Leinster and Munster hurling Championship draws in…

Leinster and Munster hurling Championship draws in full as inter-county GAA returns

Limerick and Clare will double up in a League decider and Championship opener next October to reboot the inter-county season.

The GAA announced today that the knockout stages of Division One of the Allianz Hurling League would not be completed but that if Limerick and Clare were to meet in the Championship it would also serve as the League final given that they topped Divisions 1A and 1B respectively.

The counties were then paired in the Munster quarter-final when the draw was made in Portlaoise this evening and will meet on the weekend of October 24/25.

The winners will play All-Ireland champions Tipperary in the semi-final with Cork and Waterford meeting on the other side of the draw.

In Leinster, Laois and Dublin will meet at the quarter-final stage in a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland preliminary quarter-final in which Eddie Brennan’s side scored a shock win.

Kilkenny await the victors in the semi-final while Galway and Wexford, winners of the last three provincial titles between them, pair off in the other semi.

All of those counties will have a second chance via a qualifier system should they lose a game in the province, with the All-Ireland final taking place on Sunday, December 13.

Cork and Waterford renew rivalries in Munster (©INPHO/Patrick Bolger)

That’s not the case in the football Championship, which will be played on a knockout basis from the start and will conclude with the All-Ireland final on Saturday, December 19.

The Leinster SFC draw was also completed last night as the Leinster Council had decided against making the semi-final pairings last autumn in a bid to inject some suspense to the ailing competition.

All-Ireland champions Dublin were already paired with Westmeath in the quarter-final and, should they negotiate that, they’ll have to get past one of Louth, Longford or Laois to reach the final, with Meath and Kildare the highest ranked counties on the other side of the draw.

Although Dublin’s ongoing dominance has eroded the status of the competition, this year’s Leinster football final will be a hugely historic occasion for the GAA as it will be played on November 21 - the centenary of the Bloody Sunday atrocities at Croke Park.