GAA; Tipperary has waited a year for Clare
Tipperary hurling manager Nicky English has cited intelligence, mixed with fire and hunger as being the ingredients to create the recipe for success in Sunday's Guinness Munster Championship semi-final against Clare in Cork.
English has called on his charges to use their hurling know-how to defeat Clare.
"It's all about making the right decisions on the field of play and at the right time. We have been waiting for this game since last year and our whole focus has been on Clare.
"I believe they will be much faster than last year and will be much harder to beat. We will need to up our league final performance by about 50% if we are to beat them.
We have high hopes for our lads but I would not like to be betting on this one," he said.
The Tipperary maestro and his co-selectors Jack Bergin and Ken Hogan have omitted star player John Leahy from the starting line-up but English claims:
"I would now say it is humanly impossible for midfielders and wing forwards to stay going at full tilt for 70 minutes.
"You now have to make choices about who will finish games, who will bring the ship home so to speak.
"Nobody likes not being in the first 15 but there cannot be any selfish or personal feelings - we are all a team, all in this together," he said.
