Enda McEvoy: Are hurling's chasing pack merely playing for second place?

Today’s qualifiers take place under the shadow of Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday. The All-Ireland series will take place under the shadow of Páirc Uí Chaoimh last Sunday. Every championship fixture Limerick fulfil for the remainder of John Kiely’s tenure they will in a sense fulfil under the shadow of last Sunday and that second-half performance.

NOT FOR CATCHING: Limerick’s Kyle Hayes bursts past Tipperary’s Dan McCormack before scoring a stunning individual goal in last weekend’s Munster SHC final. Are Limerick’s rivals destined to trail in their wake for the rest of the season? Picture: Ray McManus/Sportsfile

All over bar the shouting, then? May as well hand them the MacCarthy Cup right now and be done with it? Everyone else playing for second place?

Does it matter who’s the second-best team in the land? Is there a second-best team in the land, come to think of it — and if there is, will that make a hap’orth of difference at teatime on August 22?