It’s delivery time, but how is Clare's balance?

Winning is everything. Success this weekend guarantees a big day out and an All-Ireland quarter-final, writes PM O’Sullivan.

Hurling matches nudge and jostle each other, resetting expectations and implications even in advance of a result.

Clare and Limerick, up this weekend in a Munster semi-final, offer a nice case in point. A fortnight ago, Cork’s dramatic victory over Tipperary reset the board. Sunday’s winner will sense an augmented chance of becoming 2017’s Munster Champions.