Cian Lynch has not been able to recover in time for Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final against Kilkenny. Limerick’s 2021 Hurler of the Year had missed most of the season with a hamstring tear and he had just recovered, coming on as a replacement in the semi-final win over Galway, but an ankle injury picked up since in training has now derailed his season.
His place in an otherwise unchanged first team and panel goes to Barry Murphy, who is returning for the first time this season from a long-term injury after damaging his cruciate in the aftermath of last year’s All-Ireland victory during which he made an appearance off the bench.
Peter Casey, who also made an appearance in the semi-final after long-term injury, is kept in reserve.
[ Nicky English's player-by-player guide to the Limerick teamOpens in new window ]
Kilkenny manager, Brian Cody and selectors also pick an unchanged team for what is his 17th All-Ireland final.
Christmas TV and movie guide: the best shows and films to watch
Laura Kennedy: We like the ideal of Christmas. The reality, though, is often strained, sad and weird
How Britain’s prison system is teetering on the brink of collapse
Fostering at Christmas: ‘We once had two boys, age 9 and 11, who had never had a Christmas tree’
Sunday’s teams will have the benefit of Hawk-Eye, the score detection system that malfunctioned during last weekend’s All-Ireland football semi-final. A 45 scored by Galway’s Shane Walsh was initially signalled by the umpires before being wrongly overruled by the technology, which was stood down for the rest of the weekend.
[ Joe Canning's player-by-player guide to the Kilkenny teamOpens in new window ]
On Friday the GAA announced that it was satisfied that the issues had been addressed.
“The GAA can confirm that following comprehensive testing and a full review of Hawk-Eye’s score detection technology in recent days, the system will be in use for Sunday’s All-Ireland hurling final meeting of Kilkenny and Limerick.
“The system will also be in use tomorrow for the LGFA semi-finals at Croke Park and the Camogie Association’s quarter-finals in Thurles.”
The GAA has also confirmed that Sunday will be the first capacity crowd at Croke Park since before the pandemic. All tickets have been sold and 82,300 are expected to attend.
