It’s important to hold one’s hands up when a wrong prediction is made. Regarding this season’s Investec Champions Cup and the prospects of the Irish sides, a fairly large ‘mea culpa’ is required.
I thought that the newest change in format, to four groups of six teams with four advancing to the knockout stages, would make the early part of the competition too easy. Instead, with activity resuming this weekend, we could have a situation where two of the four provinces could be eliminated with a game to spare. After two rounds of fixtures – and with two more to come – both Connacht and Munster are without a victory and their matches on Saturday are absolutely pivotal.
Connacht, who had an impressive win over Munster on New Year’s Day, face a stiff challenge away to Lyon, currently second in that pool. Even if an unlikely win was to be pulled off, it would only draw them level with English sides Saracens and the Bristol Bears – who come to the Sportsground the following week – as well as South Africa’s Bulls. The margin for error is essentially non-existent for Peter Wilkins’ side and, while Munster do have a draw under their belts, they can’t really afford another loss, either. They also face a trip to France, with Toulon the opposition.
One possible consolation is that Toulon are the only team below Munster in the Pool C table. However, having lost to Leinster and Connacht over Christmas and with an injury list only growing, positives are thin on the ground. Leinster have at least performed as expected, joint top of their pool, and another win at home to Stade Français on Saturday will officially qualify them for the last 16 and help with their seeding there.
The ‘problem’ for Leo Cullen’s side, such as it is, is that after losing the last two finals to La Rochelle, any end-result other than outright victory will feel like failure, and so the journey towards that may lack real excitement. Excitement is unlikely to be in short supply at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday night, when Ulster welcome Toulouse. With a win and a loss so far, Ulster are in third place, behind pace-setters Toulouse and Bath.
Victory this weekend would leave them all but certain of qualifying, but their visitors are European rugby royalty, winners of five titles, the most recent in 2021. With scrum-half Antoine Dupont, one of the best players in world rugby, orchestrating matters, they will be hard-beaten.
Denis Walsh first played in a Cork county junior A hurling final for St Catherine’s at the age of 16, in 1981. While the East Cork side lost to Milford on that occasion, Walsh played a starring role two years later as they made it back to the final, beating Aghabullogue.
By 2004, Walsh – having won All-Ireland senior hurling and football medals with Cork in the interim – was still soldiering. Just short of his 40th birthday, he played his part as they won the intermediate title to ascend to senior, and the following year he had swapped his hurley for the bainisteoir’s bib.
They spent three years in the top flight, reaching a quarter-final, and as is the way with clubs in rural areas with limited numbers, fortunes fluctuated in the two decades since.
Operating at premier junior level, with Walsh in his third stint in charge, they reached the county final last year but lost narrowly to Erin’s Own. However, as Erin’s Own are a senior club, their second team was prevented from representing Cork in the AIB Munster Club Championships.
St Catherine’s put aside their disappointment to beat Ardmore, Ballinahinch and Feenagh-Kilmeedy and claim Munster glory. Then, just short of Christmas, Sligo’s Easkey were beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final.
On Saturday, Catherine’s will be in Croke Park for the final against Tullogher-Rosbercon of Kilkenny. The intermediate decider will feature neighbours of the two junior clubs, as Cork’s Castlelyons also meet Noreside opposition in Thomastown.
The following day, it’s the turn of the football equivalents. While the senior club finals no longer take place on March 17, Sunday could prove to be St Patrick’s Day. In the junior decider, Cavan side St Patrick’s Arva go up against Kerry’s Listowel Emmets and then the intermediate final sees Cill na Martra, from the Muskerry Gaeltacht in Cork, clash with Armagh side St Patrick’s Cullyhanna.
Initiating the All-Ireland championships at intermediate and junior level was a key development during Seán Kelly’s presidency of the GAA, giving almost every club the chance to play in Croke Park.
It is a lasting legacy.
On the foggy road to Mallow
Cork v Limerick - Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Group A.
For your correspondent, the 2024 GAA season actually began on Saturday 30 December 2023 as UCC played Cork in the Canon O’Brien Cup.
Both sides are keen to maintain the annual game at the Mardyke in honour of Fr Michael O’Brien, but an ever-tightening schedule meant the match was brought forward and was actually their second clash of the year, having met exactly a year ago too. Last weekend was meant to throw up my first actual match of 2024, Cork against Limerick in the Co-op SuperStores Munster Hurling League in Mallow.
One works back from throw-in time. A 2pm start means departure around 12.15pm to allow for traffic and the ice on the road. Prior to that, you pack the hat, gloves, lagging jacket and waterproof golf pants that never seem to be worn for golf anymore.
Fill a travel mug with tea as well as a flask for refills. Make a bagel with ham, home-roasted with honey, mustard and light muscovado sugar (note to the editor – I am available if Neven ever decides to vacate his slot).
A leftover packet of Hunky Dorys from Christmas also make it in to the lunchbag – somebody has to eat them. Progress along the windy roads is made gingerly until joining the N20 after Blarney. Then, hitting Mallow, the traffic gets heavier, with many would-be match attendees taking the “opportunity to get out of the house”.
The only problem? The blanket of fog remains over Mallow and visibility is not sufficient for the game to go ahead. No other alternatives are available at short notice and so a new date must be found.
By this stage, you’re probably saying, “He’s writing about going for a drive and discovering he has a day off,” but newspapers are famously reluctant to print blank pages, and so the space where the match report should go still has to be filled. Thankfully, Cork manager Pat Ryan is available for a few words.
With the inter-county season now limited to a shorter timeframe, the viability of the pre-season provincial competitions is in sharper focus, all the more so when they have to be re-fixed – the Carlow-Kilkenny and Westmeath-Antrim Walsh Cup ties were also called off.
As an aside, the fact that the All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final between Glen and Kilmacud Crokes was televised was probably the determining factor in that game going ahead despite the fog.
With so many inter-county players having Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup commitments with their colleges in January and February, you feel that something may have to give in a packed calendar.
As is so often the case with the GAA though, a solution that would please everybody looks elusive.
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It’s important to hold one’s hands up when a wrong prediction is made. Regarding this season’s Investec Champions Cup and the prospects of the Irish sides, a fairly large ‘mea culpa’ is required.
I thought that the newest change in format, to four groups of six teams with four advancing to the knockout stages, would make the early part of the competition too easy. Instead, with activity resuming this weekend, we could have a situation where two of the four provinces could be eliminated with a game to spare. After two rounds of fixtures – and with two more to come – both Connacht and Munster are without a victory and their matches on Saturday are absolutely pivotal.
Connacht, who had an impressive win over Munster on New Year’s Day, face a stiff challenge away to Lyon, currently second in that pool. Even if an unlikely win was to be pulled off, it would only draw them level with English sides Saracens and the Bristol Bears – who come to the Sportsground the following week – as well as South Africa’s Bulls. The margin for error is essentially non-existent for Peter Wilkins’ side and, while Munster do have a draw under their belts, they can’t really afford another loss, either. They also face a trip to France, with Toulon the opposition.
One possible consolation is that Toulon are the only team below Munster in the Pool C table. However, having lost to Leinster and Connacht over Christmas and with an injury list only growing, positives are thin on the ground. Leinster have at least performed as expected, joint top of their pool, and another win at home to Stade Français on Saturday will officially qualify them for the last 16 and help with their seeding there.
The ‘problem’ for Leo Cullen’s side, such as it is, is that after losing the last two finals to La Rochelle, any end-result other than outright victory will feel like failure, and so the journey towards that may lack real excitement. Excitement is unlikely to be in short supply at Kingspan Stadium in Belfast on Saturday night, when Ulster welcome Toulouse. With a win and a loss so far, Ulster are in third place, behind pace-setters Toulouse and Bath.
Victory this weekend would leave them all but certain of qualifying, but their visitors are European rugby royalty, winners of five titles, the most recent in 2021. With scrum-half Antoine Dupont, one of the best players in world rugby, orchestrating matters, they will be hard-beaten.
Denis Walsh first played in a Cork county junior A hurling final for St Catherine’s at the age of 16, in 1981. While the East Cork side lost to Milford on that occasion, Walsh played a starring role two years later as they made it back to the final, beating Aghabullogue.
By 2004, Walsh – having won All-Ireland senior hurling and football medals with Cork in the interim – was still soldiering. Just short of his 40th birthday, he played his part as they won the intermediate title to ascend to senior, and the following year he had swapped his hurley for the bainisteoir’s bib.
They spent three years in the top flight, reaching a quarter-final, and as is the way with clubs in rural areas with limited numbers, fortunes fluctuated in the two decades since.
Operating at premier junior level, with Walsh in his third stint in charge, they reached the county final last year but lost narrowly to Erin’s Own. However, as Erin’s Own are a senior club, their second team was prevented from representing Cork in the AIB Munster Club Championships.
St Catherine’s put aside their disappointment to beat Ardmore, Ballinahinch and Feenagh-Kilmeedy and claim Munster glory. Then, just short of Christmas, Sligo’s Easkey were beaten in the All-Ireland semi-final.
On Saturday, Catherine’s will be in Croke Park for the final against Tullogher-Rosbercon of Kilkenny. The intermediate decider will feature neighbours of the two junior clubs, as Cork’s Castlelyons also meet Noreside opposition in Thomastown.
The following day, it’s the turn of the football equivalents. While the senior club finals no longer take place on March 17, Sunday could prove to be St Patrick’s Day. In the junior decider, Cavan side St Patrick’s Arva go up against Kerry’s Listowel Emmets and then the intermediate final sees Cill na Martra, from the Muskerry Gaeltacht in Cork, clash with Armagh side St Patrick’s Cullyhanna.
Initiating the All-Ireland championships at intermediate and junior level was a key development during Seán Kelly’s presidency of the GAA, giving almost every club the chance to play in Croke Park.
It is a lasting legacy.
On the foggy road to Mallow
Cork v Limerick - Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League Group A.
For your correspondent, the 2024 GAA season actually began on Saturday 30 December 2023 as UCC played Cork in the Canon O’Brien Cup.
Both sides are keen to maintain the annual game at the Mardyke in honour of Fr Michael O’Brien, but an ever-tightening schedule meant the match was brought forward and was actually their second clash of the year, having met exactly a year ago too. Last weekend was meant to throw up my first actual match of 2024, Cork against Limerick in the Co-op SuperStores Munster Hurling League in Mallow.
One works back from throw-in time. A 2pm start means departure around 12.15pm to allow for traffic and the ice on the road. Prior to that, you pack the hat, gloves, lagging jacket and waterproof golf pants that never seem to be worn for golf anymore.
Fill a travel mug with tea as well as a flask for refills. Make a bagel with ham, home-roasted with honey, mustard and light muscovado sugar (note to the editor – I am available if Neven ever decides to vacate his slot).
A leftover packet of Hunky Dorys from Christmas also make it in to the lunchbag – somebody has to eat them. Progress along the windy roads is made gingerly until joining the N20 after Blarney. Then, hitting Mallow, the traffic gets heavier, with many would-be match attendees taking the “opportunity to get out of the house”.
The only problem? The blanket of fog remains over Mallow and visibility is not sufficient for the game to go ahead. No other alternatives are available at short notice and so a new date must be found.
By this stage, you’re probably saying, “He’s writing about going for a drive and discovering he has a day off,” but newspapers are famously reluctant to print blank pages, and so the space where the match report should go still has to be filled. Thankfully, Cork manager Pat Ryan is available for a few words.
With the inter-county season now limited to a shorter timeframe, the viability of the pre-season provincial competitions is in sharper focus, all the more so when they have to be re-fixed – the Carlow-Kilkenny and Westmeath-Antrim Walsh Cup ties were also called off.
As an aside, the fact that the All-Ireland Club SFC semi-final between Glen and Kilmacud Crokes was televised was probably the determining factor in that game going ahead despite the fog.
With so many inter-county players having Sigerson and Fitzgibbon Cup commitments with their colleges in January and February, you feel that something may have to give in a packed calendar.
As is so often the case with the GAA though, a solution that would please everybody looks elusive.
Read more
Women occupy higher paid roles in Longford County Council
Meet The Maker: Kilkenny-based jewellery designer Siadbh Duffy
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