Preview: Weekend's provincial hurling championship action

* The match day panels for all of this weekend's inter-county championship matches can be viewed and downloaded at the bottom of this article.

Saturday, April 18

Leinster SHC Round 1

Galway v Kilkenny, Pearse Stadium, 4.30pm - GAA+

When these teams met in the League last March Galway romped to a 0-35 to 0-17 win over the Cats.

It was the fifth biggest competitive defeat that the Kilkenny senior hurlers have suffered in their history, and the manner in which they were outworked as well as out-hurled was most un-Kilkenny like.

They’ll surely be ferociously determined to make amends for that performance here, but are they good enough to flip the result?

Until their draw with Tipperary in the final round of the League when they scored 3-24, Kilkenny’s attack had looked toothless. TJ Reid make a big difference that day on his first start of the year and is named at full-forward again for this game.

His clash with Cillian Trayers will be an important battle. Trayers has been excellent for Galway in the League, but containing Reid will be his biggest test yet.

Other young Galway hurlers like Cian Daniels, John Fleming, Jason Rabbitte, and Aaron Niland also played some brilliant hurling in the League and start this match, but championship hurling is a different beast altogether so they too still have a lot to prove.

Based on the respective form of both teams you would make this exciting, young Galway side favourites, but don’t be surprised if the Cats really show their claws here.

Kildare v Wexford, Cedral St Conleth's Park, 6.30pm

When these two teams met in the final round of the League on March 21 Wexford triumphed by 21 points but it’s reasonable to expect a much closer game this time around.

Kildare experimented with their selection a bit on that occasion but have named a stronger looking team for this match that includes Jack Travers who had been sidelined with injury since the League win over Antrim.

He’s named in a full-forward line that also includes Jack Sheridan and Muiris Curtin, and the trio will certainly pose a big threat if given a good supply of ball.

Wexford are in a period of transition but they improved as the League progressed and gave good accounts of themselves against Division 1B finalists Dublin and Clare.

There’s a strong look to the spine of their team with Conor Foley, Richie Lawlor, Conor Hearne, Lee Chin, and Jack Redmond down the middle.

Kildare will make this a real battle, but Wexford have enough quality to edge it.

Offaly v Dublin, Glenisk O'Connor Park, 6.30pm - GAA+

Offaly had a difficult League campaign that saw them lose their six matches in Division 1A by an average of 12 points each.

Their campaign concluded with a 24-point hammering at the hands of Cork, and they’ve named 13 of the players that started that game in their XV for this match with Patrick Taaffe and Shane Rigney coming in for Donal Shirley and Eimhin Kelly.

Shirley has been a very important player at centre-back for Offaly in the last couple of years and his absence is a big blow.

Dublin make just one change to the team that was beaten by Clare in the Allianz Hurling League Division 1B Final with Dara Purcell coming in for Diarmaid Ó Dúlaing.

Inconsistency is a recurring issue for Dublin both within games and from match to match, but if they hurl to their full potential then they should win this game.

Sunday, April 19

Munster SHC Round 1

Clare v Waterford, Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, 2pm - RTE

Clare have been boosted by the inclusion of Tony Kelly, Adam Hogan, and Mark Rodgers in their XV for Sunday’s clash with Wateford.

Kelly and Hogan missed the Division 1B League Final win over Dublin and Rodgers picked up a knock in that game, but all have been deemed fit to face the Déise.

Shane O’Donnell was also forced off in the League Final against Dublin but he’s named among the subs.

Austin Gleeson is named on the bench for Waterford after recently returning to the panel. Mark Fitzgerald will captain the Deise in the place of injured full-back Conor Prunty who’s a big loss.

The big question is whether a spring spent in Division 1B will have prepared Clare sufficiently for the pace of a Munster Hurling Championship match. Waterford were relegated from Division 1A but had some good performances and should benefit from the higher level of opposition.

It’s likely to be tight match decided by the impact from the bench. Clare have good options there in Shane O’Donnell, John Conlon, David Fitzgerald, and Ian Galvin.

But Waterford have strong options too like Gleeson, Peter Hogan, Patrick Curran, and Tadgh de Burca.

Tipperary v Cork, FBD Semple Stadium, 4pm - RTE

Cork have named two championship debutants for this match while Tipperary have named one.

Barry Walsh and William Buckley are the Cork duo, with the exciting young attackers named at wing-forward and corner-forward respectively.

Perhaps a bigger surprise is the inclusion of Tipperary’s debutant, Stefan Tobin, at corner-forward in the Premier County attack, as it means last year’s break-out star, Darragh McCarthy, must be satisfied with a place on the bench.

Teenager Tobin will still be eligible for the U20 grade next year, but he’s a hurler of rich promise as he showed in Tipperary’s League win over Waterford when he scored four points on his first senior start.

The other interesting inclusion in the Tipperary team is Oisín O’Donoghue who makes his first championship start at wing-back. He’s better known as a forward and did well off the bench in that role last year for Tipperary, so this is another big call by Tipp manager Liam Cahill.

Based on the XV that he has selected with Conor Stakelum named at wing-forward and Craig Morgan at midfield, it seems likely that Tipperary will once again play with a sweeper like they did to such good effect in last year’s All-Ireland Final.

Cork were caught cold by the tactic that day, but they’ll surely be much better prepared for it this time around.

Cork go into the match as slight favourites, but it’s likely to be a contest of fine margins.