The Most Wonderful Time of the Year
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26 March 2026; Munster senior hurlers from left, Mark Fitzgerald of Waterford, David Reidy of Clare, Robert Downey of Cork, Cian Lynch of Limerick and Ronan Maher of Tipperary with Munster Senior camogie players, from left, Meabh Cahalane of Cork, Mairead Eviston of Tipperary, Rachel McCarthy of Kerry, Orlaith Kelliher of Limerick, Lorraine Bray of Waterford and Claire Hehir of Clare in attendance for the Munster GAA Senior Hurling and Football Championship launch 2026 at FBD Semple Stadium in Thurles, Tipperary. Photo by David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILEImage 2 of 2
From left, David Reidy of Clare, Cian Lynch of Limerick, Ronan Maher of Tipperary, Robert Downey of Cork, and Mark Fitzgerald of Waterford at the launch of the 2026 Munster GAA Senior Hurling Championship at FBD Semple Stadium which gets underway this Sunday when Clare host Waterford and Tipperary welcome Cork to Thurles. Photo: David Fitzgerald/Sportsfile David Fitzgerald / SPORTSFILEBy Shane Brophy
It’s hard to believe it is nine months to the weekend since Tipperary won their 29th All-Ireland Senior Hurling title in dramatic fashion on July 20th last.
And they’ll begin their quest to defend the Liam MacCarthy Cup this Sunday in a blockbuster opening round of the Munster Championship against age old rivals Cork in a repeat of the said All-Ireland final.
Cork also have something to defend in terms of the Mick Mackey Cup, but the main aim for both sides, along with Clare, Limerick and Waterford, is to start garnering the points needed to ensure they are in All-Ireland Series come the final round on May 24th.
“It's important that we get something out of this game next Sunday to launch the championship campaign and at least be one of the three to come out of Munster; that is the whole objective,” said Tipperary manager Liam Cahill ahead of the start of the championship.
There are many ways for Tipperary to prime themselves for Sunday’s opener, one of them being their poor recent home record against Cork in the championship, failing to win their last four games going back to 2017, including the eighteen point hammering in 2024 when Tipperary bottomed out before starting to right the ship which ended up in becoming All-Ireland champions a year later.
Despite coming into the championship as All-Ireland champions, it doesn’t feel like it, not just because there is more talk about Cork and league champions Limerick, but also because the players have carried themselves like they have more to chase Cahill revealed in an extensive interview on page 85.
Ahead of the game, Tipperary have a number of injury concerns. Willie Connors will be available for selection following an arm injury but likely bench player Josh Keller is out with a hamstring injury which will also keep him out of the Waterford game the following Sunday.
However, the championship looks to be over for Sean Kenneally whose knee injury sustained in the final play of the league match against Kilkenny was worse than feared and will now be out for up to 12 weeks which goes right up to the All-Ireland Final with Liam Cahill’s ambition being to have him back for Moneygall for the club championship.
A full-house is expected with around 45,000 set to pack into Tom Semple’s Field on Sunday, although much more of a home feel for Tipperary compared to 2024 when it was a virtual home game for Cork, with a sea of red in the stands and terraces. This will be important also for the Tipp senior camogie team who also face Cork in the appetising curtain-raiser in the quarter final of the knockout Munster Championship.