Tipperary advanced to a Munster SFC showdown with Cork next Saturday thanks to a deserved success at Semple Stadium in Thurles.
Tipperary led by 0-07 to 0-03 at the break, with Waterford not opening their account until Gavin Crotty found the range after 28 minutes of a disappointing opening half.
That score gave Waterford some hope and they got a further boost when Tommy Prendergast landed two excellent points from play before the interval.
Those scores cut the gap to 0-07 to 0-03 at half-time but Tipperary took charge after the restart and picked off some excellent points.
Liam McGrath led the way as they struck for six points in a blistering eleven minute spell that killed the game as a contest.
Michael Quinlivan fisted two efforts, McGrath struck a free and one from play and Kevin O’Halloran got his second point of the game with another fine effort.
Points from Liam Boland and Josh Keane pushed the lead out to 0-15 to 0-3 after 50 minutes and a landslide victory looked on the cards.
But Waterford, in fairness, never gave up and a second point from Crotty gave stopped the one-way traffic.
James Lonergan and Philip Austin extended Tipperary’s lead but Waterford battled to the end.
Jason Curry landed a sideline from the left for an excellent point and he also got a free, with Conor Murray and Hutchinson also finding the range for a battling Waterford side.
Tipperary goalkeeper Evan Comerford denied Dylan Guiry a goal opportunity and the Waterford challenge faded.
Tipperary continued to pick off good scores right to the end and while the league’s top goal scorers never looked like finding the net, they landed enough points to ease to a deserved victory.
They will get little time to savour the win though as they face a quick turnaround to prepare for the visit of Cork to Semple Stadium for a Munster semi-final showdown next weekend.
Tipperary: Evan Comerford; Shane O’Connell, John Meagher, Alan Campbell; Bill Maher, Robbie Kiely, Jimmy Feehan (0-1); Liam Casey, Jack Kennedy (0-1); Josh Keane (0-1), Kevin O’Halloran (0-2), Brian Fox; Liam Boland (0-1), Michael Quinlivan (0-3), Liam McGrath (0-9, 7f).
Subs Used: S O’Brien for Kennedy (44), P Austin (0-1) for O’Halloran (46), K Fahey for Maher (50), J Lonergan (0-1) for Quinlivan (54), P Codd for Meagher (57), G Hannigan for Casey (65).
Waterford: Stephen Enright; Brian Looby, Aidan Trihy, James McGrath; Stephen Prendergast (0-2), Michael Curry, Shane Ryan; Tommy Prendergast, Kieran Power; Michael Curry, Conor Murray (0-1), Billy O’Keefe; Gavin Crotty (0-2), Joey Veale, JJ Hutchinson (0-1).
Subs Used: Jason Curry (0-3, 0-01f, 1 s/l) for O’Keefe (29 mins), C Guiry for Veale (44), J Allen for McGrath (57 BC), M Kiely for Power (67), M Cummins for Trihy (71), E O’Brien for Hutchinson (71).
