Saturday's Allianz Hurling League semi-final between Limerick and Kilkenny saw the first enforcement of a new hurling rule in a major game.
The last-four encounter at SuperValu Pairc Uí Chaoímh was a rematch of last year's All-Ireland final, after Limerick finished top of League 1B and Kilkenny second in 1A.
Early in the first-half, Limerick's Cathal O'Neill was obliged to leave the field for 90 seconds due to a new rule introduced ahead of the 2024 inter-county season.
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Limerick's Cathal O'Neill forced off by recently-introduced helmet rule
A motion was passed by the GAA last month to address players removing their helmets in the middle of games.
From this season onwards, players will be required to leave the field of play to be assessed and/or have their helmet refitted, should they choose to remove it during a game.
During Saturday's semi-final, Cathal O'Neill became the first player forced to temporarily leave the field of play after he removed his helmet.
With 12 minutes gone in the game, O'Neill went to claim a pass when he was clattered by Kilkenny's Eoin Cody.
The wild challenge left O'Neill in a heap on the ground and saw Cody yellow-carded. The Kilkenny man would later be sent off in the second half for a second yellow.
O'Neill removed his helmet as he received treatment from the medical staff. As a result of removing his helmet, O'Neill was required to retreat to the sidelines and sit out the following phase of play. His yellow helmet can be seen on the sideline in the below screengrab.
When the ball next went out of play, O'Neill returned to the fray, having been thoroughly assessed after the heavy hit from Cody.
The new rule has been brought in to combat time-wasting. David Hassan, the chairperson of the GAA's Standing Committee on Playing Rules said at the time of the vote:
There has been an increasing tendency of players removing their helmets as an established time wasting tactic. It is entirely possible some players have suffered a head injury. We want to cover up both those instances.
The timing of this rule change is intriguing, given a controversial incident involving Limerick during last year's hurling championship.
With Limerick six points down in the first-half of the All-Ireland semi-final against Galway, goalkeeper Nickie Quaid removed his helmet and signalled that he was struggling with discomfort in his eye.
The incident was widely dismissed as gamesmanship and an attempt to slow down Galway's momentum as they held the impetus in the game, with Davy Fitzgerald among those to criticise Quaid:
Being honest I'd say Limerick are in so much trouble that he's just deciding to break up the play.
That's what I honestly see. I don't think that much happened to Nickie.
It will be intriguing to see how harshly this new rule is enforced during the 2024 hurling championship.
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