7 Things we Learned from the Hurling & Camogie Championships (20th & 21st June 2026)

A DSS Coaching piece by Brendan Delaney, focusing on lessons from the Hurling and Camogie Championships through the prism of coaching and performance.

This week in brief:

1. Camogie Championships Taking Shape

2. Mouth Watering Semi Final Pairings

3. Head High Tackles a Major Concern

Camogie Quarter Finalists from Group 2

Kilkenny have secured their place in the quarter finals with a game to spare as they made it 4 wins from 4 in Group 2 of the Senior Camogie Championship. They will be joined by either Clare, Limerick or Offaly and will face the bottom 2 teams in Group 1. Wexford and Dublin have struggled in the Championship as they failed to capitalise on their Leinster Championship campaigns, where they played each other in the final. Kilkenny had an excellent win over Clare and will back themselves against whoever they face in quarter final. Clare will be expected to overcome Offaly next week and if they avoid defeat, they will progress with Kilkenny. Offaly come in good form after an impressive victory over Dublin and they won’t fear a Clare team without Lorna McNamara. Limerick face off against Dublin on their last day out and will need a win to be in with a chance of progressing. If Offaly and Limerick win, there will be 3-way tie to decide who joins Kilkenny in the quarter finals.

Camogie Group 1 – Is it working?

The four teams in group 1 will learn their fate this weekend after the final round of games in Group 1. Cork will face Waterford and Galway play Tipperary. Tipperary are destined to be in the quarter finals as they have no wins to date. Galway and Waterford have a win, and a loss and Cork sit on top of the pile with 2 wins. This new format has given us some very exciting games but also it cuts out the one-sided games we saw in previous years. However, it’s disappointing that there is no jeopardy for these teams in this format. In theory, a team could lose 3 games, end up in a quarter final and win the All Ireland from there. I also think it could be quite difficult for teams outside of this group to break into it. The group is made up of the semi-finalists from the previous year, and with all of those teams guaranteed a quarter-final, it doesn’t take too much to maintain that status year on year. It’s probably difficult to discuss whether it has worked yet but we do want to see the top players playing each other week in week out. I think it has ensured the players play with more consistency for longer in the year and it will be interesting to see what approach to the group will be successful this year.

Galways Biggest Test to Date

We have two mouth watering semi finals to look forward to as Galway will play Cork and Limerick will face Clare in what promises to be a fantastic weekend in HQ. It will be a first real test for this Galway team this year, but they will be confident to cause an upset. Their fluid system will test Cork’s defensive structure, and we saw how Croke Park suited them in the Leinster Final. On the other side, how well they can crowd out the space for Cork’s forwards will be fascinating. Looking from the outside, I think Cork’s forwards could gain the upper hand in the one-on-one battles, but Galway’s system will ensure there’s very few isolated duels. The match ups here will be key. You would expect Daithi Burke to pick up Brian Hayes but after that it’s hard to predict what Cork will do in their forward line. Alan Walsh has seriously put his hand up with an impressive display and William Buckley has been electric so far this year while Alan Connolly hasn’t contributed from play as much as other years but is very solid on the frees. On the other side, Evan Niland and Jason Rabbitte will be spoken about loads but the main task ahead of Cork is Cathal Mannion. He ran the game against Dublin and they can’t afford to give him the freedom of Croke Park again.

Old Rivals Lock Horns in Croker

Limerick will hold the favourites tag as the Munster champions are back in an All-Ireland semi-final for the first time since 2024 and I really can’t see any other outcome than a Limerick win. It will be very close, and Clare will cause plenty of problems, but I think this Limerick team are too strong and are just better than their opponents on current form. I feel Limerick’s best players are hitting form again at the right time. Cian Lynch has been having a great year, Cathal O’Neill and Gearoid are in great form, and their defence looks very solid with Will O’Donoghue at the heart of it. That being said, Clare will not fear them and if they get a run on them, we know the likes of Shane O’Donnell, Mark Rodgers and Tony Kelly can manufacture a score from nowhere. The availability of David McInerney will be key to their chances as he was excellent as a spare man against Dublin, along with Darragh Lohan who is having a great year but will be a different story against Limerick’s full forward line.

End of the Road for Offaly after Successful Year

Cork cruised to the final four with a comprehensive win that has sparked the debate again about structures and the lobsided provincial championships. Munster counties have dominated underage success and All-Ireland glory for a number of years, and this is the fruits of it now. However, I feel this was exaggerated based on this game. Offaly’s young squad are coming and games like these can happen, especially against one of the best teams in the country. Overall, this is progress. Getting out of Leinster is a great achievement especially at the expense of Kilkenny. It is imperative that they keep the nucleus of this squad together and add a couple of players every year. It was pleasing to see Cork’s goal threat back as they went back to 3 inside forwards, rather than playing one at the top of the D like in other games. I was surprised to see Offaly so open and not play with a plus 1, considering it was a big scoreline in the league as well. Cork will be disappointed conceding goals in this game as they have gone after a solid defence under Ben O’Connor, especially the opportunities when Offaly ran at the heart of the defence and created scoring chances. The major plus that Offaly will gain from this is the extra month they had training together, rather than the outcome of the game. This extra month will be great for their continued development and will stand to them in the coming years. Cork know they have bigger tests ahead and you just hope that they learn from this game more than they in the big semi final win last year over Dublin.

Clare Reel in the Years against Disappointing Dublin

Clare progress through to semi-final after defeating Dublin on Saturday evening but they will be sweating over the fitness of David McInerney and David Reidy ahead of their showdown with Limerick. McInerney looked injure his ankle and hobbled off while David Reidyhas been released from hospital following a big hit late on in the game, but it is unlikely that he will feature in the semi-final. I felt this game never really got going as Clare looked in control for most of the game. Dublin had their spells but overall looked short on aggression and intensity all over the field. Numerous times Clare got phases of play ending with a score and no tackle received. Dublin played with a plus 1 at the back and cut out the openness that we saw against Galway, but when you have a spare defender, everyone else has to push up and get more pressure on the ball but this wasn’t the case from Dublin. This also affected them the other side of the pitch as Clare’s defence looked solid with McInerney as the anchor and Dublin failed to create enough chances to score. Dublin will be disappointed as a whole looking back on the year as were ultimately poor in their two most important games, the Leinster final and the quarter final.

Head High Tackles

Unfortunately, we have seen a rise in head high tackles the last number of years and the potential risk of concussion have made this a major issue. There’s a number of reasons that this has become more and more evident. The physique of players now is something we have never seen before. The power and speed that they produce is off the charts and this means if a hit is slightly mistimed due to sidestep it can cause serious damage. Also, the power the players produce mean every hit is very tough and is felt by both parties. I feel also the helmets we wear offer little protection to direct force from the body and the focus on getting contact in the game from coaches has elevated this further. It is a big issue in the game at the moment and I think we will see more red cards before this is rectified. We see the no nonsense approach rugby has taken and it has cleaned up the hits, but I do accept the tackle is much more defined and easier to control. It is also coached heavily at a young age. I have no doubt that players stepping on to the pitch don’t go out to intentionally cause damage to opposition players but when their personal and future health is affected we need to continue to take a more serious approach. See you next time!

Brendan

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