Ryan: More than two horses in race

LAST Sunday’s power-packed display by Kilkenny in dismissing Dublin and racking up their seventh successive Leinster SHC title suggests that the old two-tier order still prevails, reigning All-Ireland champions Tipperary and the Cats out on their own, everyone else still playing catch-up.

Tipperary manager Declan Ryan, however, begs to differ. “It’s a cliché every manager throws out, that it’s wide open, but I think particularly this year the championship in general is wide open,” he says, as his side prepare for Sunday’s Munster final against champions Waterford.

Given that Kilkenny managed to turn a 12-point Allianz Hurling League final defeat by the Dubs into an 11-point win, and given too that Tipperary themselves are short odds-on favourites to topple Waterford on Sunday, that might seem — as Ryan himself points out — just cliché-speak.