2pm #gaa #rtegaa #hurling pic.twitter.com/7spmOWxH0L
The 2022 Munster decider, which went to extra-time, rivals 2004 as the best provincial decider of the century. The 2023 final, which contained an aborted, premature pitch invasion, was decided by a single point.
Ironically, Clare's meekest provincial final loss to Limerick came in 2024 - the same year which concluded with the Banner ascending the steps of the Hogan and their manager being hoisted up on the shoulders of his selectors, like a triumphant local councillor who'd just exceeded the quota.
During their many lean decades in the previous century, the Munster championship was the holy grail for Clare hurling and as far as their imagination could stretch.
"The Munster final [in '95] was the greatest day because that's all I ever thought about. The All-Ireland? I had never even thought of playing there," Seanie McMahon said in his Laochra Gael programme.
For this generation, the Munster SHC has become their white whale because they have their All-Irelands.
No team has accumulated more points than Clare in the Munster SHC since 2018 - Limerick are tied with them on 32 overall - but they have no provincial title to show for it.
Watch Clare v Limerick in the Munster Hurling Championship on Sunday from 1.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow our live blog on RTÉ.ie/sport and RTÉ News app and listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
