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A gentleman and a scholar

Fair play

Keen to hear other peoples feedback (preferably before the matches today)

I was able to catch the Kilkenny Waterford game on TG4 from overseas last week. Purposely didn't listen in to the live Tipp vs Dublin game, so as to catch it on TG4, where it was the deferred game last week.

Couldn't get the bloody thing on TG4. Even though I had access to watch the live game earlier, I was blocked from watching the deferred game.

I heard the Tipp vs Cork game is going to be the deferred game again on TG4 later today. So keen to know if the deferred games are typically not accessible on TG4 outside of Ireland.

Appreciate any insights.

Good game to watch, exciting finish.

The game was won by the Kilkenny backs, particularly Tyrell and Walsh who were outstanding throughout and cleaned up just about every ball that came in their way.

Tipp looked at half pace in the first half, similar to the semi final game against Dublin, and only played to their full ability in patches in the second. It was enough to keep them in it, but was never going to be enough to win a final.

Well done to Kilkenny, fully deserved. Mind that Cup for us, we'll be looking for it back again next year

Not sure if you're working today/ abroad but if you left Tipp now, got to Dublin with a few hours to spare you'd get a ticket. There are always tickets of the go if you start at the Gresham and head towards Croke via a few pubs. Always.

Abroad unfortunately. Flew 16 hours to make last years final, was tempted to do it again this year. Have to be content with a big screen in Taipei with our GAA club here!

Just watched the full 2010 final.
Tipp by a similar margin

All Ireland Final Day! What I wouldn't give to be in Dublin with a ticket to Croke Park today! Weather report looks dodgy, hopefully Croke Park will escape the worst of any rain.

In 2009 it was a much closer final than 2010, and things didn't go right for Tipp with the dodgy penalty awarded to Kilkenny and Benny Dunnes moment of madness. I'd suggest the 2011 Tipperary team are a better side than the 2009 team, while Kilkenny were a stronger team back in 2009.

Some food for thought in this recap of Tipp and Kilkennys road to the 2011 final...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2011/0830/roadtofinal_reports_kilkenny_tipperary.html

Get off the fence ! 

Go away with ya. If Tipp don't win this one, Paddy Power gets the house, the car, and the childs college funds (3,000 a year apparently!)

It's on like Donkey Kong!!

The semifinals messed things up a bit by not following the predictions for the Two Masters of the Hurling Universe to annihilate Waterford and Dublin. Kilkenny didn't seem to me to have the typical dominance in possession and accuracy in scoring, while Tipperary's forwards weren't able to open up the Dublin backs as expected [we thought Lar against 7 backs, he'd at least knock 2 or 3 in].

I can't feicn wait to see this final. With the history of the last two seasons, and in particular the form of both teams so far in the 2011 championship, this could really be one for the books; forget your 5-in-a-row!!. It looks like the tactics will be more important for both teams than any final before. Tipp struggled badly for possession against Dublin, I'll be interesting to see how they're going to manage against the Cats; and Shefflin with both legs working. Kilkenny had a tough time of it tactically in last years final, with the Tipp forwards dragging them around. They'll want to avoid this and anything resembling the space given to Tipp in the Munster final, but you'd hardly expect Kilkenny to kowtow to Tipp by playing 7 in defense.

I think Tipperary's biggest advantage in this final won't be their forwards. Those boys will score and will probably need cupla cul to win it handy, but Kilkenny won't be giving away anything soft back there. I think it's the Tipp backs and the man between the sticks that could make this a knifes-edge game for 70 minutes. Only 3 goals conceded in 4 championship matches, they'll want to maintain the form. If they fail, Kilkenny will run away with it. If they're up to the task, then ultimately it'll come down to whoever comes out of those rucks carrying the ball, and whoever can make certain of the points from play.

If it goes the latter way, I predict Tipp will have the legs to nudge ahead by 3-4 points.

A really tough and very good game of hurling. Wasn't surprised with Dublin's tactics of playing 7 backs, but with the possession they won in the air you'd wonder if they really needed the extra man back there. Anyway it seems to have worked well for Dublin, but they probably needed a goal themselves to win this one, and the Tipp backs were relentless in keeping the ball out of the net.

Luckily for Tipp they've enough players to pick off points, as well as the goal scorers up front, and boy did they need them today to stay just ahead of Dublin. A close call in the semi's will probably be no harm at all to bring everyone else (i.e. the media and supporters) back down to earth after the Munster final. No major injuries either in the Tipp team was a big plus out of this game, given it was a bit like American Football out there at times. The one major negative for Tipp that I thought was evident from this game, was the emerging solution for other teams in how to manage the Tipp forwards...cut of the supply from the Tipp half-backs. Dublins work-rate there and at mid-field was a deciding factor in how the game went overall I thought. 

Dublin will be expecting to go further next year.
For 2011 hopefully we've another epic final ahead between Tipperary & Kilkenny!! Go on you good thing!!!

I wouldn't write Dublin off just yet.

While Tipp looked comfortable enough for most of the game against Cork, there wasn't much in it for most of the 70 minutes. They pulled away towards the end of the game, but Cork didn't do themselves any favors with a string of brutal wides.
Also the margin of the win against Waterford, not to mention all the hype about it since, flatters Tipp a bit too much. The boys up front were on fire that day, but the implosion of the Waterford backs was a major factor too. The full back position has long been a known weak spot for Waterford, it was just particularly exposed on Munster final day.

Tipp and Kilkenny are the teams to beat in hurling at the moment, and while there's a gap in terms of confidence and consistency from some of the other division 1 teams, it's by no means the huge gulf some are making it out to be. All the hype in past years about Kilkenny's "legendary" training sessions, the depth of their panel and the fact that there's a lot of highly skilful hurlers fighting on the fringes of the first team, suggest that they could easily swap-out 6-8 of the first-choice players and still have a top-class team, with lads "frothing at the mouth" to impress Cody. So how did Dublin beat them twice this year? Is all the hype BS, or are the likes of Tipp and the Cats not so far out of reach of Dublin, Waterford, or Cork (on a good day) as we're led to believe? 

It's unfortunate for Hurling this year that the Dubs are hit with so many injuries; you'd like to see two teams have at each other in the All-Ireland with their best squads available. But the lads being brought in for Dublin will also be hungry to impress, and all the expectation being lumped on Tipp could very well be an unwelcome burden (as with Galway against Waterford in the hurling, Cork again Mayo in the football). All the focus in the papers has been on the scoring from Lar and Eoin Kelly; but then Paul Ryan from Dublin has nearly scored as much as both Tipp lads combined (granted most from frees, but enough points can win games too!)

This will be no easy game for Tipperary, and in hurling you'd never know what way the ball is going to bounce for the 70 minutes!

Up Tipp!

Tipperary select an unchanged team to face Dublin this Sunday...

http://www.rte.ie/sport/gaa/championship/2011/0811/tipperary.html

I think we can asume there will be no half acres for Lar to do his usual thing come Sunday.

I think a lot will depend on the supply of ball coming in from the Tipp half-back line, which caused Waterford a lot of problems. But Paul Ryan and Ryan O Dwyer on the Dublin side can do a lot of damage at their end too. Should be a good game to watch!

Reports of more injuries in the Dublin squad bodes well for Tipp. But then Tipperary have gone a long while without a competitive match and could be caught on the hop by an up and coming Dublin team, who already beat both Tipp and Kilkenny this year. It will be interesting to see what tactics Anthony Daly will adopt to try to manage the Tipp forwards.

http://www.independent.ie/sport/hurling/fresh-injury-woe-for-daly-as-treacy-tears-hamstring-2844095.html

Watching Kilkenny on Sunday I was reminded of Ger Loughnanes constant criticism of Tipperary 3 or 4 years ago, that they lacked the kind of ruthlessness you'd see from Kilkenny to finish off a team.

Maybe Kikenny's defensive play for the last 20 minutes was just tactics to see the game out and avoid any injuries, but with only 5-6 points in it and Mullane capable of getting in for a second goal, it would have been a very risky strategy not to push on and widen the gap.