Munster final talking points: Can Limerick afford to allow Tadhg de Búrca roam free?

Munster hurling final: Three key questions

Tadhg De Búrca starred in the Munster SHC semi-final win over Cork. Picture: Piaras Ó Mídheach/Sportsfile

What to do about Tadhg de Búrca?

Nobody is expecting Limerick to rain possession down on top of Tadhg de Búrca as Cork so senselessly did a fortnight ago, but can the Treaty afford to allow the 26-year-old defender do as he pleases on Sunday?

Is there a need — going on the semi-final evidence and de Búrca’s effectiveness as a launchpad for countless Waterford attacks — for a green shirt to be by his side from first whistle to last, and if so, who gets the job?

The 2015 All-Star is masterful at protecting and patrolling the D. His positional sense is every bit as impressive as his distribution of possession.

It is unlikely he will have the same number of possessions —22 — as he did in the Munster semi-final, but irrespective, must Limerick attempt to unsettle Waterford by unsettling de Búrca?

What to do about Gearóid Hegarty?

If Limerick can be certain that de Búrca will sit deep and protect his full-back line, then Waterford can be equally assured that Gearóid Hegarty won’t spend much time in the half-forward line in which he is selected.

The same applies to Tom Morrissey and the third member of Limerick’s half-forward line (either Kyle Hayes or Cian Lynch), but Hegarty warrants particular focus given, to use Stephen McDonagh’s words in these pages earlier this week, he is “playing the best hurling of his life”.

With 0-7 to his name, the 26-year-old is Limerick’s top-scorer from play in the championship. His current total for 2020 stands at an impressive 2-15 (an average of around 0-4 per game). Waterford's Kevin Moran will shadow Hegarty when he operates inside the opposition 65-metre line, but what will be Waterford’s plan when Limerick's link man strays out the field as he is so accustomed to doing?

Moran is likely to hold his position so does Hegarty then become the responsibility of a Waterford half-forward, as Irish Examiner columnist Derek McGrath suggested this week?

Either way, Hegarty’s central role in Limerick’s interplay in the middle third means he cannot go untracked.

Do Limerick need to settle on their half-back line personnel?

It doesn’t need retelling the change which has been forced upon the Limerick defence as a result of knee injuries to first-choice corner- and full-back Richie English and Mike Casey.

Dan Morrissey’s redeployment from half-back to full-back has created a void at left half-back which no Limerick player has yet taken ownership of. Paddy O’Loughlin was tried against Clare in the quarter-final, with Kyle Hayes surprisingly being positioned there against Tipperary.

Hayes is expected to return to centre-forward duties this weekend so who then fills the number seven shirt? Who next will be tried?

As Limerick look to put themselves within 70 minutes of an All-Ireland final this weekend, is it time management settled on the third branch of their half-back line in the same way that the new-look full-back line has been nailed down?