Five Things We Learned: Championship streaming exclusives are a frustration for some

Championship streaming exclusives cause some disquiet

It was mildly and not unpleasantly surprising to discover RTÉ were showing the live coverage of Leinster against Toulouse in the Champions Cup semi-final on Saturday afternoon. There had been some talk, earlier in the day, of going to the pub to watch it, assuming it to be only on one of the sports subscription packages which we don’t have in this house.

It proved pretty entertaining too, Leinster producing their biggest and best performance of the season to keep that fifth title shot alive, although the live terrestrial television coverage may or may not have impacted on the Aviva attendance of 46,823.

Later on Saturday it was mildly and this time unpleasantly surprising to discover there was no live coverage of Limerick against Clare in the second round-robin tie of the Munster hurling championship, unless you had a subscription for GAAGO, the joint partnership streaming service between the GAA and RTÉ.

According to all written accounts it was a fantastically entertaining game, Clare beating Limerick, 1-24 to 2-20, their first championship loss since the 2019 All-Ireland semi-final, Seán Finn and Cian Lynch hobbling off to add injury to insult.

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According to some social media accounts it was a crying shame the game wasn’t made available to a wider TV audience, particularly given most GAAGO subscriptions are for mobile or tablet devices and requires a decent band of wifi. Some pubs are linked up to it, only not anywhere near the numbers that have Sky, who previously had the rights to broadcast the live Saturday games.

GAAGO operates on a paid-for-content model with several options on the pricing structure, from ‘pay as you go’ for €12 per game, to a season pass at €79, up to a commercial pass for bars and restaurants at €300. Still the majority of RTÉ’s is output is weighted towards Sunday matches, with GAAGO broadcasting a total of 38 exclusive live games this summer, including on 12 Saturdays.

Any new broadcasting deal takes time to settle, in part because most television viewers don’t like change. Noel Quinn, the GAA’s head of broadcasting and marketing, also admitted to this newspaper last week that “streaming can be volatile, there will always be issues” but that “we are all learning and we are aware that some people can be frustrated by access points.”

Those frustrations may eventually be ironed out, only there is no avoiding some frustration of not having the free and easy access to what was likely one of the defining games of the Munster hurling championship. – Ian O’Riordan

Dublin will be fine, but the aura is gone

Jack McCaffrey’s energy and pace was the spark Dublin needed against Kildare to fall over the line with a two-point win.

Of course, it will be remembered as the day Stephen Cluxton returned after more than two years away. McCaffrey and Cluxton, two players who had stepped away. But two players Dessie Farrell felt he needed back to try get the team over the line again.

Ultimately, Dublin’s new crop of players haven’t been at the same level as those from the all-conquering six-in-a-row era. They have needed to go back to the past to alter the future. It’s a short-term strategy.

The Dubs were there for the taking on Sunday at Croke Park. Dublin, in general, will be fine, they aren’t going to disappear. But the aura is gone, the unbeatable tag has faded.

They might well go all the way this year, but when have they last looked so docile and disinterested as they did for most of Sunday’s Leinster semi-final? Dublin survived. Nothing more.

The noises from the camp have been positive, but Dublin didn’t play like a team content or confident on Sunday. It is hard not to feel they are hoping and waiting for it all to click. Not because of some new exciting talent, but by going back to the past.

Cluxton, McCaffrey, Mannion et al. That’s Dublin play in 2023, a greatest hits tour. The show goes on, for now. – Gordon Manning

Bang for your puck: Leinster hurling is worth your time

It was Galway chair Paul Bellew who made the point last week that the entertainment value of the Leinster hurling championship was frequently overlooked when the province was compared to the more traditional brand of Munster hurling.

“People forget that Leinster has provided all the last-day drama that Munster has been missing.”

Allowing that it mightn’t have been the best week to be sounding that note given the fireworks in Ennis on Saturday evening, overall when you review the two provinces in the round-robin years (2018, 2019 and 2022) he has a point about competitiveness.

Sunday’s match in Kilkenny was the second draw in Leinster after just two rounds. Cumulatively the province has seen twice as many draws as Munster as well as more one-point margins – six against two.

That has translated into what Bellew terms ‘last-day drama’ with two of the three years featuring shifts in qualification on the final day of fixtures whereas Munster has had definite back markers by the end.

The southern province could of course point out that in each of the three years – as well as the Covid seasons in between – Liam MacCarthy has ended up back in Munster. – Seán Moran

John Conlon has places to be, actually

“Can we grab a few words, John?”

In the history of doomed yet hopeful hack requests, it’s hard to imagine this one will be beaten any time soon. There we were, outside the dressingroom on Saturday night, when walking towards us was John Conlon, the Clare centre back. Dressed in a wedding suit, shoes you could see the glint of your teeth in, a spiffing white carnation pinned to his top pocket. “Ah, I’ve to head back to the brother’s wedding lads,” he said. “Do ye mind?”

Not at all, John. Quite how your brother ended up getting married in the middle of the Munster championship is something we’ll leave for another time. But no, you head away on there. No hassle, boy.

As Clare filtered out, sub-goalie Eamonn Foudy passed by. Even in the midst of Clare’s delight, it was hard not to feel for him. His championship debut against Tipp the previous week had been a disaster and Brian Lohan decided he couldn’t take the chance with their season on the line of putting him in the firing line again. Eibhear Quilligan’s stunning save after 14 seconds was all the justification needed – yet it was still rough on the young man. So we asked Lohan what he had said to him during the week.

“Ah, I didn’t really say that much to Eamonn,” Lohan replied. “He’s a worker and he does his job and works really hard. He comes in an hour before the start time and he’s just going to keep working.

“It’s a hard place to be. Inter-county hurling is tough. It’s a tough, ignorant, ruthless, brutal game and he’s well able for that. Things went against him, but it doesn’t define him. He was back training on Tuesday night and mad for road, That’s what we expect.” – Malachy Clerkin

Cork forward line veterans still have it

Eyebrows were raised in Cork on Thursday evening when Patrick Horgan, Seamus Harnedy and Conor Lehane were all named to start. The only three survivors on the panel from Cork’s All-Ireland final defeat in 2013, and three players who had all been dropped at various times in last year’s championship, it was hard to imagine that all three of them would ever grace the same forward line again in the championship. The common belief was that Cork needed to cut the cord and move on.

Pat Ryan, though, was reluctant to let them go and his judgment was vindicated on Sunday. Horgan, in his 15th season, looked incredibly sharp and fit and Lehane played with more defensive vigour and conscience than has often been the case in his career. Seamus Harnedy never had any case to answer in that regard and between them they mustered an impressive seven points from play.

Cork have plenty of pacy attacking options on their bench, some of them just returning from injury, and Cork’s starting forwards will be rotated over the coming weeks, but they will need a degree of cuteness and leadership too. Ryan was wise not to discard it. – Denis Walsh