Biggest test yet for Tipperary 20's

GAA: oneills.com All-Ireland Under 20 Hurling Final Preview

By Shane Brophy

TIPPERARY v KILKENNY

UPMC Nowlan Park, Kilkenny

Saturday, 31st May

Throw-in @ 3.00pm (E.T.)

Referee: Shane Hynes (Galway)

Tipperary manager Brendan Cummins says it isn’t about redemption for him or his players ahead of Saturday’s All-Ireland Under 20 Hurling Final against Kilkenny.

Twelve months on to the day from losing to Offaly in the 2024 final, they go back to Nowlan Park for the decider but the Ballybacon/Grange clubman admitted there was no talk of a quest from the start of the championship.

“The thing from last year was, yeah, we were disappointed. You do remember the sensation but the Munster Championship is such a rat race that you can never get ahead of yourselves, that’s the way it is,” he said.

“I told them at the time, go back to your clubs, do the best you can, try and become better players and put your hand up to play senior hurling for Tipperary next year, that was the message.

“When we got them back this year, the message was we have the first round of the championship against Limerick in Thurles, and there is no other game that matters only that one, after that it will be Cork in Cork and so on.

“In between that message there has been the work to make the players bigger and stronger, get them more tactically aware, and get them ready to be senior hurlers which is our biggest brief.

“But is it nice to find ourselves in this position again, no doubt about that.”

The fact that the Tipperary senior hurlers didn’t have a game in the final round of the Munster round-robin and don’t have a provincial final to prepare for means Cummins has had full access to the five members of the senior panel, captain Sam O’Farrell, Darragh McCarthy, Oisin O’Donoghue, Conor Martin and Aaron O’Halloran.

He reports a clean bill of health as regards injury for a game where the likes of Cathal O’Reilly and Adam Ryan will be aiming to win back-to-back All-Ireland titles against Kilkenny in their own backyard.

“It is what it is,” admitted the Tipperary manager about Nowlan Park being the venue for the final once again.

“It was fine in that the decision was taken out of our hands, there was no choice, we are playing in Kilkenny and that’s the end of it.

“Tipp and Kilkenny, while we have an unbelievable rivalry, there is huge respect between both counties as well.

“I’m sure if Mark Dowling had to bring his team to Thurles, he’d say fine, so it is a non-issue for it. We knew before the Leinster final that the final was fixed for Nowlan Park one way or the other.”

Cummins and his management team were present in Portlaoise last Wednesday to see Kilkenny comfortably defeat Dublin in the Leinster Final and he was impressed with what we saw from their final opponents.

“They have been very good through the whole Leinster Championship,” he continued.

“They have been really dominant and consistently playing well.

“They are very big and strong, what you would expect of a Kilkenny team, similar to the team that won the All-Ireland against Limerick in 2022.

“They were well deserving Leinster champions. They were going to win the final against Dublin before the red card happened. They use the ball well, the usual Kilkenny traits of being confident, dogged, and resilient, all those things you would expect from a team that has marched through Leinster as no one has gone close to them.”

Tipperary have shown resilience too, nineteen of the players that experienced the disappointment twelve months ago have helped drive the Premier County back to the All-Ireland final.

Plus they have also overcome the expectation that comes with being a minor winning team three years ago and expected to win the under 20 but it doesn't always work out like that.

“The outside perception is you always look to three years ago, but we don’t read anything into three years ago,” Cummins said.

“If you look through our team there is a huge amount of change to then. I mean, Darragh McCarthy couldn’t get on the starting team three years ago, so players develop and evolve as they get bigger and strong, and smarter about the world.

“Last years team couldn’t win a match at minor and still got to an All-Ireland final, so the past doesn’t have a bearing on it.

“We have been very clear with the lads on that; forget about the outside noise. We just have to be the best under 20 team we can in 2025 and see what happens.

“The lads have shown great character, especially in the Munster Final when Clare were flying and were ahead with fifteen minutes left, the lads dug in and got across the line.

He added: “It is about that progress. The lads don’t rest on their laurels at any stage, don’t take anything for granted and that’s been the key, and the biggest kick in the backside we ever got was against Limerick on the first night but since then, thankfully, we haven’t looked back.

“They all know each other really well, they have all been on development squads along the line as well. It just goes to show that the system is working.

“If you look at Kilkenny, they are the same from their point of view but this year have progressed on faster than everyone else in Leinster which has gotten them to be where they are today.

“There isn’t any doubt this is the biggest test we are going to have as this Kilkenny team are very good.”