Christy O'Connor: How powerful is vengeance in an All-Ireland final?

If revenge is such a powerful stimulus, why haven’t the statistics backed it up?

RIVALRY: Cork have already beaten Tipperary this year in the National League final and the Munster round robin. Pic: ©INPHO/James Crombie

At half-time in the 2012 Leinster final, Kilkenny were 14 points down to Galway. The game was effectively over. Galway eventually won by ten points but Kilkenny still outscored their opponents in the second half. And that was where the road to winning that year’s All-Ireland began for Kilkenny.

“Without the expletives,” once recalled David Herity, Kilkenny goalkeeper that afternoon, and Tipperary coach now, “(Brian) Cody’s exact words were, ‘If anyone thinks here we’re beat, go into the showers because we’re going to war in this second-half.’