Eviston and Tipp looking forward to big game atmosphere again

By Shane Brophy

There were many enjoyable days following Tipperary in 2026 with the highlight being the senior hurlers winning the All-Ireland title on July 20th.

Two weeks beforehand saw the team beat Kilkenny in the semi-final, and on the same bill that day at Croke Park the senior camogie team defeated the Cats in their All-Ireland quarter final.

The cheer that greeted Clodagh McIntyre’s decisive goal in extra time was as loud as any camogie team has experienced with much of the over 60,000 crowd in at that stage.

Tipperary will get to experience it again next Sunday when they take on Cork in the Munster quarter final at FBD Semple Stadium, in the curtain-raiser to the senior hurling game with a full house of 45,000 expected.

“That was, by far, the biggest support that we've ever gotten in the blue & gold jersey,” admitted defender Mairead Eviston, speaking at the launch of the 2026 Munster Championships which for the first time this year had representatives of the four codes of hurling, Gaelic & ladies’ football, and camogie.

“The feeling going out in the field and just hearing them throughout the match like it's uplifting.

“If you look at the comparison to the first half, it's very eerie in a near empty Croke Park but the difference then of the sound to when the match was over, it was incredible.

“We had the crowd coming in when Clodagh got that goal that really drive us on and you could hear it and feel the atmosphere as well.”

Ultimately, the 2025 campaign was a disappointing one, losing a sixth consecutive All-Ireland semi-final, but unlike previous heartbreaks, their exit at the hands of Galway was conclusive.

“In the semi-final, we didn't reach near our peak performance at all,” Eviston reflected.

“In fairness to Galway, they came out and bullied us. They brought real aggression to the game, and we weren't able to cope with it.”

She added: “The year as whole, there was a little bit of a lull in our performance. Getting to semi-finals and constantly losing by a point it's going to take its toll. At the time, you probably didn't think we were underperforming, we were focusing on the positive side of that Kilkenny win that we really dug it out and got the victory but in hindsight, were we firing on cylinders, probably not for whatever reason. That was the most devastating in not getting that performance.”

It wasn’t complete disappointment for Eviston personally as she earned her first All-Star award, selected at wing back although it was at full back where she played the majority of the campaign.

“It's great recognition, and it was something that I taught was well out of my grasp,” she admitted.

“It kind of instils that bit of confidence and gives me a little bit of a boost going into the season, but would I trade it for an All-Ireland medal, I would, so we are still chasing that dream but I do feel it is there for us, and is very, very achievable.

“There is something special in the team at the moment, and it is very much possible that there is an All-Ireland Ireland in the team.”

This is encouraging to hear, helped by a new management team, led by two-time county senior championship winning manager James Heffernan of Clonoulty/Rossmore, who have provided a fresh outlook and while they missed out on making a league final, there is optimism going into the championship with the level of their performances.

“Denis (Kelly) and all previous managements have played a massive role,” Eviston said in appreciation.

“Under Denis, we won a Munster final medal, a league final medal, a lot of girls had nothing to show for playing for Tipp. He had put in a massive shift.

“This year definitely has provided just fresh outlook. The league has really been valuable for the management in terms of trying players in different positions and try different fifteens.”

One area Tipperary have targeted for improvement this year is greater physicality to match the new level Galway and Cork, in particular, have taken the game to in recent years, including last year’s All-Ireland final

“Whoever is at the top is going to stay trying to progress to get better,” Eviston added.

“We're all trying to catch them. Cork and Galway have set standard over the last few years of where we need to get to.

“This year, I can tell you for sure, the training, you'd want to be fully right coming to every single training session. That is what you want and that's what you need.

“The are incredible foundations in place for us this year to really train us hard and prepare us as best that we can for it.”

The winners of this Sunday’s game will progress to a semi-final against Limerick but the Munster Championship is separate to the All-Ireland Championship which has a new format this year with the semi-finalists from last year (Cork, Galway, Tipp and Waterford) playing in a round-robin format with the top two teams progressing to the semi-finals, with the remaining two teams going into quarter finals against the top two teams from the six-team group which includes Kilkenny, Dublin, Wexford, Limerick, Clare and Offaly.

“It’s hard to say what way it will go until we have a season of it,” Eviston says of the new format.

“Looking at it, playing the weaker teams, you really aren’t getting anything out of it, and your kind of risking injuries. Also, for them as well it’s not enjoyable going out knowing you're going to be beaten and trying to minimize the risk of the damage of it.

“You can kind of carried away with yourself with some of the scores that you're putting up and then you're coming up against the stronger teams and you're struggling to get scores from play.

“Will it take the edge off it? I don't think any of those four teams are going to want to be beaten on any day. Getting those semi-final spots are going to be very valuable. They'll be important matches for us to develop that kind of what we need to be playing as well.”