Many aspects for Tipp will become clearer after Kilkenny test

GAA: Allianz National Hurling League Division 1A Round 5 Preview

By Shane Brophy

KILKENNY v TIPPERARY

UPMC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

Sunday, 9th March

Throw-in @ 1.15pm

Referee: Sean Stack (Dublin)

The Tipperary senior hurlers have done a lot right in the 2025 National League so far but one of the great tests of a teams progress comes this Sunday when they face Kilkenny in a crucial penultimate round game for both sides.

Not only are places in the final and/or avoiding being sucked into a relegation battle at stake in this latest renewal of the great rivalry, Kilkenny remain the great testing ground for any team to see where their temperature is at.

Now, Kilkenny might not be the team that dominated all before them for a fifteen year period up to 2015 when they won their last All-Ireland title, but they remain hugely consistent in terms of application, more consistent than Tipperary who have won two All-Ireland titles in the meantime.

At any time, if you beat Kilkenny, you know you are going in the right direction and Tipp boss Liam Cahill will see this is a great opportunity to test his players fortitude which has shown up well in the league so far.

Sunday’s game should be close to championship fervour, particularly as Kilkenny are going to bring a big performance, not only to bounce back from last Saturday’s narrow loss to Cork, but they also know a defeat and they could be starring relegation in the face with their final game in the group against Limerick the following week.

No matter if injury victims Huw Lawlor and Cian Kenny aren’t fit to play, this is a Kilkenny team that will fight on their backs, and it wouldn’t surprise anyone if manager Derek Lyng goes as strong as possible as they need the win, which could mean TJ Reid and Adrian Mullen getting starts.

Tipperary come in fresh as last weekend was their bye round, although they did play Dublin in Parnell Park the previous midweek with players who largely didn’t feature in the win over Cork.

Prior to the start of the campaign, Tipperary manager Liam Cahill stated that he hoped by the time the Kilkenny game came around, that he would have a fair idea of his best fifteen, and it would appear that way with Darragh McCarthy, Eoghan Connolly, Craig Morgan, Michael Breen, Willie Connors, Alan Tynan, and Jake Morris starting all four games so far while captain Ronan Maher and Gearoid O’Connor were rested for the Wexford game.

Barring injury, the vast majority of those players will line-up against Limerick in the first round of the championship next month. Added to that are the displays of Robert Doyle who looks a nailed on corner-back while Sam O’Farrell is high on their radar, even if he hasn’t played since round 1 due to injury.

A few of the decisions that still have to be determined are, who plays in goals. Liam Cahill stated in an interview with this paper that both Rhys Shelly and Barry Hogan would get two games each in the league before making a determination on who would be their number 1 going forward.

Hogan put the pressure on with his display against Cork and could well benefit if Rhys Shelly hasn’t recovered from a back injury sustained in the recent challenge game against Galway. If Shelly does start, he is in pole position.

Seamus Kennedy is an experienced and versatile player who still making his way back to peak fitness after a cruciate knee injury, but has struggled to impact games so far. His athleticism and physicality will be massively needed in the championship and getting more game minutes will be important in that respect.

Added to that is whether Sean Kenneally or Dylan Walsh are to the forefront of the managements thinking in the inside line, in indeed John McGrath, and what about his brother Noel, who has only gotten two minutes in the league so far.

Certainly, come full time on Sunday we will know a lot more about where Tipperary stand in terms of their league ambitions and championship make-up.