Kilkenny trump Limerick in terms of the greatest

KILLINAN END

Mission accomplished might be the big takeaway from the weekend for Tipp.

“Getting out of Munster” was the minimum requirement to put a glow back in our cheeks, but in reality, a loss to such a middling Galway team was always a ghastly prospect. Maroon and white-clad hurlers lit up many of our youthful August afternoons with extraordinary displays against more-fancied opponents. On such days scores poured in from all angles. Many were one-hit wonders, of course, but they spoke of a county in rude health with much potential. Those days seem a long way away now in all senses.

Whatever codology might have been spouted about the relative strengths of the provinces after Dublin downed Limerick, it can be countered by the reality of Galway winning four of their five provincial games with a degree of comfort. Despite this they are a long way from where they would want to be and in their half-century or so at hurling’s top table they have rarely been as far outside the more exclusive dining.

While Tipp took care of business efficiently, we will remain grounded as we head for Jones’s Road. The match was won well but as a teller of tales it was very much keyhole surgery rather than full-cavity examination. Surely it is a good sign of a team to win a game with something to spare. However, the image of opposition forwards scuttling along the end-line towards the Tipp goal with some success will concentrate minds. Likewise, the amount of possession conceded to Galway is not sustainable against superior opposition.

But let us celebrate and acknowledge the achievements so far of the Cahill management regime. They now stand within touching distance of an All-Ireland Final with a team full of youthful energy and, to give just one example, more experienced heads like Jason Forde exhibiting glimpses of top form. A familiar roadblock stands before them, but it also represents a tantalising opportunity.

Much has been made of the shock result of Dublin beating Limerick. From a Tipp perspective there are unlikely parallels. Dublin came third in their province, playing a team that has won six consecutive provincial championships. That is precisely the position we find ourselves in now, third place in Munster facing a Kilkenny team that has swept all before it (including Dublin) for more than half a decade. Hopefully we will be able to harness some of that underdog spirit when the time comes.

As for our neighbours in green – the end of an era, or just the end of an aura? It is hard to be definitive, but it is difficult not to imagine some shape-shifting in the Treaty County before they rise again. Much of the team has a lot done even if in pure age terms a case can be made for a few more chapters. Let us assume the jig is up and ponder what they have achieved for a moment. More importantly let us consider the context. You’ll get plenty of porter-merchants who’ll bore the will to live out of you about “Cody” and how many All-Irelands his team won relative to Limerick.

What you won’t be told is that when Kilkenny won four-in-a-row they played just seventeen games. In the last three seasons alone 2023-25 – when they reached the All-Ireland Final just once - Limerick have played nineteen matches. The burden put on this team relative to Kilkenny who breezed through Leinster in those years bears little comparison. Who knows the amount of medals they’d have worn if they were doing it under Kilkenny’s conditions? Time and again, these Shannonsiders went to the well in matches which took them to the brink as Clare will attest. Then there were the flagship performances.

It’s long-forgotten now but they shipped 2-16 against Tipp in the first-half of the 2021 Munster Final and survived by scoring 2-17 themselves in the second-half. Also long forgotten is that Cork were strong enough to beat Kilkenny in the 2021 All-Ireland semi-final, yet they were outscored 3-28 to 1-11 from play in the final against Limerick. Two years later Limerick came from behind to outscore Kilkenny by a scarcely believable 0-19 to 0-5 in the last half-hour of the 2023 All-Ireland Final. Yes, they caught breaks along the way. The biggest one might have been the capacity to win three All-Irelands in just nineteen months between October 2020 and July 2022. Two of these were outside the round-robin format without the associated drain on resources. For a young team coming into its prime it was the perfect storm.

One significant difference between Kilkenny and Limerick is the amount of personnel Kilkenny had available. Of the Limerick 2018 team it can be said that some seven years later, at least eleven would still start their ideal first fifteen. Seven years on from 2006 Kilkenny started just five against Cork in their last game of 2013. Brian Cody’s achievements, incredible though they were, came from different and constantly evolving teams. Their 2015 team was utterly different from their 2006 team. Different times, different teams. Perhaps this has been Limerick’s undoing ultimately. Or will the times to come show them to have a second wind?