Limerick have named three-time All-Star forward Gearóid Hegarty to start at wing-back against Galway in Saturday's first All-Ireland hurling semi-final.Manager John Kiely has been forced into a reshuffle due to a knee injury to team captain and usual centre-back Declan Hannon.Kyle Hayes moves from left wing-back to the centre with Hegarty, who played in the half-back line at U21 and college level, taking the No 7 shirt.Two-time Hurler of the Year Cian Lynch replaces Hegarty in the half-forward line while the only other change to the XV that pipped Clare in the Munster final a month ago is Peter Casey at left corner-forward for Graeme Mulcahy.It would be Lynch's first start since the draw with Tipperary on 21 May.
The Patrickswell star missed the provincial five-in-a-row clincher as he continued to recover from a hamstring problem picked up early in the campaign.
Galway announced their team on Thursday night, Henry Shefflin keeping the faith with the same XV that beat Tipperary in the quarter-finals a fortnight ago.Limerick: Nickie Quaid; Mike Casey, Dan Morrisey, Barry Nash; Diarmaid Byrnes, Kyle Hayes, Gearóid Hegarty; Darragh O'Donovan, Will O'Donoghue; David Reidy, Cian Lynch, Tom Morrissey; Aaron Gillane, Séamus Flanagan, Graeme Mulcahy.Galway: Éanna.
Murphy; Jack Grealish, Dáithi Burke (c), Darren Morrissey; Padraic Mannion, Gearóid McInerney, Joseph Cooney; Seán Linnane, Cathal Mannion; Ronan Glennon, Cianan Fahy, Kevin Cooney; Conor Whelan, Brian Concannon, Evan Niland.The line-ups for Sunday's semi-final clash between Kilkenny and Clare should be revealed later today. Watch the All-Ireland Hurling Championship semi-finals, Limerick v Galway (Saturday at 6pm) and Clare v Kilkenny (Sunday at 4pm) this weekend on