Knockout approach just fine with Denis Ring

At a time when “too many” competitions provide second and third chances, Cork U20 hurling manager Denis Ring has stressed the importance of the U20 championship retaining its knockout format.

Hurling is a year behind football in making the drop from U21 to U20 and so this evening’s Munster quarter-final between Cork and Limerick at Páirc Uí Rinn (7.30pm) will be the first U20 hurling fixture played in the province. The prize at stake is a home semi-final against Clare next week, while for the vanquished, their season is at an end after just one hour of competitive fare.

Where minor and senior teams in Munster are afforded a minimum of four championship games, Ring sees it as crucial that players, at some point, are exposed to knockout inter-county fare. It adds to the attractiveness of the competition, he believes. Though it should be noted, that a tweak in the system last year means the beaten Munster and Leinster finalists do progress to the All-Ireland semis.

“This is 100% old style championship. You have to be right on the night and that’s it. There is a lot to be said for knockout championship,” said Ring, who was the man at the helm for Cork’s run to last year’s All-Ireland U21 final.

There are backdoors all over the place [nowadays], there are Velux windows, side doors, there’s every sort of a thing in too many competitions. Where they were talking about streamlining competitions a few years ago, I don’t think it was ever intended that all competitions would create backdoor opportunities.

"Maybe it isn’t essential at every level. It makes this a uniquely attractive competition. But the stakes are very high, as a result. You hope all the preparation, both physically and mentally, is right going into it.

“People are attracted to this kind of competition. Going back the years, there was always a shock, invariably, in the first round of the senior and intermediate Cork hurling championships. And it meant if a team was beaten, they were gone. It created excitement for other teams when, maybe, they saw a high-ranking team going out. All that is gone now. There is no point beating a team in the first round because they’ll probably come back 10 times stronger.

Anthony Daly reviews the hurling weekend with Brian Hogan, TJ Ryan and Ger Cunningham. In association with Renault - car partners of the GAA.

“I remember having a good conversation with John Kiely when I took over as U21 Cork manager. He had just finished his U21 stint with Limerick. His description to me was that the knockout element really concentrates the mind. It starts on July 3 and is over on August 23/24. It is a very compact period of time. You could be on your holidays on July 4.”

While goalkeeper Ger Collins is the lone survivor from the team which started last year’s All-Ireland U21 final defeat to Tipperary, the team named for this evening’s quarter-final contains 11 players who began the 2017 All-Ireland minor final. Preparations may not have been as smooth as they would have liked in recent weeks but Ring said it was a massive help that there is familiarity between management and players from that 2017 minor campaign.

“The fact that you know them inside out is a great help because things might have been a little bit disjointed in preparing. They’re a fantastic bunch. Ten of our 30 were doing their Leaving Cert, there was U21 club championship in the last week, and the month prior to that you had third-level exams. This is all post club championship in April. Getting everyone on the pitch has proven very problematic until this week.”

Ring concluded: “Limerick present a massive challenge because of the status of hurling there at the moment. It must be a massive incentive for them to win the Munster tremble.”