Boston trip is no tea party, says Davy Fitz

THERE are hardly two more competitive men on the planet than Davy Fitzgerald of Clare and Donal Óg Cusack of Cork.

It's a measure of the quality of the Munster panel in this year's Martin Donnelly Interprovincial Championship that both are in contention for the goalkeeper's jersey for tomorrow's final in Boston.

For opponents Leinster, multiple All-Ireland winner James McGarry of Kilkenny will be between the posts, with Damien Fitzhenry of Wexford out of commission due to a prior charity commitment in Africa.

That's just the goalkeeping position; from 2 to 15 the quality is just as high, with talent in every position and household names held in reserve.

And according to Fitzgerald, this is how it should be treating the competition with the respect which it deserves. "Every competition I play in means something to me. I wouldn't just do it for the sake of doing it. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the idea of the trip to Boston, but I enjoy the idea of winning even more.

"Boston is a very Irish city and there is a great buzz out there about us coming. I'm definitely looking forward to it, even though I haven't done a lot of hurling since we were knocked out of the club championship. I gave myself a small break to recharge the batteries."

That's Davy Fitz taken care of, but then, as anyone who knows him will testify, Davy would bust a gut to win a game of tiddly-winks. What of the others? He can only speak of his Munster teammates, of course, but they too are bringing an attitude to Boston.

"I never experienced the Railway Cup the way people talked about it way back, the huge crowds and all that. Certainly the cut and thrust of the Munster or All-Ireland championship isn't there, and there's no point in me saying otherwise. But the attitude was right in the semi-final, against Ulster, that was a game we really wanted to win, and the attitude in training is very good also. The guys over the team, Joe O'Leary (Cork) and his team are very professional.

"I don't know if it will ever get back to the way it was. It's been replaced to an extent by the All-Ireland club championship, but it should be a top-class competition in its own right.

"I'm not going to pretend the trip wasn't a factor, it's a huge incentive after a tough year of hurling. But there's more to it than that. The panel of players we have are much more focused on winning this competition than any group I've played with before.

"As for his personal battle with Cusack for the number one shirt?

"Myself and Donal spoke before the semi-final for the first time in a long time. He's very driven for Cork, but we'd be very similar in a lot of our attitudes to the game. He's very passionate, I'm the same way. We had a good conversation before the (Ulster) match, I'd respect him a lot. But when we're playing against each other, it is a different story.

"But it's great to play with fellas that you spend the rest of the year plotting against. You'd have ideas of what fellas are like, playing against them, you'd have a go off each other, then you meet them and they're not like that at all.

"It gives you a chance to really get to know them, rather than trying to get the better of them the whole time. I'd be very friendly with the two Kellys from Tipperary, we'd be close enough now, but there's an awful lot of good lads there.

"I must say I'm really looking forward to the game now."

LEINSTER (SH v Munster); J McGarry (Kilkenny); R Mullally (Kilkenny), D Ryan (Wexford), J Tennyson (Kilkenny); R Hanniffy (Offaly), D Ruth (Wexford), JJ Delaney (Kilkenny); J Ryall (Kilkenny), J Young (Laois); R Power (Kilkenny), M Comerford (Kilkenny), T Walsh (Kilkenny); E Brennan (Kilkenny), G Hanniffy (Offaly), B Carroll (Offaly).

MUNSTER (SH Panel v Leinster): D Óg Cusack, R Curran, J Gardiner, P Mulcahy, B O'Connor, J O'Connor, N Ronan, K Murphy (Sarsfields) (all Cork), D Fitzgerald, T Carmody, N Gilligan, A Markham, D McMahon, G O'Grady, G Quinn (all Clare), E Kelly, E Murphy, J Murray, S Prendergast (all Waterford), P Curran, D Fitzgerald, P Kelly, M Webster (all Tipperary), O Moran, P O'Grady (both Limerick).