Ballygunner the team of the moment in Munster hurling after clinching three in a row

WHEN Ballygunner recently became the first club in history to win three successive Munster titles, the sheer force of numbers – and accumulated in such a short time - was also bound to enhance the debate about their place in history within the province.

Five years ago, Ballygunner had only one Munster title. Now, they have five, which has seen them muscle their way onto the top of the leaders board alongside Blackrock.

Their two victories in the last twelve months has seen the Gunners jump past seven clubs in the process; four-time winners St Finbarr’s and Na Piarsaigh, along with three-time winners Sixmilebridge, Glen Rovers, Toomevara, Newtownshandrum and Kilmallock.

Ballygunner’s recent provincial dominance has been so all-encompassing – they’ve won their last nine games in the province by an average margin of eleven points – that there’s no knowing when and where this crusade could end.

For the time being, the Gunners have only one destination in mind – winning a second All-Ireland. 

But they have to get to the final first, which they haven’t always found easy, having lost two of their last three semi-finals, albeit to a brilliant Ballyhale Shamrocks side.

That Ballyhale side won three of the last four All-Irelands, which would have been four-in-a-row if Ballygunner hadn’t beaten them in the 2022 final with a last second goal.

That denied Ballyhale the opportunity to become the first club side to win three All-Ireland hurling titles in-a-row. 

However, returning to win last year’s title – and becoming the first club to win a final after losing the previous year’s decider – just cemented their greatness.

Ballyhale are the greatest club in GAA history, having won nine All-Irelands. Along with Portumna, they are the only club to win three titles in four years. 

The Shamrocks are also one of six clubs – alongside Portumna, Sarsfields Galway, Athenry, Birr and Cuala – to win successive All-Ireland club titles.

With the Galway champions not having to negotiate their way through a tough provincial campaign, does Ballyhale, Birr and Cuala’s achievements deserve more credit because they had to negotiate their way through Leinster first?

It’s impossible to know but a defining theme in the modern discourse about great club hurling teams is the lack of Munster sides in the conversation.

For the first couple of decades of the club championship, the great Blackrock team, or teams, that won three All-Irelands in the 1970s were regarded as the greatest. 

But their achievements have since been surpassed, and the passing of time has reduced Blackrock’s presence in the modern debate.

Another contributing factor is the lack of All-Ireland success of Munster clubs over the last four decades; Munster has won just five All-Irelands in the last 34 years. 

In the same time-span, Leinster clubs have won 16 titles, while Galway clubs have racked up 12 titles.

The great modern anomaly of the club championship is that the most competitive province in the competition has rarely produced All-Ireland winners.

The numbers make less sense considering Munster clubs won 11 of the first 17 All-Irelands. 

Cork clubs won eight of those 11 titles but Cork clubs have fallen off the cliff since 2009, winning just one of their last 14 matches in Munster.

Thurles Sarsfields looked to have an All-Ireland winning profile when winning seven Tipperary titles in nine years between 2009-‘17, but they only had a 50% win rate in Munster during that time, and Sars won just one Munster title.

Before them, Toomevara also carried that status when bagging 11 county titles and three Munsters in 17 years. But they never won an All-Ireland.

The Galway sides did have an advantage in being able to peak for an All-Ireland semi-final and final, whereas managing that layoff was harder again when teams had to peak so often to win Munster. 

The pathway was also often more difficult than the routes the other provincial winners had to take.

There is no easy game in Munster, but you need to be an exceptional team to win an All-Ireland. 

There have been some really good sides in Munster but has there been enough exceptional teams in the last 30 years?

St Joseph’s Doora-Barefield are the only Munster club to have reached successive All-Ireland finals, but they lost the 2000 final to Athenry by four points. 

Newtownshandrum and Na Piarsaigh were brilliant sides that went close to winning a second All-Ireland in three years in 2006 and 2018 respectively but they lost the final in those years; Newtown were beaten by Portumna, while Na Piarsaigh went down to Cuala after a replay.

Those St Joseph’s, Newtown and Na Piarsaigh sides had the ideal amalgam of power, athleticism and class that a lot of Munster winners have lacked. 

Ballygunner though, look like the most complete team to ever come out of the province. 

They just need to go on and prove it now on the national stage.

They certainly have the potential to win a second All-Ireland, something no club from the province has managed since St Finbarr’s won a second title in 1978, with Blackrock and the Glen already having secured a second title earlier in that decade.

Ballygunner have the ability and capacity to dominate this championship, but getting back to the final first is their main target. 

They still have to beat St Thomas’ first. 

If they do, Ballygunner will then still have a final to win.

Ballygunner may be level with Blackrock in Munster. 

Yet when it comes to All-Irelands, the Gunners still have some distance to travel before they catch up with the Rockies.