Home advantage? Not quite there in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship

Prior to the start of the championship season, we can expect, almost without fail, managers to cite the importance of winning their home games.

However, when it comes to the Munster round-robin, it’s an objective that rarely plays out as planned.

Including Sunday’s two games, there have been a total of 62 games played under the system that was introduced for 2018 – 2020 and 2021 saw a reversion to the old knockout system due to Covid-19 – and of those, there have been just 28 home wins, or 45%.

Never in any of the previous five campaigns with the league system have there been more than five of the 10 clashes that have gone the way of the home side and in 2023, there were just three such instances.

In 2018, the opening round saw victories for Limerick and Cork at home to Tipperary and Clare respectively, but in none of the other six editions has there been a home sweep to start with.

HOME COMFORTS

Last year, when Cork beat Tipperary and Waterford, was the first time that the county had won of their games at SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh – and, then, as pointed out by Paul Dollery of The Irish Sun, the Rebels have won more round-robin games in Thurles than Tipperary have.

Sunday was the third such victory over the Premier County, along with 2022 and 2024, while they also overcame Waterford there in 2018, when Walsh Park was not fit to host championship matches.

Apart from Tipp’s win over Waterford last year, their only other two triumphs on home soil were against Waterford and Limerick, both in 2019 – half of the only example of a team managing to go four from four under the new format. 

Of course, it scarcely needs to be said that that was not followed by a Munster final victory; they lost the decider to a Limerick side that had won two and lost two in the group stage.

Last year, the Shannonsiders could have had a perfect record in the round-robin but didn’t need to – having won their opening three matches to secure a place in the final, they rotated heavily for the visit of a Clare side that was already eliminated but secured some level of pride with a victory.

Now, Limerick begin their new campaign with a trip to Cork, the Rebels of course already up and running.

Having the first week off can be looked at in two ways – you’re fresher and ready to attack a team turning around a week after a tough game; or you run the risk of being short of match-practice against a team that are primed.

SPLIT

Of the six previous iterations of the round-robin, the teams making their bows a week later than everyone else have a 50% record, though two of the defeats came in 2018 and 2019, and three of the four round-robins since Covid have seen the late starters – Clare in 2022, Cork in 2023 and Waterford in 2025 – open with a win.

The only exception in that time, Tipperary in 2024, are the only side to have had to face a team that won their first match and they were blitzed by 15 points by Limerick.

Nobody is expecting Cork to win by that much on Sunday, but having the win under their belt will give them confidence and remove the fears that might be present – consciously or subconsciously – if they had lost in Thurles.