Two-time All-Ireland winner Jamesie O’Connor feels it’ll be very difficult for Tipperary to retain the Liam MacCarthy Cup this summer.

Tipp fell to their first competitive loss of the season at the hands of rivals Cork last weekend and, speaking to BBC Sport NI this week, O’Connor sees Limerick as the early front runners in the All-Ireland SHC race at the moment and also feels his native Clare will be in contention as well.

"I don't think Clare will be a million miles away, if they can stay injury free," he said.

"Last year O'Donnell missed most of the championship, Diarmuid Ryan was missing, and Conor Cleary was out for big games.

"Liam Cahill would probably still say the game in Ennis where Tipp held off Clare [in the Munster SHC] was massive in that it gave them the belief they could go on and win [the All-Ireland title].

"Clare won't be far away but I just think Tipp haven't done it before [retaining the All-Ireland title] and he's got huge talent coming through which will keep boys on their toes, but it's so hard to go back-to-back, they mightn't even get out of Munster or they could win it."

Tweet

Most Read Stories