If Shefflin didn’t already know what he was letting himself in for he does now. We’re not in Ballyhale, any more, Toto.

The Cats will die with their boots on tonight and it may be enough. That, however, is only part of it

Seamus Harnedy hurled here like a cavalry commander with sword aloft on a prancing white charger, and was a splendidly old-fashioned effort

Waterford’s half-back line is the launchpad for their battleplan. If Cork don’t match them in this department then the locals will create overlaps till the cows come home.

On the eve of the championship we looked for teams who might undo Limerick. Two rounds in we’re already looking for divine intervention

It is no leap to view next Sunday as a dry run for the Leinster final. In the event of a Galway defeat the blowback for Shefflin will be negligible. In the event of a Kilkenny defeat the blowback for Cody will not be negligible but it will be temporary. By 9pm on June 4th we’ll know a good deal more about Shefflin the manager.

Limerick weren't just playing a match last Sunday in Cork - they were playing a role. This is how the best champions behave first day out and have done since time immemorial

In their fifth season on the road as a successful combination Limerick are more vulnerable than previously to injuries, metal fatigue, events

Encouraging as it would be for Waterford to win, it would be even more encouraging for them to do so minus the services of Austin Gleeson.

We live in an age of impossibly sophisticated recovery regimens and backroom teams whose dimensions border on the size of a Cecil B De Mille cast. Whoever reaches the final and whatever the outcome, the winners and the losers will be hopping off the ground two weeks later. Rested, recovered, hydrated, the works. Not just fit but match-sharp, their sights calibrated, their stickwork oiled to a fetching gloss.