Munster SHC by the numbers - past and present

0 – Debutants in the Cork team for Sunday’s clash with Clare. Cormac O’Brien of Newtownshandrum was in line for his first championship start after an excellent Allianz HL campaign but injury has ruled him out.

0 – Cork hurling championship wins in Ennis. It is, however, a small sample size, with just two previous games there in the round-robin, defeats in 2019 and 2023.

1 – Bookmaker has already paid out on Cork winning Munster (the county’s last such triumph was 2018) and the All-Ireland (2005, lest any of us forget). They are of course nakedly chasing attention, whereas anyone with a modicum of cop-on knows that the battle for Munster will be as tight as ever.

3 – Cork’s last three league victories before this year – 1981, 1993 and 1998 – were quickly followed by championship defeats against Clare.

3 – The last three Munster finals have featured Limerick and Clare, with the Shannonsiders winning on each occasion. Not since 1954 has the provincial decider featured the same counties on more than three successive occasions – Cork and Tipperary met in five straight finals.

4 – Cork games in the Munster SHC round-robin that are likely to be sell-outs.

4 – Primary county venues in the Munster SHC that now carry sponsors’ names. Earlier this year, Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg joined FBD Semple Stadium, TUS Gaelic Grounds and SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh in advertising businesses. Walsh Park in Waterford is the exception, though Waterford County Board did recently agree a deal with Cappoquin Logistics for the naming rights of Fraher Field in Dungarvan.

5 – Members of the Cork team for tomorrow have served as captain – current skipper Robert Downey, his predecessor Seán O’Donoghue, Mark Coleman, Séamus Harnedy and Patrick Horgan.

6 – Goals scored by Cork in the Allianz HL game in Ennis in March. Seven goals followed in the next two games, wins over Galway and the final against Tipperary, while the Clare match was the first of three successive clean sheets.

9 – Appointed as Limerick manager in September 2016, this will be John Kiely’s ninth Munster campaign in charge, with the last six all having ended with provincial glory, a record.

11 – Clubs represented on the Cork starting 15 for the Clare match. Glen Rovers have three players, Blarney and St Finbarr’s two each.

18 – Having made his senior debut for Cork in 2008, this is Patrick Horgan’s 18th championship campaign. The Glen Rovers has scored 29-629 in the 17 seasons before this one.

28 – Players used by Cork in the championship across Pat Ryan’s first two campaigns in charge.

37 – Darragh Fitzgibbon was Cork’s top scorer in the league, notching 2-31, with Patrick Horgan getting 1-32. A total of 21 different players registered scores for Pat Ryan’s side.

43 – Across five seasons of the round-robin – 2018, 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 – Cork have a scoring difference of +43, second to Limerick’s +73. Despite not winning a title in that period, Clare top the overall table, amassing two points more than their neighbours, with Cork third.

490 – Niall O’Leary was the only Cork player to play every minute of the league, with Darragh Fitzgibbon falling 13 short after he was forced off late in the final win over Tipperary.

1998 – Clare’s last Munster senior hurling title, a third in four years at the time. Since then, they have lost seven finals while Cork have won eight titles, Limerick and Tipperary seven each and Waterford four.

2018 – The last time Cork beat Clare in the Munster championship and they did so twice – in the opening round-robin game and the provincial final. The Rebels did win the 2021 All-Ireland qualifier against the Banner in Limerick but have lost in Munster in 2019, 2022, 2023 and 2024 as well as last July’s All-Ireland final.