It's sink or swim for the Cork hurlers on Saturday evening, and only a sharp improvement in defence against Limerick offers them hope of staying alive for their final Munster outing.
The Rebels have opened with two contrasting defeats; a hollow defeat at Walsh Park followed by a shootout classic on Leeside where the hosts were ultimately outgunned by Clare.
They welcome the All-Ireland champions to town knowing defeat will end their interest in this year’s championship.
Once again, Cork's brittle defence has been called into question. Speaking on the RTÉ GAA podcast, former Kilkenny defender Jackie Tyrrell says the news that centre-half Ciarán Joyce is marked absent is a severe blow for manager Pat Ryan, with the reshuffling not an ideal scenario for a vulnerable looking defence.
"Ciarán Joyce missing is a huge hole," he said. "It looks like Rob Downey will go to six, but I’d have huge questions over that. Maybe Tim O’Mahony will go there, and Downey will go on the wing.
"I like Eoin Downey at three and that is a big plus for them.
"They have the scoring forwards and a pacey midfield, but can they somehow get a defensive performance out of six backs, supported by two in midfield, to hold out this potent Limerick attack?"
Dónal Óg Cusack feels Cork need to find a fresh hunger in defence if they are to pull off a season-saving win against Limerick next weekend
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Dónal Óg Cusack highlighted Cork’s poor work-rate at times against Clare and Tyrrell rejects the argument that the issues stem further out the field and too much ball raining in on top of the defence.
"We can all acknowledge that Cork score enough to win games, so that means the ball is in the other half for them to be organised, defensively strong," he said.
"It’s not like Cork are under incessant pressure for 70 minutes, there are just elements of the game where they fall asleep.
"Cork don’t defend as units, they defend as individuals. There is no cohesion. There are soft spots that appear in the Cork defence that players can drift in, play a pass and they are either through or it is over the bar."
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