The most cutthroat competition in Irish sport is back.
The Munster Championship heralds its return with two blockbuster Sunday ties to launch the action.
Waterford host Cork in Walsh Park from 3.45 pm, with a repeat of the 2023 final raising the curtain at 2 pm in Cuasack Park when Clare and Limerick set about once again taking lumps off each other.
A win for Waterford against the Leesiders is paramount. One win in 2024 - at the expense of Offaly - is all the Déíse have to show for their efforts and the pressure is well and truly on for a result to change the direction of the tide.
The words "round" and "robin" will be whispered around the Keanes Road venue this afternoon with the foreboding knowledge set into the collective Waterford psyche that the format has not been kind to the county.
Two wins and one draw is where the tally ends, with all of those results coming against Tipperary.
The trend needs to be bucked if Waterford are to extricate themselves from wrong end of the table come the final round of games. The most recent win in the format came over the Premier last year, albeit, Waterford were dead and buried at that stage. The previous win came under the tutelage of Liam Cahill, with Derek McGrath presiding over the draw.
Davy Fitzgerald has reinforcements available to him today with several players coming back into the side as they return from injury. Tadgh De Burca, Stephen Bennett, Iarlaith Daly and Conor Prunty are all named to start, but concern remains over whether it's too much too soon for players who have not played a game in 2024.
The talk from the camp in recent weeks indicates that all the eggs have been placed in the Munster basket following relegation from Division 1A of the league.
Speaking to media, Fitzgerald dismissed claims of a bust-up in the camp saying, “I got a text the other day ‘I heard you’re fighting with this lad and that lad.'"
“What can you do, only laugh at it. If people around Waterford want to make up rumours, that’s fine. I’ve accepted that a long time ago."
“You know what, let them off. If we win on April 21 or May 5, do you think those rumours will count for much? That’s the way I look at it. If we lose, they’ll nail me no matter what the story is. I don’t really mind; I can’t do anything about it.”
Maybe beating Cork will change the mood, but the Waterford fans are looking for a performance as well as a result and what happens between the white lines on Sunday afternoon will likely dictate the tone for the rest of the campaign.
WLR will bring you live commentary of the game this afternoon from 3.45 pm thanks to George Corbett Skoda.
