SATURDAY
Division 1A
Galway v Kilkenny, Pearse Stadium, 5.15pm (LIVE ON RTÉ2)
Limerick v Cork, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 7pm
Division 1B
Dublin v Down, Parnell Park, 5pm
Division 3
Tyrone v Armagh, Tyrone GAA Centre of Excellence, 2pm
Division 4
Leitrim v Lancashire, Heartland Credit Union Páirc Sean MacDiarmada, 1pm
Sligo v Cavan, Enniscrone, 1.30pm
SUNDAY
Division 1A
Waterford v Tipperary, Azzurri Walsh Park, 3.15pm
Division 1B
Clare v Wexford, Zimmer Biomet Páirc ChÃosóg, 1.15pm
Kildare v Carlow, Cedral St Conleth’s Park, 2pm
Division 2
Kerry v Mayo, Austin Stack Park, 2pm
Laois v Meath, Laois Hire O’Moore Park, 2pm
Westmeath v Derry, TEG Cusack Park, 2pm
Division 3
Donegal v Wicklow, O’Donnell Park, 1pm
Fermanagh v Roscommon, Brewster Park, 2pm
Division 4
Warwickshire v Longford, Páirc na hÉireann, 1.30pm
ONLINE
Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport.
TV
Live coverage of Galway v Kilkenny on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player from 4.45pm on Saturday.
TG4 will broadcast live coverage of Limerick-Cork from 6.45pm on Saturday, as well as the remaining Division 1B game between Waterford-Tipperary on Sunday (3.15pm throw-in).
The Division 1B clash between Clare and Wexford will also be screened on TG4 (1.15pm).
Highlights and reaction to all the weekend’s action on Allianz League Sunday, RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player, 9.30pm.
RADIO
Live commentaries and updates on RTÉ Radio 1’s Saturday Sport and Sunday Sport as well as Spórt an tSathairn and Spórt an Lae on RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta.
WEATHER
Saturday: A largely dry day with spells of sunshine, though isolated light showers will drift up from the south. Highest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees in light to moderate southerly winds, fresher on Atlantic coasts.
Sunday: A largely cloudy start on Sunday with just a few sunny spells and the odd patch of light rain and drizzle in the south and east. More persistent rain will develop across the western half of the country through the day. Highest temperatures of 8 to 12 degrees in moderate southerly winds. For more, visit met.ie.
Relegation situation
It’s probably as well from a narrative and suspense perspective – to the extent that the league has much of either – that the Galway-Kilkenny Division 1A match precedes Waterford-Tipperary by a day.
The conundrum facing Waterford is the most straightforward. Defeat to Tipp at Walsh Park this week means they will return from whence they came, alongside Offaly.
Peter Queally’s side conclude their league programme this weekend, their bye-week falling in Round 7, which probably wasn’t the most desirable schedule. On the other hand, they may have benefitted from catching Limerick cold in the latter’s first match in Round 2, so swings and roundabouts. A loss on the weekend will see them finish on four points.
If either Galway or Kilkenny are still stuck on four points after their remaining two games – and only one of them can be – then they’ll have Waterford on the head to head.
A draw against Tipp will give Waterford a decent chance of staying up, while a win won’t secure their safety but will put them in strong shape while also dragging the All-Ireland champions into trouble.
The good news for Waterford is Tipp’s form hasn’t been terribly compelling.
Their heavy loss at home to Limerick looked like one of those league games where two teams are operating on different schedules with different priorities.
Tipp were conspicuously leggy and devoid of energy, leading to suspicions they were in the midst of the famous heavy training block. Limerick, by contrast, seemed determined to make a statement against the champions.
The result was a very one-sided encounter, with Tipp, led by Noel McGrath, mustering a bit of a gallop in the second half to prevent the score from getting uglier than it was.
The bad news for Waterford could be their own form. After the stirring showing in Nowlan Park, their display in Salthill was more reminiscent of Round 1 against Cork.
Mercifully from a Waterford perspective, that game wasn’t televised anywhere. If they were unlucky to lose at all in Kilkenny, then they were lucky, according to every account, to only lose by eight in Pearse Stadium. Galway won 2-18 to 0-16 in a game where neither team managed a score in the final 13 minutes. The hosts missed a penalty and several scoring chances in that period to push the winning margin out further.
Still, the game is in Walsh Park, where Waterford have only lost once in seven games under the present management. (Tipp still haven’t won there in the round robin – although this is only two games.)
The Ballygunner contingent are back and Waterford did improve against the wind in the second half after Calum Lyons and Tadhg de Burca were introduced last weekend.
Kilkenny head west for first time this year
The televised RTÉ game is in Salthill the night before, where neither Galway or Kilkenny are free of relegation trouble – though neither are they out of the reckoning for a league final, especially the former.
Neutrals harbour a long-standing distrust of Galway in this fixture due to their struggles in the more high profile encounters, specifically Leinster finals. However, that doesn’t apply so much to these games.
Kilkenny haven’t beaten Galway in Salthill since the peak of their dominance back in March 2009. There have, however, only been six games there between the teams in the interim, Galway and Kilkenny being divided into separate groups in the neutered league format of the early 2020s. The westerners won the league games in Salthill in 2011, 2013 and 2015, and won the championship round robin matches there in 2018 and 2022 (the latter being the ‘handshake game’). They scraped a draw in the 2024 Leinster SHC.
Kilkenny’s Darragh Corcoran
The league was always going to be a slog for Derek Lyng’s side, given their list of absentees.
As usual, they’ve worked like dogs to remain competitive in games. Their showing away to Limerick in the Gaelic Grounds was typical of them in this campaign, huge endeavour but too much inaccuracy in attack.
Eoin Cody struck 1-05 that day in an excellent performance in general play but his horror-show on the frees has seen him taken off them altogether, with Cian Kenny assuming duties from placed balls until the 38-year-old TJ Reid returns.
In the absence of many regulars, Darragh Corcoran – particularly impressive in Limerick – has emerged as a big plus at centre-back.
The mood music around Galway is much more upbeat than 12 months ago, when they were infected by stasis.
They have converted the positive performances against Tipperary and Cork in the opening rounds into points in the more winnable games against Offaly and Waterford and they beat the latter even more easily than the eight-point margin suggested.
Jason Rabbitte tries to wrench himself free against Waterford
Some of the younger crop have broken into the squad and are swimming rather than sinking. Jason Rabbitte, Cillian Trayers and Aaron Niland have all looked good, while Micheál Donoghue is drip-feeding the established players back into the mix.
Loughrea defender Kieran Hanrahan made an impressive debut against Waterford, while Cian Daniels has gone well in midfield in the last two outings.
Based off form, venue and available personnel, Galway should fancy it this weekend, albeit Kilkenny will likely prove a stubborn test as per usual. A victory for the hosts will give them a puncher’s chance of a league final appearance in Limerick regardless of events elsewhere.
Another bumper crowd anticipated in Limerick
There are a multitude of potential league final pairings with two rounds remaining but we know that Cork are practically certain to be there while Limerick are best placed to join them.
The Cork-Tipp game has already beaten the league’s attendance record and they’re expecting a big crowd in Limerick on Sunday, with tickets for the Mackey Stand and uncovered stand opposite likely to sell out.
Ben O’Connor’s team have maximum points though this is their toughest assignment yet against Limerick side who looked close to their best in Thurles.
Limerick and Cork collide again at the Gaelic Grounds
With most of the golden generation having plenty of mileage on the clock, there’s been a timely infusion of newer players.
Both Aidan O’Connor and Shane O’Brien have enhanced their reputation significantly in this campaign, both hitting 0-06 from play against Tipp, the former’s tally reaching 0-11 when placed balls are included.
As in many of their signature performances, they barely concerned themselves with goals, instead racking up a dizzying points tally.
Cork hit three goals against Kilkenny and missed several chances to score more. They are the in-form team in the country though it’s not that long since they took a dreadful hiding at the Gaelic Grounds.
This is probably the biggest threat to their winning streak. Limerick have home advantage and greater need for a win if they want a league final date. They have picked a side that close to full strength for the game.
But there’ll be more important meetings between these two before the year is done.
Division 1B: Has the dice rolled in Wexford’s favour?
Dublin and Wexford are tussling for the remaining promotion spot
It would be a curious turnaround if Wexford, after all their hardships in this league, finished it by earning promotion back to the top tier.
The fixtures may well have fallen for them. Clare are already promoted with five wins from five and have nothing riding on this game.
Were Davy Fitz still in charge of Wexford, the Clare management would probably still have targeted a substantial win in this fixture out of spite.
But they hardly harbour the same animus towards Keith Rossiter.
Wexford, their squad buffeted by a wave of opt-outs and some injuries, came scarily close to losing to both Antrim and Down, and only broke clear of Carlow in the final 10 minutes.
Back mixing it with Liam MacCarthy opposition against Dublin in a heated Round 4 game, they were much improved with Simon Roche and Conor Hearne scoring freely and Kevin Foley hustling home two goals from close range.
They probably should have closed out the game in Croke Park, leading by a point with seconds remaining and the Dubs by then reduced to 13 men. In retrospect, Lee Chin might have been better advised to put his last-gasp free dead rather than attempt a long-range score, though it’s possible the referee would have allowed Dublin the chance of one more attack in any case.
If Wexford do lose in Ennis, promotion is all but gone from them. Dublin have only games against the league’s bottom two, Carlow and Down, remaining and already boast a score difference advantage as it is. (The head to head metric is redundant given Dublin-Wexford finished in a draw.)
At the other end, Carlow’s prospects of surviving in the division shipped a possibly fatal blow with the heavy loss in Corrigan Park. The situation around Antrim hurling had been at defcon 1 following the defeat to Kildare (or whichever is the worst defcon) but Davy Fitzgerald quietened his army of critics with the resounding win over Carlow a fortnight ago.
On form, it would be hard to fancy Carlow in Newbridge though a win would give them a fighting chance of survival. Though only a fighting chance. Should Antrim beat Down in the Round 7 Ulster derby, it would likely come down to a score difference race between Kildare, Antrim and Carlow with Pat Bennett’s side the likeliest to lose out based on the games remaining.
If Carlow lose this weekend, they are surely gone.
Division 2 at a glance…
With wins in successive weekends against Kerry and Westmeath, Laois are set fair for a quick return to Division 1B.
They host Meath this weekend, who are currently second having beaten the league’s bottom three sides.
Having drawn in Tralee, Kerry and Westmeath are essentially in a score difference foot-race with two games remaining, with the Kingdom holding a massive head start: +37 plays +5.
Should Kerry navigate their fixtures, it’s hard to see Westmeath overhauling that even in games against Derry and Mayo.
Watch Galway v Kilkenny in the Allianz Hurling League on Saturday from 4.45pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1
Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.35pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RTÉ News App and on rte.ie/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1