All-Ireland champions Tipperary went down to visitors Clare in this Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League opener at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh.

The Irish Examiner broadcast its first-ever inter-county match live today, with the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League meeting of Tipperary and Clare.

That 2020 campaign will officially begin this Sunday with the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League game against Clare at MacDonagh Park, Nenagh, which will be broadcast live on the Irish Examiner Sport Facebook page.

Fans have a choice to make for their pre-Christmas hurling fix as the Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League and McGrath Cup fixtures have been confirmed.

As anecdotal evidence of inter-county teams returning to collective training for 2020 before the traditional permitted start dates grows, the GAA is taking a more relaxed attitude to training bans.

All-Ireland champions Tipperary will face Clare and Limerick in the 2020 Co-Op Superstores Munster Hurling League, while Cork and Kerry will meet in the group stages of the McGrath Cup.

There’s silverware on offer tomorrow in the Gaelic Grounds, when Clare and Tipperary face off in the final of the Co-Op Superstores Munster senior hurling league (2pm).

Just shy of 20 minutes in Seamus Flanagan’s company is enough to understand the flame still burns in Limerick. The bonfires that heralded last August’s All-Ireland triumph have long since been extinguished but within these young men there remains a fury.

Clare joint manager Donal Moloney believes the experience of last summer will stand to teams as they plot their way for 2019 — though he emphasised again the huge demand on resources on and off the field that the new format for the championship places.

Limerick 3-19 Kerry 1-15: For the second time in three years, Limerick and Clare will contest the final of the Munster Hurling League.

Tom Devine was hardly expecting his first Páirc Uí Chaoimh performance to be like this.

Munster Hurling League - Limerick 4-28 Kerry 0-16: Former underage star Peter Casey marked his Limerick senior debut with a fine display as the Shannonsiders spanked Kerry by 24 points at the Gaelic Grounds.