Eimear Ryan: Like chemical compounds, you don’t know how quarter-finalists will react until you throw them together

13 February 2022; Liam Ryan of Wexford in action against Mark Rodgers of Clare during the Allianz Hurling League Division 1 Group A match between Clare and Wexford at Cusack Park in Ennis, Clare. Photo by Diarmuid Greene/Sportsfile

In the championship, as in life, there are some things you can set your watch by. Limerick in full stride, and with Cian Lynch and Peter Casey returning to the ranks, will be very difficult for any team to get past. Kilkenny, for all their fallibility this year, can never be written off. The provincial champions await this weekend’s victors in early July.

But there’s still much about the 2022 championship that’s unpredictable. This weekend’s fixtures – Galway v Cork and Wexford v Clare – are evidence of this. That these counties don’t often meet in championship makes it all the more appetising for the viewer and all the more challenging for the writer of a preview piece. Like chemical compounds, you don’t know how these teams are going to react until you throw them together.