Im still surprised at that figure felt like a lot more at it.
Itās like the figure given for last Sunday, didnāt they give a figure of about 27,000 at it when it looked a good bit more than that to me, maybe 33 or 34k.
About 300 of them Tipp fans
1 Like
Donāt be fretting, every successful team has a bandwagon, the decline of Munster rugby has just added to the Limerick one.
Enjoy every minute of it, special times to be a Limerick sports fan.
2 Likes
They canāt enjoy it. The rest of the country donāt love them so they spend all day raging about it and fighting Internet battles.
The also rans are very upset. Telpis.
Tis allright their attention will soon turn to the relegation final in Thurles after the u20 one is played. If they get there early theyāll see a bit of silverwareā¦if they go at all. At least big Bob Ryan will be there. That will be one Tipp supporter present.
1 Like
Itās a tough game to analyse in advance of Sunday as we simply donāt know how Limerick will approach it. Do they play their full hand knowing they have 3 weeks to the Munster final after this game or is it an opportunity to make a few changes to give lads opportunities to impress, give Flanagan a start on his return from injury and maybe send a message to a few who struggled to get going v Tipp. What does Kiely do if you do rest lads and the games starts going against them, do you spring them or look to the rest of the panel?
Iād expect Limerick to probably make two or three changes and a couple of positional switches but 1 to 7 to remain unchanged.
I think it is obvious what Clare will bring from an attitude and workrate perspective, I think we have a more athletic and physical middle third to what Tipp had the last day and will definitely get a platform to cause Limerick problems. Just how much will Limerick want to exert themselves on Sunday is the question as we struggled to see out the Tipp and Cork games and were running on fumes with little impact off the bench either.
We were the bones of 10 points of Limerick in late January and on the balance of play it felt more like 20 and it was hard to see a way of the gap being closed anytime soon given our injuries and absentees. That gap was closed considerably when we met in the league and we really should have won that day after a very strong second half performance but it at least showed that they were able to compete with Limerick in terms of physicality and work rate. Going off performances since they took great confidence from that and have been building solid momentum ever since.
I think the floor of this team under Lohan is pretty high and he has done a good job if getting consistent performances out of them. If Limerick are a beat off like they were at times v Tipp then we will win, Iād have little doubt about that. All things being equal and if Limerick were coming into this needing a result I think it would be a far tougher ask for us but the home advantage and a bit of momentum behind us I think we can win this as I think home advantage and Limerick all but through probably is worth a 5 or 6 point swing to us and I think we will need that swing to get a win here.
3 Likes
I would expect Limerick to go out to win it, but with a few changes made.
Richie English should get a run out, he deserves it. Either resting one of the HBās and pushing Nash out or giving Finn a rest perhaps. Casey probably still needs the games.
We might see Reidy midfield for WOD (I think heās carrying an injury all year) or perhaps theyāll rest DOD who is flying and give WOD a chance to redeem himself after the Tipp game.
They might rest OāNeill with the sprained ankle, so Hayes out to CF and Sham Flan in. Assuming Hayes is 100%. If not Boylan might make an appearance. He might anyway.
A handful of changes to rest anyone not 100% is what Iām thinking, and give a few lads a go
Granted it was a few years back but Limerick never really got going in the last group game in 2018 and 2019 when they were already qualified. It is a tough one mentally when there is nothing really at stake, Iāve no doubt Kiely will send them out to win the game and treat it as a championship match but it is a tough one to be fully in tune with.
Tipp went full bore to beat Limerick when qualified in 2019 and ended up picking up two injuries to key players
1 Like
Flanagan Gilliane Boylan
Hego Hayes Morrissey
Reidy DOD
Nash Morrissey Byrnes
Finn Casey English
Quaid.
Thereās only so many times you can ask a team to peak in a year. I doubt a huge focus will be put on this game to get to the absolute peak. Iād imagine after winning the first two matches they went into another block of work to peak for the KO games. That said they will no doubt want to win and stall Clareās momentum
What we want is another controversial non sending off and for Lohan to be seething after the game.
We should send someone on with a few minutes to go to deliberately get sent off and satisfy the blood lust of the mob
Is there any potential scenario that would see Clare eliminated if they lose both their final games?
Cork win both remaining games and Clare lose both games. Would come down to scoring difference between Clare, Cork and Waterford. Realistically Cork would need to beat Tipp comfortably and Waterford beat Clare comfortably
Cork would need a 23 point swing on Clare.
Would be interesting to see Nash in the half back line or even midfield.
It was also our third week in a row, every team in Munster struggled more than expected on their third week in a row that year.
1 Like
Spot on there. Agree on English. Iād like to see Nash pushed to wing back as he may yet be needed there, but that might be too many changes at the back for Kiely. Would have started CON but itās injury depending. Hayes needs games too, has looked off colour, start him half forward, I donāt think full forward works for him. Ultimately Iād prefer to see him back wing back. Iād give Boylan another run, I think heāll come on the more gametime he gets. WOD may also need a break and Reidy has done well so Iād be happy to see him start. Clare would definitely fancy their chances against that team.
Gas man.
After yer whinging about Nedser giving poor Seamus a few dunts in 2007 
2 Likes
Reidy midfield ya has he played much top hurling there? Youād have to think Nash would be as happy as a pig in shite to play midfield. Would be worth trying too if WOD is having niggling injuries.