*Eir ambassador and Cork hurler Shane Kingston, pictured at the launch of the third annual eir for all Poc Tapa Challenge. Photo by Brendan Moran/Sportsfile
CORK’s Shane Kingston says the hype surrounding the league champions is “irrelevant to us” as they look to start their championship on a winning note against Clare in Ennis this Sunday.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa Challenge, Kingston acknowledged that it was important to stay grounded ahead of their Munster championship opening round tie in what is a repeat of last year’s All-Ireland final.
He commented, “There obviously is a lot of hype, there’s a lot of noise but that’s kind of irrelevant to us, we would always emphasise keeping the outside out. If things are going bad there’s a lot of hype as well about how bad you’re going”, Kingston commented.
Kingston was part of the Cork side that beat Clare in consecutive Munster Finals in 2017 and 2018 and won two Fitzgibbon Cup titles during his time in UCC. In recent years, the twenty-seven year old has found himself playing as an impact sub, suffering a torn hamstring in 2024 and a recent groin injury that kept him out of a number of league games.
Competition to feature on the starting team for the Rebels is at an all-time high, he said. “The competition for the starting fifteen and even for the twenty-six is definitely the best I’ve been on, that kind of keeps you focused as well that you have to be switched on every training session. Any chance you get then to play a game you have to be extra focused and try to get the best out of yourself every time because there’s somebody else trying to take your place”.
During this year’s league run, Cork scored eighteen goals, more than any other team in the country, including six in a 6-20 to 0-23 hammering of Clare. The dangerous trend is something that Cork are eager to continue into their championship opener says Kingston.
“Any time you go out you want to get goals. It’s definitely not something we’ve put huge emphasis really on in training. It’s something that just kind of happened over the course of the league naturally. I think over the last number of years we were probably always creating the goals, it was just maybe the efficiency of it all wasn’t great whereas now we’re probably converting one or two more each game and we’re reaping the rewards with them”, he stated.
Cork are chasing a first championship win over Clare since 2021 when the counties meet this Sunday. Their facile league win over the Banner does not factor into consideration in the lead-up to championship, the Douglas clubman flagged. “Obviously it was a good result, there’s no point taking from it. At the end of the day we’re not getting caught up in that, it’s a league game. There’s a big gap between a league and a championship match so you can’t take too much from it. We haven’t beaten Clare in the championship since 2021 so we know there’s a massive task next week. We’re just going to try and get the most out of ourselves for the next few sessions and few weeks and hopefully drive on from there”.
eir, Ireland’s leading telecommunications provider, is calling on GAA clubs across the country to take part in the ‘eir for all’ Poc Tapa Challenge to be in with a chance to win up to €5,000 for their club and play on the hallowed turf of Croke Park on All Ireland Semi-Final Day. For further information on how to enter follow @eir.ireland or visit eir.ie.
