Denying Cats five in-a-row ‘sparked rise in tensions’

Tipperary county board chairman Sean Nugent has pinpointed the 2010 All-Ireland final as the day when relations with Kilkenny began to deteriorate.

Nugent suspects that Tipp’s victory, which denied the Noresiders a fifth successive All-Ireland crown, has led to heightened tensions between the neighbours.

Since then, there have been a number of incidents in high-profile fixtures between hurling’s heavyweights, culminating in red cards for Kilkenny’s JJ Delaney and Tipp’s Lar Corbett in last Sunday’s National League final. Nugent has also predicted a flurry of red cards in this year’s championship as referees come under instruction to clampdown on dangerous tackling and general indiscipline.