\n
Part 2, but how many sequels to come?<\/p>\n
It seems the main theme weaving through the 2026 season is just how many times will Cork and Limerick actually meet?<\/p>\n
The discourse has been sparking the idea of a legendary rivalry this season, with three games guaranteed (we’re ignoring the Munster League pre-season clash) and the promise of possible Munster final and All-Ireland series encounters too.<\/p>\n
For some, Liam MacCarthy holders Tipperary especially, there must be some head-scratching about such conversations \u2013 but maybe that\u2019s the way they\u2019d want it.<\/p>\n
Any misspeak will be pointed out down the line, for now we know the Munster rivals are trying to improve on their almost identical final records.<\/p>\n
Cork have won 15 league titles, Limerick 14. Cork have lost nine finals, Limerick also nine.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s noteworthy is that they\u2019ve managed to avoid each other in deciders mostly, with their last final meeting coming all the way back in the 1979\/80 season.<\/p>\n
It took two games to separate them, Limerick\u2019s Ollie O\u2019Connor with a last-gasp goal at P\u00e1irc U\u00ed Chaoimh to force a replay.<\/p>\n
The Rebels did come out on top to complete a hurling and football league double, but Limerick would gain revenge in the Munster final \u2013 O’Connor with another green flag as they ended Cork\u2019s six-in-a-row provincial hopes.<\/p>\n
Different outlooks a year on<\/p>\n
Cork\u2019s dominant dismantling of Tipperary<\/a> in last year’s Division 1A final felt significant for various reasons.<\/p>\n Firstly, it was their first league title since 1998 and a first national trophy in 20 years. A monkey off the back.<\/p>\n Secondly, it served notice that they were the team to beat, rubber-stamped by a Munster title a few months later even if they needed penalties to see off Limerick in the provincial decider.<\/p>\n We all know how the story ended though, Cork\u2019s wait for Liam stretched on after a second-half collapse against Tipp in the final.<\/p>\n In 2025, getting silverware locked away felt important; this Sunday feels more about preparing for later in the season.<\/p>\n Limerick\u2019s absence from last year\u2019s league final wouldn\u2019t have caused too much disharmony, and the Munster final defeat could have been forgiven if they\u2019d went on to win the All-Ireland \u2013 but the manner of their quarter-final defeat to Dublin<\/a> saw their stock fall.<\/p>\n For that reason alone, John Kiely may see this game as a chance to lay down a marker.<\/p>\n They certainly looked sharp in the league, racking up five straight wins after opening with a loss in Waterford.<\/p>\n The Limerick first 15 will likely contain four former Players of the Year, but the spring charge has been spear-headed by some of the Treaty players who drove UL to Fitzgibbon glory earlier this year.<\/a><\/p>\n Darragh Langan made his debut at full-back against Galway last time out while Cathal O\u2019Neill, who has three goals to his name, Adam English and Aidan O\u2019Connor have all been in excellent form.<\/p>\n Cork scored more and conceded less than anyone else in the league, although the former was skewed a bit by the ridiculous 6-26 they scored against Offaly <\/a>in their last outing.<\/p>\n Ben O\u2019Connor used 34 players throughout the league as he tries to find those extra couple of options that could tip the scales.<\/p>\n O\u2019Connor confirmed that Diarmuid Healy remains a few weeks out and has no chance of featuring here.<\/p>\n Banner consistency a stark contrast <\/p>\n A rather topsy-turvy Division 1B campaign comes to an end with Clare aiming to make it six league wins on the trot.<\/p>\n We had Wexford nearly being stunned by northern pair Antrim and Down, the heated confrontation between Keith Rossiter and Niall \u00d3 Ceallach\u00e1in<\/a>, Donal Hughes\u2019 dramatic winner in the Ulster derby in Newry and Dublin hitting the 50-point mark in round 6.<\/p>\n The antidote to the drama has been Clare\u2019s mostly serene march to the final, and promotion back to the top flight.<\/p>\n They did have to dig in to edge Sunday\u2019s opponents in their first outing while they trailed at half-time against Kildare, but six wins from six and a scoring difference of +65 tells a story.<\/p>\n Away from the spotlight, Brian Lohan has been expanding his options with some lower quality opposition allowing him room to try out plenty of new faces.<\/p>\n Of the players given a chance, Clonlara\u2019s Diarmuid Stritch looks like he could be used as a serious option while roving wing-back Niall O\u2019Farrell and corner-back Ronan Kilroy have also caught the eye \u2013 even if the latter\u2019s focus may be on under-20 hurling for now.<\/p>\n Dublin boss \u00d3 Ceallach\u00e1in, meanwhile, can only be delighted with some of the character shown by his side, especially in their dramatic draw with Wexford<\/a> when they struck late for a share of the spoils despite the dismissals of Conor Groarke and Paddy Smyth.<\/p>\n A real boost since the conclusion of the group stage too with two-time All-Star Liam Rushe returning to the squad.<\/a><\/p>\n Could we see Rushe make his first appearance in sky blue since 2022 on Sunday? Word is it\u2019s not beyond the realms of possibility. Cian Boland is another returnee to the squad but Sean Currie and David Purcell remain out through injury.<\/p>\n Elbows back in after ticket scramble fears<\/p>\n When Shane Hynes throws the sliotar in at 4pm on Sunday, there will be close to 45,000 people in the Gaelic Grounds \u2013 but as of Thursday, tickets were still available for the Clare end terrace.<\/p>\n When the final fixtures were announced with Clare and Dublin also on the card, there were fears of many fans missing out such is the interest in the Cork-Limerick rivalry, Patrick Horgan arguing in the Irish Examiner that the Division 1A final alone would sell out two stadia while RT\u00c9\u2019s Shane McGrath also called for a Croke Park final<\/a> \u2013 but more because of the belief that national finals should be played there.<\/p>\n However, it hasn\u2019t worked out like that, although the sold-out signs may yet go up.<\/p>\n Watch Allianz League Sunday from 9.30pm on RT\u00c92 and RT\u00c9 Player. Follow a live blog on all matches on the RT\u00c9 News app and on rte.ie\/sport. Listen to Sunday Sport on RT\u00c9 Radio 1 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"With the lower divisions already completed last weekend, the 2026 Allianz Hurling Leagues draw to a conclusion on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":381330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":["post-381329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=381329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/381329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/381330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=381329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=381329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=381329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/00223afb-614.jpg\"\/)
\nCork fans gladly welcomed last year’s league title<\/p>\n![\"21](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0024284c-614.jpg\"\/)
\nCathal O’Neill has provided a real goal threat for Limerick in 2026<\/p>\n![\"8](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0024284d-614.jpg\"\/)
\nClare youngster Diarmuid Stritch comes highly rated<\/p>\n![\"18](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0024284e-614.jpg\"\/)
\nLimerick and Cork fans will pack out the Gaelic Grounds<\/p>\n