Waterford and Clare have shown how best to take on All-Ireland champions Limerick and in doing so have opened up the hurling championship, according to former Tipperary hurler Paddy Stapleton.
The four-in-a-row chasing Treaty men began the championship as raging favourites to once again lift Liam MacCarthy, but it has been a tricky start for John Kiely's men.
They were unconvincing in seeing off a gallant Waterford challenge on the opening day, where a red card for Gearoid Hegarty and a high challenge from Seamus Flanagan were a couple of major talking points from the two-point victory at Semple Stadium.
Six days later and Clare, hurting from last year’s draw in the grpup stage and an extra-time loss in the provincial decider, came out the right side of a tight tussle with their neighbours, edging past the men in green by the bare minimum.
Throw in a season-ending injury for decorated defender Sean Finn and Cian Lynch’s continued fitness concerns, it’s clear that the chasing pack have more hope than even just a few weeks ago.
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Speaking on The Championship podcast, Stapleton outlined what the Banner and Deise managed to do to stifle Limerick’s strengths in the opening rounds of the Munster championship.
"Limerick are definitely a faster and more physical team than the rest that are out there," he said.
"During the league, I think it was hard for other teams doing their training block to be up to the physical status that Limerick have.
"Waterford started off nervous the first day, but once they got to grips with the puckout strategy, once they were able to get the ball down and get numbers around the breaking ball, they were able to spread Limerick around.
"One thing Waterford did after 15 minutes was that they drew Limerick in to one side of the pitch, and were able to spray the ball to the other side of the pitch.
"Limerick were chasing shadows for the remaining three-quarters of the game."
A week later Clare did manage to see the game strategy through to turn over their neighbours in an absorbing encounter at the TUS Gaelic Grounds, matching their opponents both physically and in the speed stakes.
"The Clare guys don’t have the fear other players have. The Limerick and Clare players have grown up together. They have played at underage and colleges level.
"I was nearly writing the whole year off, it’s Limerick’s to lose. Now I think we can see it’s very much open."
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