SATURDAY 1 MARCH
Allianz Hurling League Division 1A
Cork v Kilkenny, SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh, 5pm
Wexford v Galway, Chadwicks Wexford Park, 5pm
Division 2
Kerry v Meath, Austin Stack Park, Tralee 3:30pm
Division 4
Lancashire v Louth, Abbottstown - GAA CoE, 2pm
Leitrim v Monaghan, Glennon Bros Pearse Park, 2pm
SUNDAY
Division 1A
Limerick v Clare, TUS Gaelic Grounds, 3:45pm
Division 1B
Carlow v Antrim, Netwatch Cullen Park, Carlow 2.30pm
Offaly v Westmeath, Glenisk O'Connor Park, Tullamore 2pm
Waterford v Dublin, Walsh Park, Waterford 2pm
Division 2
Down v Tyrone, McKenna Park, Ballycran 2pm
Kildare v Dinegal, Cedral St. Conleth's, Newbridge 2pm
Division 3
Sligo v Armagh, Markievicz Park, Sligo 2.30pm
Cavan v Wicklow, Kingspan Breffni, Cavan 2pm
Mayo v Roscommon, Hastings Insurance MacHale Park, 2pm
Division 4
Warwickshire v Fermanagh, Páirc na hÉireann, Birmingham, 2pm
ONLINE
TV
Cork v Kilkenny and Limerick v Clare live on TG4, Waterford v Dublin live on TG4 Player and deferred.
RADIO
WEATHER
Saturday: The rain will continue moving southeast across the rest of the country on Saturday morning, becoming lighter and patchy as it does so, and will be followed by drier and brighter weather. Highest temperatures of 8 to 11 degrees with light to moderate southerly winds, turning north westerly after the rain.
Sunday: Generally dry with a mix of cloud and sunny spells. Highest temperatures of 9 to 12 degrees with light to moderate south westerly winds, fresh at times near Atlantic coasts. For more, visit met.ie.
Division 1A: Crunch time for champions
All-Ireland winners often take their time to hit the ground running the following season.
Team holidays usually mean a later return to training compared to their rivals and there is less to prove in a league campaign usually overseen by the same manager that delivered the ultimate prize.
But Clare have run out of breathing room if they want to stay in the top tier next season, let alone defend their league crown - three defeats in three means a place in the top two already looks beyond them.
That might not overly concern manager Brian Lohan, who will place far more emphasis on ending the long Munster title drought, even if retaining Liam MacCarthy looks a tall order without Hurler of the Year Shane O'Donnell.
But dropping next year to 1B, where three of the seven teams compete in the Joe McDonagh Cup, would not improve next year's prospects. Limerick (2018) and Galway (2017) both won titles from 1B in recent times but that was with the benefit of knock-out games against higher opposition, under a previous, more convoluted system that no longer applies.
O'Donnell wouldn't have played anyway but Clare could really do Conor Cleary at full-back if he is fit. John Conlon, David Fitzgerald and Mark Rodgers all at least all got some game time in the disappointing defeat to Wexford last weekend while Tony Kelly scored 1-04 from play and played the full match on his first start of the season.
The game is in the Gaelic Grounds, rather than the interestingly renamed Zimmer Biomet Páirc Chíosóg, and the six-in-a-row Munster champions are unbeaten (in two) despite missing a lot of their own big names.
Aidan O'Connor (0-07), Patrick O'Donovan (0-4,1f) and corner-back Barry Murphy in particular have given John Kiely something to think about in the Treaty's two games so far.
Cork and Kilkenny meet tomorrow for the chance to take a big step towards a place in the final.
Sadly, the match at Páirc Uí Chaoimh has been overshadowed by the sudden loss of former Rebel Ray Ryan, brother of current Cork manager Pat, who died suddenly this week aged 43.
Nine-time All-Ireland winner Jackie Tyrrell feels that the coming weeks are "a pivotal time for Kilkenny", with home fixtures against table-toppers Tipperary - off this week - and Limerick to come.
"It's been very patchy. There’s this narrative around Kilkenny that they always show up with their overalls on and, when they get a chance, they kill the team – I’m seeing signs that that is eroding a small bit.
"I don’t think we’re as ruthless as before, I don’t think we’re as hardworking as before. I see patches of the game where we’re going out of the game and our work level is dropping off completely.
"It's time for this group now to really, really grow and nail these next three performances.
"Do they need to win all three? No. But it’d be nice to come out with two – and backing it up with huge performances."
The Cats haven't played for three weeks after the initial fixture against Limerick was rained off while Cork are hoping to bounce back from a keenly contested four-point defeat in Thurles.
Martin 'Mossy' Keoghan has been the form forward of the league so far, hitting 2-12 from play, and limiting his impact could be key to the hosts' chances. Declan Dalton returns from suspension for Cork, while Patrick Horgan makes his first start of the year.
At the same time on Saturday, Wexford welcome Galway to Chadwicks Wexford Park.
They will have been buoyed by the surprising win in Ennis, and return of Lee Chin, but with Limerick away in the final round, Keith Rossiter's men probably need another result to stay up.
Cian Byrne, who had done well on the frees in Chin's absence, will miss the game after the somewhat unlucky red card he picked up for catching Darragh Lohan while attempting to play the ball last weekend. However, Rory O'Connor has recovered from injury.
It looked like Micheál Donoghue had a considerable rebuilding job on his hands when Galway were hammered by Tipp at home in round one, but winning in Kilkenny and having seven to spare over Clare in Salthill means they are all but safe and could even be in the frame for the league final with another win on the road. Though finishing with further trips, to Limerick and Cork, makes that a tough ask.
The Tribesmen certainly won't lack motivation against one of the teams who ensured their early exit from the championship last year.
Division 1B is turning into a tale of the unexpected.
Dublin and Waterford would have been favoured to take the promotion spots, perhaps with Antrim putting on some pressure, but Carlow and Offaly have had other ideas.
The Saffrons have not going at all under new manager Davy Fitzgerald while Carlow's win over Waterford and Offaly's victory in Croke Park last week have made it a four-way race for the two promotion spots.
The Faithful County will all but guarantee their place in the final with victory in their penultimate fixture over struggling Westmeath, which makes Dublin's trip to Waterford a potential promotion decider.
"They're playing with confidence and I'm not overly surprised that they're top," said Ursula Jacob of the Joe McDonagh champions' fast start.
"They have shown steady progress under Johnny Kelly over the last number of years and we have seen the underage talent they have in the county.
"To get that that win last weekend was so important for that group of players because it showed them that they could compete and beat a team like Dublin, who have been doing really well.
"It's great for the game and great for Leinster hurling too."
Carlow will still be in the mix if they can maintain their unbeaten start at home to Antrim, who would need to beat Laois (on bye) next week to stay up in that event.
In Division 2, Donegal will aim to follow up their sensational win over Kerry with a testing trip on Sunday to Kildare, who are also in the promotion mix.
Kerry, surprisingly, are not, and need to bounce back against Meath (2/2) on Saturday to keep in touch and avoid being sucked into a relegation battle.
Leaders Down will expect to maintain their 100% record and put one foot in the final at home to pointless Tyrone on Sunday.
In Division 3, table-toppers London have the weekend off so Wicklow could go level with them on eight points with victory in Cavan on Sunday.
Either Sligo or Armagh will get their first points of the campaign while Roscommon aim to join neighbours Mayo on four points.
In Division 4, unbeaten leaders Louth (7 points) play Lancashire (1) in Abbottstown while a win for Leitrim (5) over Monaghan (2) would put distance between themselves and third-placed Longford (4), who sit this one out.
Fermanagh, also on four points, travel to Páirc na hÉireann in Birmingham, whose sole point to date came in the draw with Lancashire.
