The Rebels clashing with the Premier — Shane Stapleton spoke with the three-time All-Ireland winner about his experiences.
BY JACK NEVILLE
This Saturday, one of Cork or Tipperary will see their season come to a premature end as the great Munster rivals meet in the second round of the All-Ireland qualifiers.
For the winner, a place in the quarter-finals will await as will the bragging right for a couple of months at the least.
For Cork legend Tomas Mulcahy, the hatred between the sides was intense with a number of memorable games down throughout the years with Babs Keating’s ‘donkeys don’t win derbies’ a flashpoint in the rivalry.
“The rivalry was incredible. Did we hate Tipperary?” Mulcahy asks himself with a smile. “Yes we did.
“Did I hate Tipperary? Yes I did. And if you asked them they would say the same.
“In the history of Cork, when you ask who was our greatest rival, in my time from ’83 to ’95, you would certainly say it was Tipperary.
“That rivalry is going back over a hundred years and long may it last.”
This season has certainly not gone to plan for either side as they both fell in their respective Munster championship semi-finals: Cork to Waterford by four and defending All-Ireland champions Tipperary by nine to Limerick.
The Leesiders got their campaign back on track with a win over Dublin last weekend while Tipp have had to lick their wounds in the aftermath of the defeat to the Shannonsiders.
The sides have split their three most recent clashes, with a win each and a draw.
En route to winning the Munster championship in 2017, Cork were 2-27 to 1-26 winners while there was nothing to separate the sides in the 2018 provincial championship.
The Premier got their first win over the Rebels since 2016 last summer as they prevailed 2-28 to 1-24 at Pairc Ui Chaoimh.
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This Saturday will be the first knockout clash between the teams since the 2016 All-Ireland semi-final.
