Larkin plays down demolition of Rebels

Kilkenny captain Eoin Larkin isn’t keen on the ‘hot favourites for the All-Ireland’ tag, despite his side’s destruction of Cork in the league final last Sunday.

“Yeah but look, ye (in the media) have to sell papers, don’t ye? Ye have to say something. The championship is wide open, I don’t think favourites come into it. We’ll just have to work hard and I’m sure Cork will be doing the exact same, going home and working hard and trying to get through to the Munster final and then through to the All-Ireland series.”

Larkin was surprised by Kilkenny’s 14-point winning margin: “I was to be honest. The score did not reflect the game. It was very physical out there and Cork did not let anything away handy. We were lucky we got the few breaks in front of goal and that gave us the bit of breathing space.