Justin: why it’s so hard to put Cork away

ANYONE engaging Justin McCarthy in conversation about Sunday’s Guinness Munster hurling final will find he takes little notice of talk about Cork not being as formidable as they were perceived last season.

Privately, the Waterford manager might very well agree, but he's too experienced to be deflected from making a more realistic judgment. His approach is the one he would have taken as a player and coach, that Cork can never be underestimated in the championship and that when it comes to a Munster final they can be in a league of their own.

This 'talk' about the Cork team losing Setanta Ó Ailpín, as well as Alan Browne and, more recently, Pat Mulcahy is largely immaterial says McCarthy. His assessment is more basic. Form matters.