The big story of the day was in Croke Park and as I got back from Limerick, you could see the minibuses still heading for the M11, celebrating. It was obviously a hugely exciting game and illustrated the madness of the scheduling that prevented people from seeing both provincial finals.
It’s not right with so few big hurling events in the calendar that two of them should effectively clash. I’m not the only one who was really disappointed by this and I really hope that thought is going to be given to scheduling next year’s Munster and Leinster finals for Saturday and Sunday.
It was a significant win for Wexford and the clear signs of improvement from them in 2019 have been borne out.
I had felt that Kilkenny had room for improvement with players coming back from injuries but that didn’t happen – Cillian Buckley didn’t even start after being named and, apparently, afterwards Brian Cody accepted that Walter Walsh has been struggling for fitness.
Wexford are through to the All-Ireland semi-finals and will feel confident that, on their form to date this year, they have every chance of playing a significant role in the destiny of the Liam MacCarthy.
There’s no doubt in my mind though that Limerick are going to be favourites to retain their title.
Looking at the players lining up to meet President Higgins beforehand really brought home to me the sheer physical size of Limerick. It was a reminder of their power and physique. Tipperary aren’t a small team by any means but they aren’t in Limerick’s category.
It was a huge occasion, as befits a Munster final, and Tipp and their supporters went into it in good form and with plenty of confidence that they could put it up to Limerick.
After a nervy start playing against the wind, Limerick quickly got to grips with Tipperary and the energy and power they showed in the rest of the first half were significant factors in wearing their opponents out after the break.
By half-time there was very little confidence left amongst the Tipp support that the form of the round-robin match two weeks ago could somehow reassert itself. The Limerick half backs were winning the ball at will and overall their tide was rising and got to a fairly high level.
Middle eight
They were overrunning Tipp in midfield. Cian Lynch was doing what he does best, running the show with awareness and vision. Will O’Donoghue was an able lieutenant and the Limerick middle eight established complete control.
I recall noting how well Tipperary looked in Cork on May 10th but the depth of the squad has been challenged by the injuries to Bonner Maher and Cathal Barrett. On this evidence the former’s loss may turn out to be incalculable.
They don’t have long to recover before the All-Ireland quarter-final and the lack of depth and age profile of the team will be a challenge.
The game has changed since they won the All-Ireland in 2016. That year’s semi-final with Galway was a battle of the skies, hitting long ball up the field. Limerick play relentlessly through the lines and even if it doesn’t always come off for them, they keep at it.
As well as their middle eight, they have the best full-back line in the game and bit by bit, every Limerick defender got on top. Séamus Callanan did his best for Tipp and got a good goal and nearly had a second but they were almost flattered by the final score.
But for the heroics of Brian Hogan in goal and Brendan Maher in front of him plus wides from Gearóid Hegarty and Aaron Gillane’s miss in front of goal, the margin could have been a lot worse. It was unusual to see Tipp supporters so thin on the ground by the end of the game.
Significantly Peter Casey had a great game for Limerick. He had been touted for a while as their most dangerous forward but had been undermined by injury but he showed here that he’s a serious player.
The provincial championships are over and we have new winners in both Leinster and Munster. The picture has changed nearly every week and for anyone conditioned by a traditional view of the hurling world, it can take getting used to.
Limerick are writing a new template for hurling. It’s a response to modern circumstances, which have brought different structures and different demands with round-robin matches, rotation of players and peaking for the later weeks.
For Tipperary and Kilkenny, the only consolation is that the real hurling starts now. If the wounds can be bandaged and any degree of healing take place before the quarter-finals, they can revive themselves because it’s all to play for.
