RTÉ GAA Podcast: Cork halt Limerick again as Kilkenny plough on
Shane McGrath and Barry Kelly join Jacqui Hurley and Rory O'Neill to reflect on Cork bringing Limerick's run in Munster to an end.
The sides might meet again but there's much to reflect on from Saturday's game, including how the game was refereed and whether penalties are the answer.
The Leinster final didn't live up to the hype but Kilkenny won't mind, while Kildare's run to Joe McDonagh Cup glory might be the story of the year.
Follow a live blog on the All-Ireland Football Championship on Saturday on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Saturday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Saturday Game at 9.30pm.
Watch an All-Ireland Football Championship double-header, Monaghan v Down and Donegal v Mayo, on Sunday from 1.30pm. Follow a live blog on rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app. Listen to updates on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1. Watch highlights on The Sunday Game at 9.30pm.
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Irish Daily Mirror
2 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
Weekend fixtures confirmed as Kildare get Newbridge double header
The revamped Cedral St Conleth's Park will host a Kildare double header on Saturday. Fresh from their superb Joe McDonagh Cup final win over Laois, the Kildare hurlers are back in action six days later as they face Dublin in the All-Ireland preliminary hurling quarter-final in Newbridge, which, at the very least, will act as a useful barometer for manager Brian Dowling ahead of their return to the Leinster SHC in 2026. The game will have a 4pm throw-in and will be followed by the Kildare footballers' Tailteann Cup quarter-final against Offaly, which gets underway at 6.30pm. It will be the third meeting of the counties this year after they were paired together in this morning's draw, with Offaly beating Kildare in round six of the League and again in the Division Three final at Croke Park. There's another repeat of a League final with Wexford travelling to Limerick, who beat them in the Division Four decider. That quarter-final will take place on Sunday at the TUS Gaelic Grounds. The other two quarter-finals see Wicklow entertain Westmeath in Aughrim, also on Sunday afternoon, with Fermanagh at home to Sligo on Saturday. The Laois-Tipperary hurling preliminary quarter-final will be played on Saturday afternoon at Laois Hire O'Moore Park at 1.45pm as O'Moore boss Tommy Fitzgerald faces the difficult task of getting his players up for a game against top tier opposition just days after losing a season-defining game. Tailteann Cup quarter-finals Saturday, June 14 Fermanagh v Sligo, Brewster Park, 5pm. Kildare v Offaly, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 6.30pm. Sunday, June 15 Wicklow v Westmeath, Echelon Park, 1.15pm. Limerick v Wexford, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 3.45pm. All-Ireland hurling preliminary quarter-finals Laois v Tipperary, Laois Hire O'Moore Park, 1.45pm. Kildare v Dublin, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 4pm.
Irish Times
2 hours ago
- Irish Times
If we want free-flowing hurling we must accept the refereeing that facilitates it
On the raised television gantry at the Gaelic Grounds on Saturday night, Alan Connolly leant on the barrier, while on the pitch behind him Cork fans belted out a chorus of 'After All'. When he turned around to take in the scene below, the decibel levels rose. Liam Sheedy, Donal Óg Cusack and Henry Shefflin were all standing beside him. Hurling royalty. But for those draped in red and white below it was clear that Connolly was the star attraction. Such was the level of the noise, Shefflin had to lean over at one stage to repeat his question to the Cork forward. During the entire interview Connolly – still in full gear and boots – carried the chilled-out disposition of a man who had just perched himself at a poolside bar in their flip-flops. There were the usual questions about the game and then host Joanne Cantwell interjected: 'Can I ask, when there was a change in referee – because Thomas Walsh referees a very particular way, and James Owens referees a very different way – what was it like?' READ MORE Connolly smiled apologetically, seemingly recalling the sight of Walsh requiring treatment on the pitch for cramp. 'It was funny, I hope he's all right,' he said before wondering if it had ever happened before where a referee had to leave the field. Informed that it had indeed, he continued: 'It was interesting, they reffed the game the same enough I thought, to be honest. There wasn't too much of a change, I don't know.' Plenty of others seemed to know. A quick scroll through social media on Saturday night would have demonstrated one of the main talking points from a gripping Munster final was the performance of the referee. Walsh was lauded by many for letting the game flow, his approach credited with contributing to the match, but for others the officiating facilitated a level of lawlessness that went too far. It quickly became a Marmite debate. A couple of days on and still many conversations about the game eventually arrive at the referee. Cork's Alan Connolly has his helmet tugged by Limerick's Diarmaid Byrnes. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho Strip it all back and it leaves one very straightforward yet complex question about hurling: What game do we actually want? For those of us currently in a space where we spend many Saturday mornings ferrying kids to Go Games, hurling can seem a very different sport at either end of the chain. But children learn the game not only because of their coaches, they also learn from the referees they encounter. The referees at Go Games are predominately teenagers who have been persuaded to take up the whistle. Many of them spend a lot of their time during matches patiently instructing seven- and eight-year-olds on what to do next. They'll give the goalkeeper a second chance at puck-outs, or on spotting repeated fresh air shots the referee might encourage the young player to hit the ball along the ground instead. When it comes to juvenile sport, both the coaches and referees are heroes. But retaining referees is an ongoing problem for the GAA. Earlier this year Dublin GAA arranged a training course to try attract new referees to deal with a 'chronic shortage' of officials. Gaelic football and hurling are different sports but they share a common indistinctness in terms of some playing rules. Hurling, in particular, can exist in different forms depending on whether the referee wants to swallow their whistle or blow it. So, what game do we want? At the start of each half last Saturday, Walsh held the sliotar in his hand while a pair of opposing midfielders locked horns in that perpetual dance of bouncing off each other and snarling like a pair of bucking bulls released from their pen for the first time in months. Limerick's Shane O'Brien celebrates winning a free. Photograph: James Crombie/Inpho As their shoulder-fest found its rhythm, the intensity spread across the pitch and several little replica dances sparked off. The roars from the stands increased, the Gaelic Grounds becoming a sporting tinderbox. The atmosphere, electric. In those few seconds at the start of each half, the terms of engagement were being set. If the referee was allowing those battles to fester, the players had a fair idea that a decent level of aggression would go unpunished. And so it played out. There were fouls not blown, flaking ignored, players got away with stuff. Both management teams then surrounded the referee at half-time – presumably to check if perhaps he could arrange it that only their lads would be allowed do the flaking. One of the positive outcomes of the FRC's new rules in football has been a greater level of respect towards match officials. Gaelic football referees at club and county level have seen a significant decrease in verbal abuse. And yet another of the FRC's rules has been to have a one v one throw-in at the start of each half. Instead, you now have two players standing on opposite sidelines and then dashing in when the ball is tossed in the air. For all the progressive FRC changes, the start of Gaelic football matches has lost something. It's lost that edge of physicality and aggression. But perhaps that is the game we are trying to manufacture now in football? Are we saying we don't want those displays of hostility at the outset of matches? Are we saying we want a game where players hand the ball back to their opponent? That, of course, is football's journey of discovery right now. But those are the kind of questions hurling might eventually have to answer too. As a sporting contest, what the Cork and Limerick players served up on Saturday was captivating. It was a game full of endeavour and desire, two tribes going full-blooded to represent their people. You couldn't take your eyes off it. They deserve great credit for producing such entertainment and drama, but at the same time those matches are also almost impossible to referee. If we can at least agree on that, perhaps we're not far away from having the game we want.
Irish Examiner
2 hours ago
- Irish Examiner
Cork's All-Ireland SHC semi-final set for early Saturday evening throw-in
Cork's All-Ireland SHC semi-final in Croke Park is expected to have a 5pm throw-in on Saturday, July 5. Broadcasters RTÉ have the Munster winners's game slotted in for an early evening start at the beginning of next month with the second semi-final involving Kilkenny the following afternoon expected to begin at 4pm. Matching their provincial final day, Cork will return to action 28 days after they lifted the Mick Mackey Cup in TUS Gaelic Grounds on Saturday after beating Limerick on a penalty shoot-out. It will be preceded by an All-Ireland senior camogie quarter-final at GAA HQ. Another camogie quarter-final clash will be the curtain-raiser to the Cats's semi-final fixture. As per championship regulations, Cork can't meet Limerick in a semi-final so their potential opponents are Dublin, Galway, Kildare, Laois or Tipperary just as Kilkenny can't duel with Galway at that stage, so they will face one of Dublin, Kildare, Limerick or Tipperary. After provincial finals, repeat pairings in early provincial fixtures are avoided where feasible in the last four.
