Christy O'Connor on hurling: Consistency key for Limerick, Clare and Cork in modern era

From the moment the Clare and Limerick teams entered the pitch for their 2022 Munster round robin meeting, Cusack Park had rattled like a boiling tin to such a degree that referee Colm Lyons' outstretched arms at the final whistle was if he’d reached over and turned off the gas.

The tin cooled and was suddenly simmering but a draw still didn’t quench the fire burning deep inside everyone on the pitch and around the ground. Once the heat cooled, everyone basked in the warm afterglow of such epic entertainment.

That afternoon was a throwback, a replica of the old halcyon days that the round robin format was designed to rekindle. The tone, texture and mood of the whole occasion was faithful to the history of a Clare-Limerick fixture because neither side would back down or be moved to one side in the maelstrom of such absolute ferocity.

Limerick were still unbeaten in Munster after three years that afternoon. They didn’t need to win. They didn’t even need a draw as they were already in a Munster final. But they refused to buckle. And they refused to lose, especially to their neighbours and arch-rivals.

Digging out a draw, with Diarmaid Byres nailing the equaliser from a free with almost the last puck, was even more satisfying for Limerick in the circumstances; Cian Lynch and Aaron Gillane weren’t togged out while Gearóid Hegarty was sent off with nearly 10 minutes still to play.

Limerick went on to beat Clare three weeks later in probably the greatest Munster final ever played. That Limerick side in 2022 went on to do something no other side has managed in the history of the round robin – go unbeaten in the championship. Limerick won six games and drew one.

The only team that managed to win all four round robin games in Munster was Tipperary in 2019. Tipp were subsequently hammered by Limerick in the Munster final but they recovered to win the All-Ireland.

In the history of the round robin, no team has managed to win the All-Ireland by winning every championship game of that season. 

But the competition in Munster has become so competitively brutal that it’s getting harder for teams to just win championship matches, never mind win every one.

Limerick only won two of their six games last summer. For all of their perceived all-conquering dominance up until the second half of the All-Ireland final last year, Cork still only won (outside of penalties) three of their seven championship matches after normal or extra-time.

HISTORIC

When Clare and Cork met in the 2024 All-Ireland final, it was the first time that both All-Ireland finalists had reached the biggest day despite already having lost two championship games.

As All-Ireland champions, Clare won just won game last year – a dead rubber against Limerick in the final round. Tipperary are already gone out of this championship having lost two and drawn one match.

One of the greatest challenges with the round robin format is the emotional investment required that doesn’t exist during the league. 

Managing those emotions, and how certain teams react to setbacks, is what ultimately distinguishes how well – or how well set up – a team will do in a condensed championship.

Getting to that pitch of emotional engagement every week is extremely difficult. In the seven-year history of the Munster round robin, teams have only managed to win successive games in successive weeks on just 12 occasions; Clare (2018, 2022, 2023, 2024), Limerick (2019, 2022, 2024), Tipperary (2019, 2025), Cork (2022, 2024 and 2026).

Cork are the only team to have managed it this year, putting successive wins together – against Tipp and Limerick – within seven days. In the history of the round robin, Cork are one of just three teams to have won their first three games. And the other two – Tipp in 2019 and Limerick in 2022 – went on to win the All-Ireland.

This is the first time in the round robin that Cork have been able to consistently arrive at the right mental and physical pitch for big games in such a short period of time. So can they can keep it going?

Ultra-consistency has always defined All-Ireland winners, especially in the round robin era. 

Clare may have been the only All-Ireland champions to have lost two games and won the All-Ireland. But they lost those two games to Limerick, one of the greatest teams of all time.

Ben O’Connor has said from the outset of his management that he wants Cork to win every game they play. After Limerick beat Cork in their regular league game in the Gaelic Grounds in March, O’Connor said that Cork picked a team that fully expected to win.

“A lot of people might be doubting that,” said O’Connor on TG4 afterwards. “But we really expected to win here.” 

That may have been the ambition but it was still highly aspirational considering that Cork started with just six of the team that had started the 2025 Munster final - and Limerick had 13 starters from that Munster final that night.

Championship is a different animal again but now that Cork have already qualified from Munster and are odds-on to reach a final, will O’Connor gamble again by trying something different against Clare on Sunday – especially with some key players injured?

Do Cork really need to keep their foot pressed to the gas and go all out to win the game when their only real goal is to win the All-Ireland in July? No. But O’Connor will still want Cork to keep winning.

Especially when teams that have gone unbeaten in the round robin in Munster have gone on to win the All-Ireland.