“Hurling is hurling.” Brian Cody didn’t need to say any more.

“Getting the heads right” will be crucial if Limerick are to buck the dreadful All-Ireland semi-final record of recent Munster champions, according to Treaty midfielder Cian Lynch.

Cian Lynch, Declan Hannon, Gearoid Hegarty, and Graeme Mulcahy have been restored to the Limerick team for tomorrow’s Munster hurling final.

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

Fail to lift the Munster title this Sunday and Limerick are unlikely to retain their All-Ireland crown, former Treaty defender Stephen McDonagh has insisted.

Form is clearly temporary in hurling. If the bookmakers are to believed, the 100% 2019 Munster SHC record Tipperary bring to Limerick on Sunday is of no consequence and will be broken.

Limerick manager John Kiely yesterday dismissed Clare suggestions that his side could have done more to beat Tipperary in the last round of the Munster SHC, a result which would have sent the Banner through to the All-Ireland series.

Watching both teams warming up, I zeroed in on the goalkeepers.

First-half injuries to Cathal Barrett (hamstring) and Patrick Maher (knee) tempered Tipperary maintaining their 100% record as they and Limerick will meet again in a Munster final on Sunday week.

If the phoney war taketh away, sometimes the phoney war giveth.

Of the eight teams doing Championship battle this weekend, only Tipp and Limerick are guaranteed to progress.

Limerick manager John Kiely says a place in the 2019 Munster final is not on his mind as his side prepare to face Tipperary in Thurles this Sunday.

Limerick hurling manager John Kiely did not agree with much of the criticism thrown at Clare for the meek second-half display they offered up last Sunday.

Waterford stalwart Michael “Brick” Walsh is expected to make his 75th Championship appearance as a starter in Sunday’s do-or-die Munster SHC clash with Limerick.

Limerick manager John Kiely is expecting a backlash from his side when they play their second Munster Championship game against Waterford in Walsh Park on Sunday.

Precisely a year ago at this venue it was Tipperary who sleepwalked into an ambush and a ravenous Limerick who pounced upon them.

There are occasions when referees make life difficult for themselves and yesterday’s first half in the Gaelic Grounds was a prime example of that.

John Meyler has reacted to Cork’s defeat to Tipperary by making four changes for tomorrow’s Munster SHC Round 2 in the LIT Gaelic Grounds.

Kerry hurling manager Fintan O’Connor has urged GAA chiefs to introduce live streaming of Joe McDonagh Cup games so as to improve the competition’s profile.

Aaron Gillane has admitted he cringed when he reviewed a DVD of the Allianz Hurling League final, despite being named man-of-the-match.

We are a week into Munster Championship Lent. The 40 days and 40 nights before the start of the Munster SHC on May 12 commenced last Tuesday.

Bliss was it in that dawn to be alive, but to be young was very heaven, as Wordsworth mused in reference to the Limerick hurling set-up in the spring of 2019.

That Kilkenny is the only other county in the past 30 years to back up an All-Ireland final win with a hurling league title the following spring tells you the path which this Limerick group are forging for themselves.

Limerick’s Diarmaid Byrnes insists qualifying for the Allianz Hurling League final — a first since 2006 — hadn’t been part of a grand plan for the season.

The distance from the headline to the small print was sketched out efficiently yesterday in Nowlan Park.

Limerick took the honours in this NHL 1 semi-final, booking their place in the final with an efficient display.

Limerick posted a predictably straightforward victory in this Allianz Hurling League Division One quarter-final on Saturday evening.

Aaron Gillane pointed a free in the fifth minute of injury-time to snatch a draw for All-Ireland champions Limerick against the only team to beat them in last year’s championship.

Referees chief Willie Barrett has rejected Davy Fitzgerald’s suggestion that hurling referees are being put under too much pressure to carry out diktats from Croke Park, leading to unnecessary red cards being doled out.

Far more satisfying for Limerick than the two points banked was the manner in which they ground out the county’s first top-flight league win since 2009.

Wexford manager Davy Fitzgerald believes too much pressure is being put on referees to clamp down on poor tackling, leading to unnecessary red cards being doled out.

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.

Paudie O’Connor doesn’t want to be remembered for his one night in London against Arsenal. He’s far too ambitious to be pigeonholed into a cameo.

If you were taking the season as a whole, not just the championship, Lynch was definitely Limerick’s most important performer, writes Peter McNamara.

I’m so pleased for Limerick.

Final reflections with Enda McEvoy.

This All-Ireland final was all about Limerick until the last 10 minutes.

The front of the Limerick Leader supplement got the tone pitch-perfect, its message as neatly manicured as one of those deliveries from the half-back line for Aaron Gillane or Seamus Flanagan to feast on.

Galway and Limerick have both named their starting lineups ahead of this Sunday's All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship Final at Croke Park.

Tomorrow first. Limerick first.

If you’ve recovered, you may find time to place yesterday’s All-Ireland semi-final between Limerick and Cork in the pantheon of great games.

Two items stood out from John Meyler’s debrief.

Tomorrow first. Limerick first.