Jacob: New manager bounce alive and well in league

The new manager bounce is alive and well in the 2023 Allianz Hurling League, according to RTÉ Sport analyst Ursula Jacob.

The four-time Wexford All-Star was reacting to a weekend of action that saw two matches decided by three points or less while the outcome of Tipperary's win over Waterford and Antrim’s success against Laois only became clear in the final quarter, but for the most part it has been a tepid race to the finish of the league campaign.

Despite that, trends have been forming, as Jacob told the RTÉ GAA Podcast.

Of the six new managers in Division 1, Cork’s Pat Ryan and Tipp’s Liam Cahill have four wins from four while the Déise, now under the guidance of Davy Fitzgerald, and Derek Lyng, who replaced Brian Cody at Kilkenny, are right in the hunt for semi-final spots heading into the final round of fixtures.

"There has maybe been a flatness to the league. Obviously managers and teams are at different stages of their training," she said.

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"New managers that have come in, like Pat Ryan obviously and Derek Lyng, are wanting to make this impression and get momentum and confidence going; you can see that in some of the performances for Cork and Kilkenny.

"Even Liam Cahill with Tipperary, they’re unbeaten in the league so you can see the focus for some counties is slightly different to others.

"Take Wexford, I'm sure they hadn’t the idea to go out and lose games, but they definitely do seem to have a different focus than this time last year. Darragh Egan was in his first year