Big two likely to set the standard

Has another spring in Division 1B steeled Limerick for the championship?

This is where it starts. This is where the summer really starts. Two houses, both alike in dignity, both generally expected to be the ones taking the field at Croke Park on September 8, get their campaigns underway with a road trip apiece.

One go to Limerick and are guaranteed to get plenty of it; the other travel to Tullamore and it would be fantastic if they did get plenty of it. If the former were to lose it would be nothing more than a predictable surprise; if the latter were to lose it would be the shock of the young century, the biggest turn-up in hurling since Antrim’s victory in the 1989 All-Ireland semi-final.