Unlike its football equivalent, the hurling league’s top divisions provide very little jeopardy heading into the final regulation weekend. In the only issue still open in Division One, Cork take on Galway in Cork on Saturday evening with the winners advancing to play Tipperary in the final at the beginning of April.
Should Cork emerge as Tipp’s opponents, it will be the first league final between the counties since the days of Christy Ring – who scored three goals, as Tipperary won – in 1960.
Were Galway to reach the final, it would revive a rivalry that was last played in 2017 when the westerners recorded the first leg of a double. Aside from that encounter, the matchup has been the most common in the past 50 years, as the counties have met nine times since 1975.
Cork have lost just one match to date – against the opponents they will meet again the final if they win this weekend. Between the counties, they are waiting a cumulative 44 years for a league title.
In 1998, Cork announced themselves with a win over Waterford in the final and would win the following year’s All-Ireland and add two more in the six years that followed.
Tipperary’s success in the past decade began in 2008 with a league final win against Galway. All-Irelands followed in 2010, 2016 and 2019 – the latter year’s captain Séamus Callanan the only survivor of the all four title wins.
Current manager Liam Cahill has rebuilt a promising team but is well aware of the scepticism that league success can trigger. Three years ago, he led Waterford to the league title and they had a disastrous championship subsequently. After beating Kilkenny, he raised the issue himself when asked, did it “suit” him to win the league?
“It does. It suits any team that can get to a final and win it. It’s a national title, it’s silverware. We’re six weeks out today from the first round of the Munster championship in Thurles. That’s obviously our goal.
“People say Tipperary under Liam Cahill will win matches in the spring, but can they do it in the summer? We have to prepare in the spring to make sure that we give ourselves a fighting chance in the summer.”
The relegation slots have been filled by Wexford and Clare, the first time in 32 years that the All-Ireland champions have been relegated. Back in March 1993, Kilkenny lost their last match at home against Down and with it their place in the top division.
Yet, fewer than six months later the county was picking up back-to-back All-Irelands, fielding 13 of the same starters from the Down match in Nowlan Park.
Clare will be hoping to find inspiration in that after a difficult league in which they have struggled to reset after taking home the Liam MacCarthy, not helped by an extensive injury list.
The heavy defeat by Cork in Ennis last Sunday week was also an unfortunate marker for the next month’s Munster championship opener.
Wexford, who beat Clare along the way, will close their account against Limerick on Saturday evening. This has been an equally frustrating campaign for Keith Rossiter’s team, who also had a litany of injuries to manage.
Of course, there’s more to relegation than the knock to morale and the hampering of the following season’s team development given the loss of quality opposition from a team’s schedules.
It also has financial consequences. It is reckoned that Wexford will lose between €50,000 and €60,000 in gate receipts next year and Clare’s drop in income likely to be at least twice that given their attendances this season.
On the field, there has been a strong modern correlation between winning the league and the All-Ireland. This century’s 25 All-Ireland winners include 12 teams who won the previous league title, such as the two most recent, Clare and Limerick.
Clare manager Brian Lohan considered last year’s league title an important step towards the later success both in terms of the psychological lift and the opportunity to test the depth of the panel.
“It was very significant for us. There are only three competitions that you can go for and to win one of them was a big deal for us and the group. Big deal for the county as well; we had only won four leagues in our history – the same as our number of All-Irelands.
“There’s great regard for those teams that won leagues in the past. It was particularly rewarding for us because we were missing some of our marquee guys weren’t available. Tony [Kelly, captain] was out injured and Shane [O’Donnell) was just making his first appearance. It was good for the group that we weren’t wholly reliant on either.”
There’ll be no need for pacemakers in Division One B either, as everything has been decided with the exception of Waterford’s still mathematically possible failure to finish second in the table.
They play Offaly, who have already been promoted. If Waterford lose, they could be joined on eight points by Carlow – only if Dublin also lose to Laois – in which case Carlow would advance on the head-to-head. Should both Carlow and Dublin join Waterford on eight points, scoring difference would decide.
At present, Waterford are +56, Dublin +27 and Carlow -1.
At the other end, both Laois and Westmeath have already been relegated.
