Tipp-top tackling separated winners from the losers

When Davy Fitzgerald and Ger Cunningham sit down to analyse their sides’ weekend defeats, one simple statistic will jump out at both: The tackle count.

I’m often asked what constitutes a tackle in hurling. It is open to interpretation, but a fair translation of a hurling tackle is a block, a hook or an attempt to stop the momentum of an opponent in possession.

In that facet of play Tipperary were the kings of the weekend with a decent total of 74 tackles, 18 more than Clare, 22 more than Cork and a whopping 41 more than a Dublin side who simply malfunctioned on their big day out in Croke Park. You would imagine Davy Fitzgerald will be most upset by the fact Tipperary out-muscled his Clare side.