A look back at the magical moments from this year.

As anticipated, Kilkenny have drafted in Cillian Buckley for Richie Leahy for tomorrow’s All-Ireland SHC final.

John Fogarty Tipperary boss Liam Sheedy has drafted in Barry Heffernan and Michael Breen to give his team a more physical edge in tomorrow’s All-Ireland semi-final against Wexford.

Not to put too fine a point on it but Kilkenny won the All-Ireland quarter-final largely because they were playing — and were allowed to play by and play through — Cork. Not to put too fine a point on it but they’re unlikely to win the All-Ireland semi-final largely because they’ll be playing — and will not be allowed to play by and play through — Limerick.

In the sporting realm, it’s obvious, but often under-appreciated in business is the maxim that you can’t get anything done without a team.

The Limerick man who captured the German nation’s hearts with a cheeky flag has now captured won the heart of a German girl.

In the NFL, the quarterback is always looking at the match-ups. He scans the backfield for a mismatch. Tom Brady, who drove the Patriots to another Super Bowl win this year, is renowned for it. The New England win back in early February was greatly influenced by two mismatches on coverage on Rob Gronkowski.

Wexford have taken the physical battle for possession to a level beyond even Kilkenny’s great four-in-a-row All-Ireland winners, believes former Cats captain Brian Hogan.

Re-engaging with a team recently met is one of hurling’s hardest tasks. Familiarity breeds apprehension, a mixture of knowledge and fear.

It was the first time that the Cats were beaten in the Championship on home soil since 1949.

Brian Cody’s 21st championship campaign got off to a winning start thanks to an inspirational display by captain TJ Reid.

In his 21 seasons as Kilkenny manager, Brian Cody is not sure if there has ever been a more even and finely balanced hurling championship.

Springtime may not have landed in Nowlan Park quite yet, given the chill in the Kilkenny venue yesterday, but the virtues and habits of the men in the striped jerseys remain evergreen.

Any time I’m on the road on a Saturday evening, I always tune into Céilí House, one of RTÉ Radio’s most popular programmes of traditional Irish music and song, writes Anthony Daly.

Enda McEvoy look at the key takeaways from the weekend's action...

Brian Cody was offering John Kiely a few congratulatory words when an elderly gentleman cut in and planted a sizeable kiss on the latter’s cheek.

The Twitterati, and numerous other Twitter bandits, were laying it into Jackie Tyrrell and I hot and heavy last Sunday night. They weren’t happy with our comparative analysis between the Munster and Leinster finals. A few of them told us to go away and watch the World Cup, that we might know more about Colombia and Japan than Cork and Clare.

Brian Cody took a seat in front of the media, after Kilkenny’s Leinster final stalemate with Galway, and planted his tongue in his cheek.

Call it as it was. Last day out against Galway, Kilkenny were pretty much crushed, writes PM O’Sullivan.

Kilkenny 0-22 Wexford 1-18

Was last weekend’s hurling a tale of two flicks?

If the All-Ireland hurling championship was more like the Premier League (which, let’s face it, it increasingly is), and you could pick which team to follow rather than adhere to county boundaries, I like to think I’d still pick Tipp, says Eimear Ryan.

Kilkenny youngster Richie Leahy is looking forward to this year’s new championship format, saying “that’s the dream, to play week on week”.

Henry Shefflin enjoyed a winning start to life in management as Ballyhale Shamrocks blitzed their way to the points in the Kilkenny senior hurling league.

The Allianz Hurling League concluded yesterday with a resurgent Kilkenny upsetting the odds against favourites Tipperary, writes Donal O’Grady.

Brendan Maher may have handed over the Tipperary captaincy to Pádraic Maher last year but if the 2016 All-Ireland winning skipper gives the pre-match speech on Sunday it won’t come as any surprise.

After all the new money and massive entertainment on show this spring, the final now is an old-money showdown between Kilkenny and Tipp, writes Anthony Daly

When James McGrath sounded the final whistle after five minutes of injury time a majority of spectators in the 9,793 attendance rose to their feet in celebration.

Eddie Keher knows there are better teams than Kilkenny at the moment and he doesn’t expect them to win the All-Ireland title this year, but he is convinced they are developing quicker than anticipated.

Strategy requires thought, while tactics need only observation. Does that help us with what happened yesterday, in Nowlan Park?

For years I spent so long trying to take down Kilkenny lads that I am now spending so much time alongside in TV studios, writes Anthony Daly.

Kilkenny boss Brian Cody was encouraged by his newer, less experienced players’ commitment to closing out yesterday’s narrow win over Tipperary in Nowlan Park.

Kilkenny took the honours in this pulsating NHL 1A clash in sunny Nowlan Park today, with 10,587 in attendance as the Cats stole the win with a late Richie Leahy point.

Goal drought continues

 Kilkenny 1-18 Clare 2-18... Deep in injury time there occurred arguably the most noteworthy event of a first half full of noteworthy events. Kilkenny scored their first point from play of the afternoon.

The word from Kilkenny is that all leave has been cancelled. 

A Maurice Shanahan goal in the second half of additional time set Waterford on their way to a historic and captivating championship victory over Kilkenny in Thurles.

Waterford should win but might not. Their main difficulty is their convex tradition against Kilkenny in championship encounters, writes PM O’Sullivan.

Kilkenny 0-30 Wexford 1-14: Further proof, in the unlikely event it was required, of the enduring appeal of underage hurling. 

A savage amount of rain has fallen in the last week and I just wonder did the underfoot conditions contribute to so many injuries in Semple Stadium and Nowlan Park yesterday?