Must-win game takes place at FBD Semple Stadium on Sunday afternoon

One down, three to go.
The Munster senior hurling championship may have started on a losing note for Tipperary against Waterford in Walsh Park last weekend, but the return of the round robin for the first time in three years means that the three remaining games offer the county the chance for redemption, and progression to the All-Ireland series.
The campaign resumes this Sunday against Clare at FBD Semple Stadium, a game that will get underway at 2pm, with Wexford referee James Owens in charge.
If the stakes were high going into the opening tie, defeat last weekend means that they’ve been raised a few more notches.
In theory, if Tipp were to come away empty-handed from their game against Clare they would still have an outside chance of qualification. But facing All-Ireland champions Limerick away and then Cork at home in their last two games means that their joust with Clare is, for all intents and purposes, a must-win game.
Maximum points will needed to be taken from their two home games to ensure that their season doesn’t conclude after the clash with Cork on May 22.
Their performance against Waterford, the second favourites for the All-Ireland championship, suggested that they’re well capable of lowering The Banner on Sunday. 
A wet day at Walsh Park threatened to witness a facile victory for the home team, which meant that Tipperary’s entry to the championship really would have been a damp squib.
However, the performance by the outsiders ensured that it was anything but. Even in defeat, their spirited display from start to finish was a source of encouragement to their supporters, suggesting that their prospects for the season may not be as gloomy as were initially feared.
A team featuring four championship debutants, including three defenders in James Quigley, Craig Morgan and Dillon Quirke, as well as wing forward Conor Bowe, may have started slowly but quickly got to the pace of the game thanks to Mark Kehoe’s seventh minute goal.
They grew in confidence throughout the remainder of the half to lead by four points at the break.
Waterford’s anaemic first half performance was totally transformed once the teams changed ends, as they eventually opened a six-points advantage. Their strong response to that situation spoke volumes for the character of the Tipperary team, as they reduced the deficit to just a point before fading towards the end, as Waterford finished the stronger.
In this post-Covid sporting era, the mid April start to the championship will take some getting used to. Once the ball was thrown in last Sunday, however, there was an undeniable championship edge to the exchanges. There was a spring in the steps of the players and the hits were coming thick and fast, although some were over-exuberant, especially the reckless pull on Seamus Kennedy towards the conclusion of the first half that went unpunished, leaving the St Mary’s player with blood streaming from a head wound.
The red card that Limerick referee Johnny Murphy, who came in for much criticism from both counties, brandished to Tipperary coach Tommy Dunne before the start of the second half only added to the drama as the attendance of 10,982, as well as the thousands watching on television and listening on radio, revelled in the excitement of it all.   
Manager Colm Bonnar was justifiably proud of the performance against Waterford and promised that there’s more to come from his team.
The moral victory achieved in Walsh Park, however, won’t count for anything unless Tipperary can beat Clare and claim their first championship victory of 2022.