Former Tipperary star Shane McGrath praised Cork for digging deep in extra time to see off Kilkenny but still feels the All-Ireland SHC final is “Limerick’s to lose”.

The Treaty men saw off Waterford by 11 points at the weekend for the second year running to move into a third All-Ireland decider in four years, while Cork will be playing in their first final since 2013 after overcoming the Cats on a 1-37 to 1-32 scoreline after extra time at Croke Park.

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, McGrath hailed the resilience of the Rebels but feels Limerick are very much setting the standard at the moment.

"Their bench was awesome, they got 11 points off it, whereas Kilkenny only got one point. That was massive," said the 2010 All-Ireland winner. 

"Cork had a great spread of scores. I think they'll be looking forward to this final. Diarmuid O'Sullivan's interview where he said that a lot of people had Limerick's name etched into the cup already will be a massive motivation for the group over the next couple of weeks."

He added: "It's Limerick's to lose, they are an awesome team. John Kiely is on about looking for improvements. He says he wants it from work-rate but they scored 1-15 from turning over Waterford.

"That's the standard that is being set at the moment. Can they get better? Kiely feels they can."

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