There will be no holding back in game of knockout intensity between Tipperary and Cork

In the GAA world past events often cast long shadows. And so, last July’s All-Ireland final hovers heavily over Sunday’s championship opener at Semple Stadium. For Cork, at least, it’s a visceral memory, a tribal hurt that still stings and needs soothing.

Such a background adds spice to Sunday’s clash - not that Tipperary/Cork championship games ever need additional seasoning. Tradition alone is sufficient.

Still, there’s an added umph to this latest iteration of one of the fiercest rivalries in hurling. For Cork, Tipperary were the spoilsports last July and therefore Sunday’s game takes on added meaning. Cork’s traditional assurance has been damaged and needs coddling, if nothing else.

It’s a blockbuster game, likely to be a sell-out. Two years ago, Cork invaded Thurles and swatted us aside with embarrassing ease. It was a low point for Premier County hurling and the resurgence since then has been spectacular.

That resurgence was also unexpected, which is probably behind Donal Óg Cusack’s sweeping generalisation that no county rises and falls faster than Tipperary. The Cork pundit seems to have a strange preoccupation with Tipperary at present. One week we’re the land of (hurling) milk and honey, then we’re obsessed with winning back-to-back All-Irelands before we rise and fall at breakneck speed.

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I think I’m closer to Tipperary hurling than Donal Óg and I don’t sense any fixation with back-to-back All-Irelands. That desire may be there in the background, and occasionally referenced, but no more than that. The sharper focus is always on the next game, the next championship and let the All-Irelands come whenever they will. Better to pick off All-Irelands every few years rather than two or three together and then a 21-year gap.

Anyway, Sunday’s game is big – very big. Every game in Munster has a knockout intensity to it, so there will be no holding back here. We haven’t beaten Cork in Semple Stadium since 2018. Worse still, our defeats to the visitors in 2024 and 2022 were severe, with margins of 18 and 12 points separating the teams. Semple Stadium is no fortress.

Tactically, Cork will pose many of the same challenges that we faced in recent years. On our worst days we’ve found their attack too hot to handle. Players like Shane Barrett, Darragh Fitzgibbon, Brian Hayes and Alan Connolly combine pace, power and precision to lethal effect if given space. Cutting down that space and stopping their running game will again be a priority.

Much (too much?) was made in last year’s All-Ireland final of Tipperary’s plus-one, better known as the sweeper. It was as if we reinvented the wheel that day, when in reality every team nowadays is very familiar with the sweeper system and how to counteract it. Ironically, when Bryan O’Mara’s sweeping was most evident in the first half, Tipperary trailed by six points; when sweeping was less obvious in the second half we hammered them.

I liked Alan Connolly’s comments in the aftermath of the All-Ireland defeat. He dismissed the idea that Cork lost because of Tipperary’s sweeper.

“We kind of had an idea they would play with a sweeper. I don’t think it was tactically they won – it was more that they wanted it more. They went after us. They tackled more. It was literally it. We just got shocked by it”.

You won’t get a more honest – and accurate – appraisal of what happened on July 20.

Still, how Tipperary set up defensively will be fascinating to watch on Sunday. Whether it’s a sweeper, a plus-one or half forwards tracking back, stymying the Cork attack will be crucial. The concession of goals especially has to be a priority. Thereafter the Tipperary attack would appear to have enough firepower to prosper at the other end.

Our historical head-to-head with Cork is tight. The counties have met on 93 previous occasions, with The Rebels taking 41 wins against 40 for Tipperary. There were eight draws and four unfinished matches. More recently, the last 10 encounters show the teams on four wins apiece, with two draws. Not much separation then on the record.

This time Cork are favourites to prevail at odds of 8/13 against 17/10 for Tipperary. It’s an accurate reflection of Cork’s recent dominance, the 2025 All-Ireland excepted.

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It’s a fascinating one to anticipate. On known evidence The Rebels deserve to be fancied but betting odds guarantee nothing. Based on past encounters, the one essential for Tipperary is to avoid a heavy loss; thereafter anything is possible.

The clash of Clare and Waterford at Ennis will also be intriguing. It’s difficult to assess Clare’s whereabouts following a Division 1B league campaign. Last year they were crippled by injuries and the medics are working hard this time too. With a full complement and especially the likes of Shane O’Donnell and Tony Kelly at full tilt, they’re a match for anyone. When shorthanded, prospects change.

Waterford have Austin Gleeson back in harness. They’re unfancied for either Munster or All-Ireland championships but are seen as capable of pulling off a shock result. Sunday will tell us more about both sides.

P.S. Worryingly, I’m hearing that the Tipperary County Board has returned a few thousand terrace tickets for Sunday’s game. Given the huge influx of Cork fans that’s expected, that’s disappointing news.