TWO DOWN, THREE to go in the group stages of the Allianz Hurling League.
It’s still early days as the various divisions take shape but we’ve already been provided with some early-season clues as to how counties are shaping up.
Tipperary are the Division 1A pace-setters with two wins from two and in Division 1B, Davy Fitzgerald’s Wexford lead the way after seeing off promotion rivals Limerick and Galway.
In Division 2A, Joe Quaid’s Kildare are also going great guns and protecting a 100 per cent record.
For others, it’s been a difficult start, with Kilkenny in Division 1A, Offaly in 1B and Westmeath in 2A yet to get off the mark.
Here, we take a look at the winners and losers from the first 2 rounds of the League campaign….
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Winners
Tipperary
Tipperary manager Michael Ryan has publicly stated his ambition to launch an assault on the Allianz Hurling League title and his charges are certainly going the right way about it.
In a competitive six-team pool, the reigning All-Ireland champions are the only team sitting pretty on maximum points from the first two rounds of fixtures.
Tipp opened their campaign with a devastating demolition job on Dublin before seeing off Waterford at Walsh Park yesterday.
In defeating the Déise, Tipp also laid down a significant psychological marker, winning against last year’s Munster final opponents while lining out with just six players who began last year’s All-Ireland final in the starting 15.
Tipperary have captured more League titles (19) than any other county but haven’t won the competition since 2008.
Indeed, Tipp’s last League and championship double was achieved back in 2001 and repeating that feat is a target for Ryan a
Wexford
Davy Fitzgerald is already working his magic with Wexford.
After two rounds of Division 1B, the Slaneysiders are sitting pretty at the head of affairs and, barring a major collapse, they’ll be playing top-flight hurling next year.
Wexford followed up their victory over Limerick with another come-from-behind success to steam past Galway in Salthill yesterday.
If two teams are locked together at the top of the table after five group games, the head-to-head rule will apply and even if Wexford happen to slip up in one of their remaining pool games, against Kerry, Offaly and Laois, they still have the upper hand on Limerick and Galway.
Wexford have Kerry and Laois to come at home and with either Limerick or Galway set to drop points when they meet each other on 26 March, that should remove the prospect of three teams finishing level on points at the top, thus leaving the path clear for Wexford to take their place amongst the League’s elite.
Kildare
Kildare are leading the promotion race from Division 2A after recording impressive victories in their opening two games.
Against Armagh first time out, former Kilkenny player John Mulhall marked his League debut for the Lilywhites with a six-point haul, as they scored a 1-18 to 1-15 win.
Another of manager Joe Quaid’s Kildare imports, Limerick man David Reidy, collected also collected six points (three frees) as Jack Sheridan scored the crucial goal for the visitors.
Kildare followed that up with an impressive win against Liam MacCarthy Cup outfit Westmeath yesterday.
Mulhall found the net in a 1-16 to 0-14 win that leaves daylight between Kildare and the rest.
If they finish the group stages in a top two position, Quaid’s men will have a great chance to gain promotion, with the GAA confirming that the promotion-relegation playoffs have been dispensed with.
What that means is that the winners of the Division 2A final will go up automatically, and do not have to play off against the losers of a Division 1B play-off for second tier status.
Losers
Kilkenny
Testing times for Kilkenny boss Brian Cody, who watched his side fall to their biggest competitive defeat during his tenure at the helm, against Clare yesterday.
Former Cats star Eoin Larkin, a James Stephens clubmate of Cody’s, has already had his say, and performances must improve if the Noresiders want to avoid a second relegation play-off in three seasons.
Kilkenny’s defensive deficiencies were ruthlessly exposed by Clare at Cusack Park and up front, they’re also struggling for attacking inspiration.
That task may be bigger than he had anticipated but after signing on for a 19th season at the helm, and taking his previous record into account, Cody is surely the man to oversee this latest period of transition.
Offaly
The Offaly hurlers have been setting records for all the wrong reasons in recent times.
On Saturday evening in Portlaoise, they fell to their biggest defeat against hosts Laois since 1961.
What will have stuck in Offaly’s craw even more was the fact that masterminding their weekend downfall was the man who presided over their fortunes last year, current Laois manager Eamonn Kelly.
Alarm bells should have been ringing in Offaly when Galway put 6-23 past them in Tullamore in round 1, with the hosts collecting just 1-12.
But it was widely acknowledged that Offaly needed to pick up points against teams in and around them towards the lower reaches of the table – and that’s why losing to Laois was a more damaging setback.
It doesn’t get any easier for Offaly as they travel to Limerick next time out, before facing promotion favourites Wexford at home and Kerry away.
With no point from two games, it’s difficult to see Offaly avoiding the bottom two, which would see them plunged into a relegation play-off to retain Division 1B status.
Limerick
Limerick are operating in Division 1B for a seventh successive season and with Wexford on the promotion charge, the Shannonsiders look destined for an eighth.
Manager John Kiely insists there’s still plenty to play for and that’s an admirable message from a man still finding his feet at senior inter-county level.
Limerick were in a winning position in their opening game against Wexford before Davy Fitz’s men came roaring back to claim maximum points.
As Limerick have found out to their cost in recent seasons, any slip-up in this Division can prove fatal to promotion hopes but Limerick will make the top four and with that comes a chance to pit their wits against Division 1A opponents at the quarter-final stage.
Limerick began the year by progressing to the Co-Op Superstores.ie Munster senior hurling League final but promotion was the big goal.
That appears to be gone now and Limerick still have defensive issues to address if they’re to emerge as a genuine summer force.
Padraig Boyle profited against a suspect full-back line on Sunday, with the Kingdom’s full-forward scoring three goals.
Galway
Joe Canning is back and that’s good news for Galway but Wexford’s victory at Pearse Stadium yesterday looks to have scuppered the Tribesmen’s promotion hopes.
Galway could still emerge as the biggest threat to All-Ireland champions Tipperary come the summer but manager Micheál Donoghue would have targeted an immediate return to the top flight, following last year’s relegation.
That their challenge looks spent after two rounds of group games won’t set alarm bells ringing in Galway when it comes to their long-term prospects, but it’s disappointing nonetheless.
The bigger picture for Galway is a tilt at a first All-Ireland senior crown since 1988 and they’ll still get good pre-championship preparation in the form of a League quarter-final, and potentially more.
Still, it goes without saying that a demanding Galway public stung by last year’s drop to Division 1B would have demanded promotion.
And with the memories of the controversial heave against Anthony Cunningham still relatively fresh in the minds of supporters, public support is what Donoghue and his players could do with.
Westmeath
Westmeath tore it up in Division 2A last year, winning four of their fives games under Michael Ryan’s stewardship.
But it’s a much different story for the Lake County this time, following two defeats in as many games.
Westmeath won the 2016 Division 2A final, defeating Carlow, but were denied Division 1B hurling after losing to Laois in the promotion-relegation playoff.
This time, they’ll need to find results, and fast, to avoid being sucked into a relegation dogfight.
But Westmeath have winnable games against Armagh and London to come at home, before they face into a tricky trip to Antrim.
Westmeath shocked Kilkenny in the Bord Gáis Energy Leinster U21 championship last year – and topped their senior round-robin group in the province – but performances, and results, need to improve to ensure that the county’s hurling fortunes continue on an upward curve.
This piece has been updated following clarification from the GAA that the promotion-relegation playoffs have been removed, to condense the League season.
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Funny. I’d have given Liam Williams a kick up the backside if I were his coach. They way he went down like he’d been shot after Henderson made slight contact with him was embarrassing. Clearly milking it trying to get a card.
@Farz Saadat: He’s a master of the football-esque winge
@thesaltyurchin: He turns my stomach.
@Farz Saadat: I actually thought Porter was unlucky to be penalised, Williams should be ashamed of himself and his carry on yesterday, bloody Neymar would be proud of the the way he went down and rolled around. Gatland is doing what Gatland does, having a whinge and a moan about “decisions” to deflect from the 60 mins where Wales were completly and comprehensively outplayed. Murray and Sexton played great ball yesterday, took me back a few years to when they were lethal combination.
“Strangely, I’m not that disappointed with many things in the game”. Perhaps it’s Warren who needs a kick up the backside.
That call on Porter was nonsense. Perfectly legitimate attempt to try and prevent a grounding of the ball (a long shot, granted, but he’s entitled to do that). It was the 2 Welsh players who came in on top of Porter afterwards that inflamed the whole thing. The fact that the assistant ref then said Dickinson needed to have a chat with Hansen was hilarious. Thought the ref had a decent game overall but that was farcical.
@Cian Nolan: Porter gave away a lot of penos. Another ref could have lost patience and given him a yellow.
However he’s a great player who’ll put that right next week.
@TL55: yes but I don’t recall us being warned to stop or risk yellow. All fouls are not equal.
@Doug Storms: Persistent infringements can lead to a yellow.
@Cian Nolan: totally agree that porter’s tackle was legit. The referee Dickson wasn’t bad yesterday but the two assistants on the line intervened to make some poor calls.
@Elrond Rivendell: but you will be warned if one is due. We were not warned.
@Jim O’Connor: agreed. I thought the line judges were made a few mistakes but the ref by and large had a decent game.
He is right about Porters slide into the try scorer, Liam Williams was cured very quickly after the Henderson challenge. Quite a few Welsh lads were playing “dead” after some tackles, aka premiership football
Meh, frontline hounds like Porter get in trouble, as well they should, definitely had a few too many penalties but more from the set piece, sensational effort holding up that try as he has to be part of the tackle too.
He’s right. Possibly because Porter made that wonderful intervention previously he got carried away with himself in the split second.
We’ve all seen far worse inflicted on Ireland try-scorers and nothing was said. It’s a pathetic wind-up from Gatland…The Liam Williams Oscar bid was much worse.
Gatland is delighted with his “We Gave The Irish a Game for 30 Minutes” trophy.
Does Gatland think he’s coaching Ireland ?
I’m not a fan of his, but Gatland does strike a chord. Porter really did not need to do that. He’s definitely a big part of Ireland’s pack dominance, but every now and then, does needlessly stir things up that leads to stupid penalties like the one he gave away after the try was scored. It was the tone that was set for those 25 minutes where Ireland stopped playing and allowed Wales back into the game when they should have been well out of sight and racked up a bigger score.
If they’re going to win a Green Slam and possibly a World Cup, they need to cut that crap out. And that goes for Porter. He should focus on his own game, and not try to rile up the opposition.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: he is entitled to contest and try to prevent the grounding.
No issue there for me.
@Oran Burns: 100% correct, ignore Gatland’s sore comments- I seem to recall Oscar nominee Liam Williams sliding a double knee into one of our own try scorers some years ago.
The reaction from the Welsh was like a bully trying to create a row to rile the crowd. It was the sign of a team with nothing to offer on the field.
Yesterday we build a score, early, held it and then their soaked pressure with a type of determined defending that I’ve previously seen from NZ or England on their way to winning world cups.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: What are you talking about? Why wouldn’t he try to stop a try? It’s a winner’s mentality. Wales are the worst for sliding in with two knees into try scorer’s backs. And yesterday’s non injurious attempt by Porter was the first time I’ve seen it penalised. Ref caved to the Welsh reaction and the home crowd. I’d be singing Porter’s praises if I was Farrell. That mentality is why we walked it yesterday.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: I’d say if Andrew Porter was Welsh Gatland would have his name on the team sheet first. They lost move on heading to a rejuvenated Scotland should be his priority. They left scores behind for sure but that’s because of Irelands excellent Defence. On a separate note delighted for Conor Murray proving the experts wrong yet again.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: Getting up the opposition nose is POM’s job not Porter’s!
@TL55: tbf I think the point is not the penalty given away during Williams try, i think its the other 4 or 5 that Porter gave away in short succession that kept handing Wales momentum and entries in to our half/22. It was crazy watching it at the time. Obviously a fantastic player that just had various rushes of blood to the head!
@John Brennan: I was delighted for him too reminded me the way he played a few years back, hopefully will do his confidence good. Only critique I would have was box kicking in the 39th minute instead of holding the ball and closing out the half easily, but only something small.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: no that challenge was legit and Porter is entitled to make it and see if he can disrupt the grounding. It wasn’t late.
@Tom O’Gorman: While Porter, like everyone else is well entitled to stop any potential grounding action, in this situation, he was never going to stop that. He simply reacted foo late. The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams, and the referee, whose decision is open to debate ended up pinging him for the scuffle.
@Oran Burns: He is entitled, yes, but he was NEVER in a realistic position to stop that grounding. The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams, and whatever anyone says about the referee, Porter was the one who ended up pinged for the afters.
@TL55: The explain Porter’s action where he shouldered Nic White who kicked the ball dead in the Ozzie game at half time. I recall O’Mahony wasn’t the player who started that…
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: “The ball was grounded milliseconds before he made contact with Williams”
So Porter who had Milliseconds to attempt to prevent the try which is his role, should have summed up that he would miss holding the ball up by milliseconds and not tried to prevent the try? Ummmm, seriously?
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: And the “scuffle” was instigated by none other than Daniel Biggar. Had he not come in guns blazing, there would have been no handbags, no drama and everybody would have reset and gotten on with it.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: you should try re-reading your own comment….how ’bout that?
@Niall Mulligan: And yet who was penalized? You ever consider that the end is more important than the start, Niall?
@Kieran Collins: Nah, not really. Especially not on the advice of someone who offered it in such a petulant manner.
@Criiochúr Daniel Daithí O’Chathail: Your logic is illogical dude with too many names :)
https://youtu.be/u-XGWHmIVeo
I’d hate to have been Williams’ backside so, after this. He must have gotten a proper walloping.
@Joe Vlogs: that’s a dinger, few match ban these days, easy. Liam Williams legacy will read like this if he’s not careful: https://www.balls.ie/rugby/ireland-wales-liam-williams-iain-henderson-541703
@Joe Vlogs: that’s the one. Gatland was quiet about that. Interesting to see who the ref was and typical of his performances over the years when we played Wales. Thought the TMO had an oversized involvement in a few of the dodgy calls yesterday.
I was mad with Henderson. He had a clear opportunity to poleaxe that annoying play actor Williams and completely messed it up
Porter was making a genuine attempt to get under the ball, but was a fraction of a second too late. If he is a little faster then he is a hero, he is a little late and it’s a penalty. There’s is nothing more to it, claims of malicious play needing a coaches sanction is just grasping at straws.
Henderson also made a genuine attempt to charge the kick and even twisted his body mid air to avoid full contact. It also warranted nothing more than the Penalty that was given.
Both actions were valid and to be encouraged but need to be a bit tidier to avoid penalties and I am sure that’s why they will be told in the review.
I have no doubt that the French would have been every bit as dominant against the Welsh. It’s going to be a titanic battle next week…can’t wait!
Liam Williams is the biggest cheap shot merchant in the tournament and has been for years so people in glass houses etc.
However Porter’s discipline was all over the place. He conceded 6 penalties and many of them were poor ones – not rolling away, in at the side etc. that’s hard to defend
He wonders why he is not popular in Ireland ! He still has a chip on his shoulder about being fired
Would have thought Fatland had plenty of his own problems to worry about after yesterday.
I reckon Porter was within his rights to try to get a hand under the ball to prevent the grounding but he roughed Williams up in the contact which was needless. He made a lot of errors in the 2nd half and needs to get his discipline sorted. I thought Williams was shameful in his reaction to Henderson’s attempted charge down. Henderson had every right to go for it, he couldn’t have known the trajectory of the ball. But Williams throwing himself down and rolling about after being touched by Henderson’s hand was embarrassing. The BBC commentary team, and especially JD1, were just as bad. This playacting has been about for a good while but it hasn’t become prevalent, World Rugby need to clamp down on it before the World Cup.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: The playacting annoys me especially because we want dangerous play eradicated and shameless gamesmanship taking advantage of strict refereeing shouldn’t have a place in rugby.
@Sustainable Hedgehog: And Williams is no angel, anyone remember his late knees first slide into Paddy Jackson after Paddy had scored a try for Ireland.
Not gonna mention the welsh player sliding in feet first when Keenan grounded the ball in our end zone? Didn’t make contact but it was cynical and potentially dangerous play that should have been picked up on.
Porter had every right to make that attempt. It was when the other 2 welsh players piled on that things got nasty.
Gstland should worry about his own team and keep his nose out of ours. C’mon Ireland
To be fair Porter was committed but his timing was off. I don’t think there was anything sinister in it at all and the ref got it right. Gatland would have been kissing his a#se if Wales got a try off it. So maybe the kick should be reserved for the welsh hooker
Gatland should start with a kick up the ass to the entire Welsh Team
So would I