The 2018 Walsh Cup was an inter-county hurling competition based mainly in the Irish province of Leinster. It took place between December 2017 and January 2018.
For the first time, no third-level college teams took part. 10 Leinster counties, plus Antrim, competed. Longford and Louth entered the second-ranked Kehoe Cup.
Wexford were the 2018 champions, beating Kilkenny 3âÂÂ2 in a free-taking competition after the final ended level on 1-24 each after extra time. This was the first inter-county hurling game to be decided by the taking of frees.
There are 11 teams, in three groups of 3 teams and one group of 2 teams. In the three-team groups, each team plays the other teams once. In the two-team group, the teams play each other twice. Two points are awarded for a win and one for a draw.
The four group winners advance to the semi-finals.