Nicky English Thinks New All-Ireland Format Has Big Munster Final Ramifications

The round-robin phase of the Munster hurling championship comes to an end this weekend, and there is far less at stake than there has been at this stage in previous years.

Rather than the rip-roaring final-day battles for an All-Ireland place that have defined this day since the round-robin's introduction, the top three spots are already sewn up ahead of Sunday's action.

With just a single point each, Tipperary and Waterford's summers are already over, with Tipp playing for nothing but pride when they face Limerick on Sunday afternoon.

All that is left to play for is a place in the Munster final, with Cork, Clare and Limerick all in with a chance of reaching the decider; indeed, any combination of those three is still technically possible.

Things could get complicated at around 5:30pm on Sunday - you can read our full explainer of the permutations here.

Despite each county having a clear reason to push for Munster glory (besides the obvious), Nicky English believes that they may be better off missing out on the provincial decider.

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Each of Cork, Limerick, and Clare have added impetus to push for a provincial crown in 2026.

For Cork, back-to-back Munster titles would lay down a marker to their peers pushing for All-Ireland glory and cement them as the favourites for Liam MacCarthy. Limerick, on the other hand, will be hoping to avenge last year's dramatic defeat to Cork in the final, and get their hands on the second piece of silverware of 2026.

Clare's desire is most obvious - the Banner have not won Munster since 1998.

However, Tipperary legend Nicky English has posited a theory that teams may be better off failing to reach the Munster final.

"I suspect that a team is better off finishing third in the province, especially now that the preliminary quarter-finals have been abolished," English wrote in the Irish Times this weekend.

"There is big excitement at Munster finals, but do Cork look back fondly on 12 months ago as the year they regained the provincial championship?"

It's an intriguing argument, not too dissimilar to those which have surrounded the Gaelic football league finals in recent years.

This year has seen the All-Ireland preliminary quarter-finals discontinued. In previous years, the teams finishing 3rd in Leinster and Munster playing the Joe McDonagh Cup finalists for a place in the All-Ireland quarter-finals.

The preliminary quarter-finals were traditionally routine for the teams from provincial championships, but took place the week before the quarters, leaving the provincial runners-up fresher.

However, with the disbanding of the preliminary quarter-finals, there is a case to be made that teams finishing 3rd in their province are now at an advantage, having a full month of rest before the quarter-finals against the provincial runners-up.

It's hard to imagine any of Clare, Cork, or Limerick will be thinking too much along those lines as the Munster championship plays out, but it's an intriguing change from previous years.

Whoever ends up third in the Munster hurling championship may not be too disheartened as they look ahead to the All-Ireland series.