Carrying Cork hurling flag a privilege, insists Ring

The burden of having to carry the Cork hurling flag as the last of their county teams still standing “is a privilege, not a pressure”, according to U20 manager Denis Ring.

With the Cork seniors and minors having exited stage left, and neither managing to pick up any silverware before departing, all focus is now trained on Denis Ring’s U20 hurlers and their bid for Munster and All-Ireland glory.

All-Ireland minor finalists two years ago, the ease at which Limerick and Clare were overcome in recent weeks has lent itself to a fair degree of optimism that this Cork team can be the group to deliver a first All-Ireland title — across senior, U20/21, and minor — since 2005.

Whatever about ending that particular wait, Ring has insisted his players are not phased at being the last Cork hurling team still alive in their respective championship.

“Carrying the Cork hurling flag is a privilege. It is an absolute privilege to be involved with a Cork hurling team, it is an absolute privilege to be preparing for a Munster final with a Cork team. The day you start looking at that as a negative and as pressure is unfortunate,” said Ring.

“Ultimately, when you are playing in the big games, it is difficult, it is a massive challenge, and so on and so forth. But that is where you want to be. We’d be telling lads this is a privilege, not a pressure. For that reason, you should be opening up the shoulders, expressing yourself, and having a real cut off it.”

With Cork having come through two knockout fixtures in the Munster quarter and semi-final, this evening’s provincial decider away to Tipperary differs in that it does not carry winner-takes-all status. Indeed, coming off second best at this particular hurdle will hardly be deemed detrimental to a team’s chances given the 2018 Premier class regrouped from a 13-point Munster final mauling to go on and land the All-Ireland crown.

Ring acknowledges the presence of a backdoor absence of a trapdoor at Semple Stadium will ease any pressure his charges may be feeling.

“Ordinarily, when you lose a final, you come off the field and there is a feeling of, that’s it, this is the end. But that will not be the case here. It does take an element of pressure off the lads. They know they can go for it, have a real cut off this, but know, also, that you have earned the opportunity of playing in an All-Ireland semi-final 10 days or so later.”

Of course, that is not to say either side will be holding back.

There is also the Munster minor semi-final saga of two years ago, which began with a thrilling extra-time stalemate in Thurles. Cork took the verdict after an equally enthralling replay at Páirc Uí Rinn a few days later. These Tipp lads, you’d imagine, won’t want to again lose to this Cork group.

“There is a Munster title at stake, let’s not lose sight of that fact. We were delighted to win it last year and it means a lot to pick up titles along the way,” Ring continued.

“This particular bunch of guys, a lot of them have Munster and All-Ireland U17 medals, Munster minor medals, and a few of them were on the fringe of things last year at this level, so winning is a good habit.

“We were delighted last week to see the footballers go and win. These titles are hugely important. The chances don’t come across too often so you have to take them when they present themselves. Obviously, that you know you are going to be playing in a semi-final on the August Bank Holiday weekend is reassuring, to a certain extent.”

He concluded: “There are bits and pieces from the last two games we’ve targeted that we want to be better on. You are continually looking for the perfect performance. We are playing against a team that has players who are involved with the Tipperary seniors. That has to count for something. From our perspective, that only makes the challenge greater.”

Quirke’s football podcast: Shane Lowry in Croke Park. Team selection farces. Do Tyrone need to be so defensive?