A repeat of last year’s All-Ireland hurling final and last year’s All-Ireland football quarter-final are the standout ties in another bumper weekend of GAA action.
Storyline of the weekend: The quality of this season’s Munster Hurling Championships has been ridiculously high even by the province’s lofty standards but this weekend’s clash between Clare and Cork has the potential to top everything that’s gone before it so far.
It will do well to live up to the epic All-Ireland final meetings between the teams last year but all the elements are in place. On one side you have a Cork team battle-hardened by two clashes with Waterford and who showed dramatic improvement between one game and the next in just a fortnight. The Rebels, it should be remembered, comfortably beat Clare in Munster last year, but there was little doubt who was the better side when both arrived at Croke Park.
On the other hand you have a Clare team intent on reminding everyone of what made them thoroughly deserving All-Ireland Champions last year, knowing full well that the bar that they’ll have to reach to retain that title has already been set pretty high by their opponents on Sunday, as well as Limerick and Kilkenny so far.
The forecast is for a fine day in Thurles on Sunday and if this one lives up to expectations, we don’t think there’ll be too many patrons miffed at missing out on Belgium v Russia in the first of three World Cup games on Sunday evening. We’re confident it’ll be a cracker and think Clare will get over the line with only a few points to spare.
Keep an eye out for: GAA teams have a rather odd habit of focussing on one particular date in the calendar for months and months before a big game (and subsequently having only a couple of weeks to concentrate on an inevitably bigger game further down the line) and we’ll wager June 15 has been writ large in Monaghan minds for some time.
The black card and the absence of Conor McManus will ensure there’s no repeat of THAT tackle last year
The Farney men could easily have toppled Tyrone in the All-Ireland quarter-final last season but after a mammoth effort to beat Donegal in the Ulster Final, they seemed inhibited when they arrived at Croke Park in August. They’re a year older and a year wiser now and if their path through Division Two of the league is anything to go by, they’re a match for anyone on their day.
Playing in Clones will be of huge benefit, playing without Conor McManus won’t, but a win for Malachy O’Rourke’s side, while it couldn’t be called a shock, would be a huge statement of intent all the same. Clones will not be a place for the faint-hearted come Sunday afternoon.
Game likely to be the subject of least discussion on The Sunday Game: We don’t want to be seen to be disrespecting the footballers of Clare and Waterford or anything (they were actually the subject of a pretty interesting segment on last weekend’s show) but after they couldn’t be separated last week, we imagine the replay won’t be top of the priority list in Montrose on Sunday night.
Jim White mis-pronounced word of the weekend: The prospect of Jim White pronouncing Clones as it is actually spelt, and not as Clone-ness, is a very tantalising one indeed and will make for an easy Star Wars related pun when either Monaghan or Tyrone are on the attack in the Ulster venue on Sunday.
Bet of the weekend: Wexford to beat Dublin, 7/4
My sunny south east-reared, strawberry-loving, purple and gold blooded (we’re fresh out of Wexford stereotypes) colleague Sean Nolan is insisting that I tip his beloved Wexford to beat Dublin in the Leinster hurling Championship this weekend and despite *humble-brag alert* another successful tip last weekend, who am I to disagree?
Allow me to get your helmet for you, sir
In fairness to Sean, there is a lot of positive vibes coming out of the Model County at present and a feeling that, as they nearly did last year, they might catch the Dubs on the hop this time around. If you’re really confident that it’ll happen, why not back them at a handicap of -3 at 4/1?
Did you know…? Meath’s Shane O’Rourke, son of former All-Ireland winning Royal and Sunday Game analyst Colm, will make his first Championship appearance in three years against Carlow this weekend. O’Rourke looked like a magnificent prospect when he emerged on the scene but his career has been decimated by a series of injuries in recent years.
Still only 26, O’Rourke has been named at midfield by Meath boss Mick O’Dowd having operated as a forward in previous incarnations with the Royals and judging by odds of 1/50 in favour of the visitors to Dr. Cullen Park on Sunday, he should emerge on the winning side.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ podcast – listen to the latest episode now!
