Signposts from spring

Our experts look to the league for clues to what the championship could bring

1. Do Cork need to win tomorrow or is the outcome to some extent irrelevant to both counties?

“I believe Cork need to win this game, especially now that they’re under new management, and even more especially that Jimmy Barry-Murphy is such an iconic figure. Everyone looks at Jimmy as a winner and that reputation will be reinforced if they can win this. It would also give Cork great confidence going into the championship. Unusually for Cork, they were extremely serious about the league this season. Now they’ve built up some good momentum and would like to keep that going. Kilkenny? They lost the final last year when they were also missing a lot of players — it didn’t hurt them then, it won’t hurt them now.