Super fit, motivated Clare will test Cats

They’re a promising young team, they’re on an upward curve, they have their best days ahead of them, they’re managed by a man who saw it all and did it all during his own playing days and tomorrow in Thurles they face a team who’ve seen it all and done it all over the past couple of seasons.

Yes, yes – two teams will be seen at Semple Stadium who fit that description, obviously. But it’s not Cork we’re talking about here. It’s Clare. And it’s not JBM, it’s Davy Fitz. Don’t be blinded by the scheduling. The more interesting and attractive game on the bill is not the main event but the curtain-raiser. Cork and Tipperary, with a prospective Munster semi-final collision in the back of their minds, will throw shapes around one another to whatever extent they see fit. It may be a good contest. It may not.

Clare, on the other hand, won’t be throwing shapes against Kilkenny. They’ll be throwing the kitchen sink at them.