Moments after Tipperary’s nail-biting victory over Galway, manager Micheal Ryan’s thoughts were already turning to the first Sunday in September and a familiar foe.
Tipp will face Kilkenny in the decider for the fifth time - sixth if you count the 2014 replay - since 2009.
They’ve only won one of those encounters, the Lar Corbett-inspired goal rush in 2010 that stopped the Cats recording a first ever five-in-a-row, as the 2009 defeat that preceded their sole Liam MacCarthy triumph this decade was followed by further heartbreak against their old rivals in 2011 and 2014.
Ryan was Eamon O’Shea’s assistant manager two years ago, and he’s under no illusions that beating Brian Cody’s relatively unacclaimed three-in-a-row-chasing team will require an even bigger effort than that which saw off the Tribesmen.
“I think we’re going to have to find a level of intensity far more consistent than we were able to show out there,” Ryan told RTÉ Sport.
“At times we got to it but not nearly consistently enough and that’s the challenge.
“We’re playing the masters of intensity, they showed it again (in the replay win over Waterford), that level of intensity that got them through their semi-final.
“That’s something we’re going to have to work on but, you know, if I was sitting here telling you that we were perfect, we’d be in some trouble.”
Ryan believes that competition for places is driving Tipperary’s success this year; he insists that no one is guaranteed a spot if they’re not performing.
“At no stage this year has the same 26 got the privilege of being on this panel so it’s very, very competitive,” said the Upperchurch Drombane man.
“We have 34 guys who work as part of this group and are hugely important to this group but that ebbs and flows. We’re picking on form – guys are very disappointed when they’re left out and it’s a great shot in the arm when you’re left in.
“We’ll set our sights for three weeks’ time and it won’t be the same 26 in three weeks’ time either.
“That’s probably given us the edge – that guys accept how competitive it is and react to that. It swings a little bit, players fall in and out of form a little bit, but the competition is great, it’s immense.”
Meanwhile, Galway manager Micheál Donoghue is confident his young side will bounce back from yesterday’s heart-breaking one-point defeat.
The pressure was on the players to succeed this year after ousting former manager Anthony Cunningham, and though they narrowly failed to make back-to-back finals for the first time since 1987-88, Donoghue believes the talent is there to end an almost 30-year wait for glory.
“There is a great bunch of players there,” he said. “If you took (34-year-old goalkeeper) Colm Callanan out of the team, the average age would only be 23.
“The boys are well experienced and they are a group that are highly motivated and competitive.
“We are disappointed but we will re-group and push on.
“I was really, really disappointed for the lads because everything we’ve asked of them they’ve done it, and the unfortunate thing now is we just have to regroup and push on again for 2017.”
Tipperary manager Michael Ryan was relieved to get over the line against a "quality Galway team." https://t.co/svXKkNxqPf
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) August 14, 2016
