Clare and Tipperary each make one change to their teams for Sunday's National Hurling League final in Limerick. Tony Griffin replaces Enda Flannery on the Clare side, which is otherwise unchanged from the 15 which comfortably defeated Kilkenny last weekend. Griffin comes in at right wing forward with Gearoid Considine moving over to the left.
Tipperary's change was forced on manager Nicholas English. Wing back Paul Kelly, who picked up a nasty finger injury against Galway, is replaced by Micheal Ryan who came in for the injured Kelly in the semi-final. Elsewhere in the halfback line, Eamonn Corcoran and John Carroll switch positions as they did against Galway when Corcoran played at centreback.
The NHL final will be a dress rehearsal for the counties' championship meeting on June 3rd and both selections pretty much represent the first choice available to English and his Clare counterpart Cyril Lyons. John Leahy remains on the bench but his lack of match practice will militate against a championship start, although Paul Kelly will probably return. For Clare, Sean McMahon will presumably return at centre back when he recovers from a bad hamstring injury.
Tipperary won the title only two years ago and contested last year's final. Clare for all their success in the past six years never won a League in that time. The last occasion on which the county reached the final was in 1995. Lyons came on as a substitute that day but otherwise there are only five survivors of that starting line-up against Kilkenny: David Fitzgerald, the Lohan brothers Brian and Frank, Liam Doyle and James O'Connor.
Meanwhile, RTE has announced its biggest live broadcasting package to date. Yesterday at a media lunch in Montrose, details of the Sunday Game's 33-match programme were released. Launched by the programme's newly-appointed editor Michael Lyster - who will continue to present it - the schedule will begin on Sunday week with the Ulster senior football championship meeting of Fermanagh and Donegal.
A significant new feature of the series will be the Saturday coverage of the new qualifier series in the football championships. These matches bring together teams defeated at each stage of the championship up until provincial finals and will run parallel to the conventional provincial championships until the last eight counties are drawn against each other in what will be the first series of All-Ireland quarter-finals.
The Sunday Game will continue to provide a highlights programme on the evenings of matches. The team of guest analysts has been expanded to introduce newcomers Ger Loughnane and Michael Duignan. Loughnane is one of the most outspoken figures in the game of hurling and will be joined by Duignan, the former Offaly hurler who won two All-Ireland medals with the county before retiring this year.
Meanwhile, Laois hurlers have made one enforced change for Sunday's Leinster preliminary championship final against Meath. Former All Star nominee Niall Rigney will miss out after being sent off last weekend on a straight red card. His place will be taken by Nicholas Lacey. Rigney will also miss the first round proper against Dublin at the end of the month.
Even if he hadn't been ruled out by suspension, Rigney would have been injured as it was revealed that he had broken a toe just before his dismissal.
Clare (SH v Tipperary): D Fitzgerald; C Forde, B Lohan (capt), F Lohan; L Doyle, J Reddan, G Quinn; T Griffin, J O'Connor, G Considine; D Forde, N Gilligan, B Murphy.
Tipperary: B Cummins; T Costello, P Maher, P Ormond; J Carroll, E Corcoran, M Ryan; C Gleeson, T Dunne (capt); M O'Leary, E Enright, L Cahill; E Kelly, D Ryan, L Corbett.
Laois (SH v Meath) - J Lyons; P Mahon, S Dooley, D Killeen; N Lacey, P Cuddy, J O'Sullivan; D Conroy, J Phelan; C Cuddy, D Cuddy, O Dowling; F O'Sullivan, D Rooney, P Phelan.
