It’s ‘Cutthroat Island’ as hurlers of Cork and Clare walk the plank

Welcome to ‘Cutthroat Island’, a 1995 swashbuckler that has gone down in cinematic infamy as one of the biggest movie bombs ever.

All of which has nothing to do with the Munster hurling championship. This is the sporting polar opposite of a flop.

The fans love it. There is no end of fresh and unforeseen plot twists, from the resurrection of Davy Fitz to Limerick’s latest reincarnation as Lazarus.

But there is one unifying theme: the cutthroat nature of the competition. If you flop on your first audition in Munster, the pressure to dazzle on day two is magnified. Some flourish under the scrutiny; others freeze in front of the cameras. We’re about to find out to which bracket Cork and Clare belong.

All eyes will be on SuperValu Páirc Uí Chaoimh this Sunday, to see how Cork respond to their shock demise to a previously embattled Waterford. And also to monitor Clare’s reaction, not so much to losing against Limerick but how they conspired to do so, nine points up before the concession of three “shocking goals” (copyright Brian Lohan) changed everything.

The perception is that Clare played a lot better, for longer, when measured against Cork’s fitful performance. But former Waterford boss Derek McGrath – who knows a thing or two about the perils of Munster’s round-robin rollercoaster – has a suspicion Clare could be about to face a Rebel backlash.

“I think there’ll be a bit more emotion to the Cork performance on the weekend – a bit more anger. And sometimes that can fuel a really good one-off performance, which I expect from Cork,” McGrath predicted.

Watching on in Walsh Park, he was struck by how they were “just waiting for it to happen” against his native county.

With Limerick coming to Leeside next, Cork can’t wait any longer.

​Once upon a ’90s time, one Munster meltdown would end your summer. At least now you have four chances … but losing your first game immediately puts you on the back foot.

In the short history of the round-robin format – starting in 2018 with a two-year hiatus caused by Covid – Munster has been the ultimate pressure-cooker, far more so than Leinster.

All five counties have lost their opening fixture at least once. It has happened to the best – Limerick included.

“We’ve got to go and have a good hard look at ourselves before we look at anybody else,” John Kiely declared after Limerick had faded badly to lose by seven against Cork in 2019. “Because what we did outside there wasn’t good enough.”

Cork had already played once – at home to Tipperary – and lost. In other words, they were under savage pressure to take something from the Gaelic Grounds. Now, suddenly, the baton of soul-searching passed to Limerick.

Asked if their next outing against Waterford was a must-win game, Kiely replied: “I see very little chance of us being able to make it through without winning down there.”

They duly did, demolishing a struggling Déise by 20 points, and then following up with an 18-point rout of Clare.

And despite losing their final group outing against Tipperary, Limerick had enough in the bank to reach the Munster final, where they steamrolled Tipp in the second half.

Limerick would subsequently lose their All-Ireland semi-final against Kilkenny – their only straight knockout defeat since 2018 – but they have lorded Munster ever since. Last year they emulated the existing benchmark for five-in-a-row; now they are chasing a record-breaking sixth.

That lopsided silverware narrative belies the dog-eat-dog battle for survival in the group stages. Back in 2019, when Limerick reached a Munster final despite losing twice, Clare were eliminated from the All-Ireland series on scoring difference despite also winning twice.

If that could be construed as a hard luck story, however, nothing compares to the fate that befell Waterford in 2018. The season before, Derek McGrath had led them to an All-Ireland final appearance.

Even months before the new format was launched, Waterford would have engaged in a ‘pre-mortem’, second-guessing worst-case scenarios they might face in the new congested schedule.

“When it plays out on the day in a manner that you haven’t planned for, it’s very hard to lift yourself heading into the next game,” he now admits.

In a nutshell, Waterford started away to Clare without key injured duo Austin Gleeson and Pauric Mahony. By the 45th minute in Ennis they had lost Tadhg de Búrca to a broken collarbone, Noel Connors to a back spasm, Darragh Fives to a muscle injury and Barry Coughlan to a broken hand. Then Kevin Moran shipped a straight red card. Losing by nine points was bad enough without all that collateral damage.

With Walsh Park out of commission, they then faced Tipperary ‘at home’ in Limerick. “Believe it or not, as the week wore on, because of the extent of the coverage in terms of the injuries, etc, there was almost a ‘free hit’ against Tipperary, from a psychological perspective, which saw us actually play very well,” McGrath recalls.

At one stage in the second half they led by 11, but they had to settle for a draw after a Tipp comeback fuelled by Jason Forde’s ‘ghost’ goal, awarded despite the ball never crossing the line.

​Waterford’s next outing, a heavy defeat to Limerick, was “the day it came home to roost. Just having injuries and, foolishly perhaps on my behalf, almost accepting guys’ willingness to put their bodies on the line,” he reflects.

On the last day, still heavily depleted, they pushed Cork all the way. McGrath bowed out as manager, still proud that the “spirit of the squad” had remained intact. Even if their bodies were broken.

Six years on, is he a fan of the format? “Well, I am now!” he smiles. But there is a caveat.

“On an overall opinion – and it’s a very selfish thing from a Munster and a Waterford perspective – I just don’t think that the best six teams are getting to the quarter-finals,” he suggests.

“I don’t have the solutions because you can’t just allow four teams to qualify from Munster – you won’t have a cutthroat nature then.

“I think we’re a good bit ahead of the Leinster Championship, without sounding in any way snobby,” he adds.

“And I know the league didn’t prove that when Wexford beat Waterford but I think whoever ends up fourth and fifth (in Munster) are a good bit ahead of the third team in Leinster.”

Small consolation for Cork and Clare as they prepare for battle.

Get ahead of the day with the morning headlines at 7.30am and Fionnán Sheahan’s exclusive take on the day’s news every afternoon, with our free daily newsletter.