Respect, from Cardiff to Croker

LAST Friday afternoon, at 5pm, there was a media briefing, Cork version, at the luxurious Maryborough Hotel in Douglas, in advance of this Sunday’s All-Ireland senior hurling final.

Before we all sat down to talk, however, several Cork players strolled around outside in their swanky new suits, courtesy of Best’s Menswear in Mahon Point: one of the perks those players get for reaching yet another All-Ireland final.

While all this was going on, several players from the Munster rugby squad that would be playing Leicester Tigers later in the evening in their season-opening friendly passed into the hotel. Donncha O’Callaghan, outstanding second row last season in Munster’s Heineken European Cup win, in Ireland’s Triple Crown success, is acutely aware of just who the hurlers are; so aware, in fact, that he reckons it helped inspire Munster (the Cork contingent at any rate) to success in their European quest.

“Of course, yes, you can’t walk around Cork without being aware of the great success of the hurlers for the last few years. Even the footballers this year, I thought they were incredible, it was so disappointing for them to lose to Kerry like they did, in the All-Ireland semi-final, but their performances before that were so impressive. They’re a young squad, they’ll come back again in the next few years.

“Everyone in Cork seems to be on a bit of a high, but to be fair I think the hurlers have to get the credit for that. You see these fellas who work so hard, then train on top of that, give it everything — they get the reward, so you want to do the same.”

Nor is there any jealousy from the men in Munster red for those in Rebel red. In Cork, though there is a great passion for rugby (as evidenced by the large and vocal crowd in Musgrave Park that evening), Donncha recognises that everything plays second fiddle to hurling.

“Definitely, and rightly so. These fellas are working nine to five, then the commitment they put in to their county is incredible, they deserve every bit of credit they get. We’re lucky, we earn our living from our sport, as do others, but these guys do a week’s work, then go out and entertain tens of thousands week after week, get nothing for it, just do it for the pride of the jersey, which is an incredible thing.

“I think that’s what makes Munster special as well; if you took everything else away from it — the money, all that stuff — we’d still be there, doing what we’re doing, we’d still be trying to achieve what we’ve achieved.”

This Sunday, Donncha sees Cork facing the same mountain that faced Munster last May in the Heineken Cup final in Cardiff. Kilkenny, the Cats, the one team that will have absolutely no fear of Cork, double All-Ireland champions or not.

“They’ll have their work cut out for them alright. We were away for a lot of the championship, but we saw the Kilkenny-Clare game, the All-Ireland semi-final, and Kilkenny looked very good in that one. That guy who was injured, JJ Delaney, he’ll be a huge loss, but anyone who steps in to play in an All-Ireland final has a huge incentive, he’s going to perform to the best of his ability, be chomping at the bit.

“Mind you, I feel a bit funny talking about hurling — there’s a lot of lads on the squad, the likes of Foley, Leamy, Horan, Ian Dowling, who played hurling, multi-talented fellas. I’m more used to pulling and dragging: from Bishopstown, all football.”

And would all those lads be aware of what’s happening this Sunday, in Croke Park?

“Definitely, there’s a huge amount of slagging goes on, honestly. I’m not joking, myself and ROG (Ronan O’Gara) would always bring the Cork flag out, hang it on the wall coming into All-Ireland time, but we come in every night and it’s been whipped by either Leamy or Horan or Foley — someone has whipped it and done something with it. But it’s great craic.

“We won’t be able to get to the game, we’ll only be back from Poland that day; Catherine from O2 has been very good to us, looked after myself and Strings (Peter Stringer), brought us up to the last two All-Ireland finals. I hope we weren’t their good luck charms, that they go on and win again anyway, do the three-in-a-row. I wouldn’t know much about the ins and outs of the game, but we’ll be shouting our heads off for Cork. An incredible bunch of lads, you’d wish them all the best.”

Genuine respect from a genuine pro, not just for Cork, but for Kilkenny, for Kerry, for Mayo, for all those

GAA teams who do what it takes to reach the top.