2015 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

The 2015 All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship was the 129th staging of the All-Ireland championship since its establishment by the Gaelic Athletic Association in 1887. The draw for the 2015 fixtures took place on 9 October 2014 live on RTÉ2. The championship began on 3 May 2015 and ended on 6 September 2015.
Kilkenny were the defending champions and successfully retained the title following a 1–22 to 1–18 defeat of Galway.

Team changes

To Championship

Promoted from the Christy Ring Cup

None

From Championship

Relegated to the Christy Ring Cup

London

Teams

General information

Fourteen counties will compete in the All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship: nine teams in the Leinster Senior Hurling Championship and five teams in the Munster Senior Hurling Championship.

County	Last provincial title	Last championship title	Position in 2014 Championship	Appearance
Antrim	2014	—	Round 1
Carlow	—	—	Group Stage
Clare	[1998 Munster GAA\|Munster Senior Hurling Championship Final\|1998]	2013	Round 1
Cork	2014	2005	Semi-finals
Dublin	2013	1938	Quarter-finals
Galway	2012	1988	Round 1
Kilkenny	2014	2014	Champions
Laois	1949	1915	Round 1
Limerick	2013	1973	Semi-finals
Offaly	1995	1998	Round 2
Tipperary	2012	2010	Runners-up
Waterford	2007	1959	Round 2
Westmeath	—	—	Group Stage
Wexford	2004	1996	Quarter-finals

Changes from 2014 Championship

Penalties must now be struck on or behind the 20 metre line and only the goalkeeper is allowed on the goal line. Previously 3 defenders were allowed.
If a foul has been committed the referee can allow play to continue for up to 5 seconds if he considers it to be to the advantage of the offended team. Previously there was no advantage rule in hurling.

Leinster Senior Hurling Championship

Group Stage

Pos	Team									Qualification
1	Laois	3	2	0	1	5–59	7–48	+5	4	Advance to quarter-finals
2	Westmeath	3	2	0	1	4–57	3–44	+16	4	Advance to quarter-finals
3	Carlow	3	1	0	2	5–49	4–47	+5	2
4	Antrim	3	1	0	2	6–35	6–61	−26	2	Relegated to Christy Ring Cup

The winners of this year's Christy Ring Cup are promoted in their place to the qualifier group of next year's Leinster Championship.
'''Matches'''

All-Ireland Qualifiers

Round 1

The teams beaten in the Leinster and Munster quarter-finals and semi-finals of the provincial championships play each other. The draw was held on 22 June.

Round 2

The four winners of Round 1 play in two games. The draw was held on 6 July.

All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship

All-Ireland quarter-finals

The beaten finalists in the Leinster and Munster championships play the winners of Round 2 in two "quarter-finals".

All-Ireland semi-finals

The Leinster and Munster provincial champions play the winners of the two quarter-finals.

Statistics

All scores correct as of September 9, 2015

Scoring

First goal of the championship:
* Neil McManus for Antrim against Laois
Widest winning margin: 24 points
* Kilkenny 5–25 – 0–16 Wexford
Most goals in a match: 8
* Antrim 5–17 – 3–22 Laois
Most points in a match: 50
* Laois 0-29 – 0-21 Offaly
* Galway 2–28 – 0–22 Cork
Most goals by one team in a match: 5
* Antrim 5–17 – 3–22 Laois
* Galway 5–19 – 1–18 Dublin
* Kilkenny 5–25 – 0–16 Wexford
Highest aggregate score: 63
* Antrim 5–17 – 3–22 Laois
Lowest aggregate score: 31
* Westmeath 1–21 – 1–7 Antrim
Most goals scored by a losing team: 3
* Antrim 5–17 – 3–22 Laois
* Galway 0–26 – 3–16 Tipperary

Top scorers

;Overall

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Matches	Average
1	Joe Canning	Galway	5–55	70	7	10.00
2	Zane Keenan	Laois	1–51	54	6	9.00
3	Maurice Shanahan	Waterford	2–38	44	4	11.00
3	T. J. Reid	Kilkenny	4–32	44	4	11.00
5	Patrick Horgan	Cork	1–33	36	4	9.00
6	Séamus Callanan	Tipperary	5–20	35	3	11.67
7	Ian Byrne	Wexford	1–30	33	3	11.00
8	Shane Dowling	Limerick	2–25	31	4	7.75
9	Paul Ryan	Dublin	0–29	29	4	7.25
9	Cathal Mannion	Galway	3–20	29	7	4.14
11	Jason Flynn	Galway	1–22	25	6	4.17
12	Brendan Murtagh	Westmeath	3–15	24	5	4.80
12	Ger Aylward	Kilkenny	3–15	24	4	6.00
14	Marty Kavanagh	Carlow	1–16	19	3	6.33
14	Richie Hogan	Kilkenny	1–16	19	4	4.75
15	Niall O'Brien	Westmeath	0–18	18	4	4.50
15	Charles Dwyer	Laois	1–15	18	6	3.00
15	Ciarán Clarke	Antrim	2–12	18	3	6.00

;Single game

Rank	Player	County	Tally	Total	Opposition
1	Joe Canning	Galway	1–15	18	Laois
1	Séamus Callanan	Tipperary	3-09	18	Galway
3	Maurice Shanahan	Waterford	1–12	15	Dublin
4	Ger Aylward	Kilkenny	3–5	14	Wexford
5	Ciarán Clarke	Antrim	2–7	13	Laois
6	Ian Byrne	Wexford	0–12	12	Cork
6	Paul Ryan	Dublin	0–12	12	Limerick
6	Zane Keenan	Laois	1–9	12	Antrim
6	T.J. Reid	Kilkenny	1–9	12	Waterford
6	T.J. Reid	Kilkenny	1–9	12	Galway
6	Maurice Shanahan	Waterford	1–9	12	Cork
6	Cathal Mannion	Galway	3–3	12	Dublin
13	Shane Dowling	Limerick	0–11	11	Clare
13	Zane Keenan	Laois	0–11	11	Offaly
13	Shane Dooley	Offaly	0–11	11	Laois
13	Ian Byrne	Wexford	0–11	11	Kilkenny
13	David Treacy	Dublin	0–11	11	Galway
13	Joe Canning	Galway	1-08	11	Kilkenny
13	Séamus Callanan	Tipperary	2–5	11	Limerick

Clean sheets

Rank	Goalkeeper	County	Clean sheets
1	Colm Callanan	Galway	2
1	Darren Gleeson	Tipperary	2
1	Patrick Kelly	Clare	2
1	Anthony Nash	Cork	2
1	Eoin Murphy	Kilkenny	2

Miscellaneous

Galway record their first ever championship defeat of Dublin.
Laois secure their first championship victory over Offaly since 1972.

Updated Roll of Honour

Kilkenny – 36
Cork – 30
Tipperary – 26
Limerick – 7
Dublin – 6
Wexford – 6
Galway – 4
Offaly – 4
Clare – 4
Waterford – 2
Laois – 1
London – 1
Kerry – 1

Attendances

Highest attendances:

Kilkenny 1–22 – 1–18 Galway – 82,300
Tipperary 3–16 – 0–26 Galway – 58,495
Waterford 0–16 – 0–21 Tipperary – 43,084
Kilkenny 1–21 – 0–18 Waterford – 41,112
Galway 2–28 – 0–22 Cork – 33,150

Total attendance: 567,622
Average attendance: '''25,801'''

Broadcasting

These matches were broadcast live on television in Ireland

Round	RTÉ	Sky Sports
Munster Championship	Clare vs Limerick Cork vs Waterford Limerick vs Tipperary Waterford vs Tipperary
Leinster Championship	Galway vs Dublin Galway vs Dublin Kilkenny vs Wexford Kilkenny vs Galway	Galway vs Laois
Qualifiers	Limerick vs Dublin	Wexford vs Cork Clare vs Cork
Quarter-finals	Galway vs Cork Waterford vs Dublin
Semi-finals	Kilkenny vs Waterford Tipperary vs Galway	Kilkenny vs Waterford Tipperary vs Galway
Final	Kilkenny vs Galway	Kilkenny vs Galway

Awards

;Sunday Game Team of the Year
The Sunday Game team of the year was picked on 6 September, which was the night of the final. The panel consisting of Donal Óg Cusack, Henry Shefflin, Anthony Daly, Michael Duignan, Ger Loughnane, Liam Sheedy and Cyril Farrell unanimously selected Kilkenny's TJ Reid as the Sunday game player of the year.

Colm Callanan
Paul Murphy
Joey Holden
Cathal Barrett
Daithí Burke
Tadhg de Búrca
Cillian Buckley
Michael Fennelly
David Burke
Jonathan Glynn
Richie Hogan
TJ Reid
Ger Aylward
Seamus Callanan
Maurice Shanahan

;All Star Team of the Year
On 5 November, the 2015 All Star Award winners were announced with the awards ceremony being held on 6 November in the National Convention Centre in Dublin.
All Ireland champions Kilkenny have seven award winners with runners-up Galway receiving four awards. Winning an award for the first time were Colm Callanan, Joey Holden, Daithi Burke, Tadhg de Burca, Cathal Mannion, Ger Aylward and Maurice Shanahan.
T. J. Reid of Kilkenny was named as the All Stars Hurler of the Year with Tadhg de Búrca of Waterford being named as the All Stars Young Hurler of the Year.

Pos.	Player	Team	Appearances
GK	Colm Callanan	Galway	1
RCB	Paul Murphy	Kilkenny	4
FB	Joey Holden	Kilkenny	1
LCB	Noel Connors	Waterford	2
RWB	Daithí Burke	Galway	1
CB	Tadhg de Búrca^YHOTY	Waterford	1
LWB	Cillian Buckley	Kilkenny	2
MD	Michael Fennelly	Kilkenny	3
MD	David Burke	Galway	2
RWF	Cathal Mannion	Galway	1
CF	Richie Hogan	Kilkenny	3
LWF	T. J. Reid^HOTY	Kilkenny	3
RCF	Ger Aylward	Kilkenny	1
FF	Séamus Callanan	Tipperary	2
LCF	Maurice Shanahan	Waterford	1