Kilkenny’s unwanted record

Killinan End

There are many perspectives to a hurling match. From one angle, a Kilkenny contributor to an online forum questioned if more than four Tipperary players would make the current Kilkenny starting fifteen. Even by that county’s standards it seems an extremely blinkered notion. On the other hand, viewed through the lens of one team with six provincial titles in succession, and the other coming only third in their province maybe the proposition holds more water. That, of course, depends on your perspective on the question of comparative standards in the provinces.

For most people in Munster it is probably self-evident that the southern competition is stronger but the Dublin win over Limerick is deemed in some quarters as compelling evidence of, at the very least, a levelling of standards between the provinces. Then how many Dublin players would make the Limerick team? The fly in the ointment of this argument – Tipperary’s unfussed dismissal of provincial runners-up Galway – is blithely ignored on the basis of westerners’ eternal and incurable flakiness. So, there are many moving parts for any conclusion looking around for a retro-fittable supporting argument.

Let’s strip it back to the abstract question of pressure on Sunday. Which team, in the context of team and management life-cycle, needs this win more? Of course, there are many sensible readers who will scoff at the notion that everything is not on the line in an All-Ireland semi-final. But at a broader level there is the sense that Tipperary have forward momentum with some years ahead where the team might be vigorously competitive. The result of the All-Ireland semi-final does not necessarily change that. By comparison, Kilkenny seem in a position unparalleled in hurling history. When the Black & Amber won its third successive Leinster championship in 2022 before falling narrowly, if decisively, to Limerick in the All-Ireland Final they became the first team in either province to win three-in-a-row and not have added an All-Ireland title. This has now extended to six titles in succession which is as extraordinary as it is generally uncommented on. By any of the standards Kilkenny would apply to themselves they are now in absolute must-win territory. The alternative – caught in a vortex of winning Leinster every year and falling victims to Munster teams - would not be too palatable on proud Nore-side. It might reasonably be cited in mitigation of course that Kilkenny were as much a victim of Limerick’s dominance as anyone else. This is accurate only to a point. Kilkenny have lost their last championship game to every Munster county. An argument that in Munster they would be right down in the pack battling for survival is not without substance. Does Dublin’s unanticipated win over Limerick actually change any interpretation of provincial relativity? Will Dublin’s sudden ascendancy really withstand the red wave this weekend?

Where Kilkenny may have an edge on some of the Munster teams is in mentality. They rarely fail to show up and be hugely competitive. However, this should not be confused with incredible standards. This is a team which lost the last thirty minutes to Limerick 0-19 to 0-5 in 2023. A team which was held by Carlow last year. A county which did not beat Galway in the round-robin until this year in spite of western wobbliness. And a team which has had no end of bother with Wexford in recent years.

Tipp’s inexperience in Croke Park should not limit their ambitions when they hit Drumcondra. What they concede in experience they will make up for in having been well tested in the championship furnace and passed reasonably well – quite well if we leave out the Cork game. Even that defeat saw a team which showed considerable stomach for battle in very trying circumstances. But the test in Ennis, especially in the latter stages when the Banner roared, will match any intensity thrown at Tipp at the weekend. There is scope for traction to be got around the Kilkenny half-back-line with runners like Jake, Andrew Ormond, and Craig Morgan.

Their corner-backs have been shown in the past to be vulnerable too. Kilkenny’s fine full-back had a man of the match performance against Galway but was surely helped by their insistence in hitting high ball after high ball on top of him. Tipp should bring - much more than Galway - the ‘through the lines’ game that we saw to great effect against Limerick and Clare. No defence likes being run at, but it will certainly not suit the Leinster champions.

Kilkenny, when the pressure is on, always end up going long, even on puckouts. Matching them in the air when this happens will go a long way. Allowing Adrian Mullen the freedom of the park as Galway did is hardly a runner either. One worry for Tipp is an apparent vulnerability to the concession of goals which was evident against Galway, Clare, and Cork to varying degrees. Kilkenny are not overburdened with free-scoring forwards, but they do go for goals. This will hardly be death by 30 points – goals will matter. Before contemplating the outcome let us enjoy being back in an All-Ireland semi-final with a great chance, after six long years of waiting. Let us also spare a thought in Dublin for those who shared those heady days in 2019 with us and are no longer around.