GALWEGIAN SECOND ROW Peter Claffey towers well over six foot, so he comfortably wears his listed 119 kg weight and his confidence doesn’t shake between telling team-mates to scarper out of gawking range and the end of his interview.
Yet the 19-year-old does admit to being a touch star-struck recently, when Nigel Carolan’s under 20 squad suited up for training with the big boys in Joe Schmidt’s ranks.
“The first five or 10 minutes I was just looking… we started off doing units and were doing line-outs. And you’re going into a line-out looking across: ‘there’s Jamie Heaslip, there’s Devin Toner…’ and it’s getting to grips with that.”
By all accounts the under 20s did more than get to grips, they let rip and made sure that Friday in Mullingar was a good physical tester rather than just a walk in the park for the reigning champions.
“It did get kind of physical. It was kind of grab and touch (rules), but it got pretty physical. It was a great experience, it was class.”
After suffering back-to-back Six Nations defeats to Wales and France. Claffey is hoping that the session can make Friday night’s clash with England in Newcastle a little less daunting.
“Coming up and meeting men like that in defensive lines and attacking lines puts things into perspective.
“You’ve got to break down into your fundamentals. Your carry, everything has to be perfect if you want to get good ball retention and get gain-line success in attack and defence. Coming up against players of that level and size is going to be a huge help for us going in to the next game.
Not that physicality is a problem for Claffey; he has enough Connacht Eagles appearances under his belt to know how mean a grizzled English second row can be. Indeed, the performance of the second row as a unit has been a major plus within Ireland’s a disappointing (so far) campaign. Claffey has forged a strong partnership alongside captain James Ryan, and the Galway man has been nothing but impressed by Ryan in the time he has known him.
“I played with James in FIRA u18 – I started playing against him inter-pro at u18 and I’ve done it at u19 and 20 as well. He’s a force to be reckoned with, he puts his body on the line which I think is invaluable for the captain.
Anyone can talk and say what they want, but he leads by example, puts his body on the line and it’s so easy to follow him.
“He is pretty vocal and becoming more vocal over the last few years I’ve been with him. Just watching him, his athletic ability is unbelievable, puts his body on the line with the hits he makes. And you could see with the cover tackle against France, he’ll die for the cause, as they say.
“We’re a pretty good pairing. I make mistakes in my game, but I’m always trying to improve. I feel like I’m improving as the Six Nations is going on.”
Claffey is pointing to mistakes of his own because he touches on the key focus points for Carolan’s side before the halfway stage of the tournament. Fundamental skills and reducing unforced errors. Indeed, another added bonus of training against the seniors is that the ‘Wolfpuppies’ were up against highly-skilled opposition who routinely punish lapses in concentration.
Claffey powered in the opening try in the encounter with France, but the lead was frittered away. Once-offs can be swallowed, but when it happens in back-to-back weeks it’s already a worrying trend.
“In both games we’ve come out all guns blazing in the first halves. It’s been neck and neck going in to half time. Then in the second half, due to our mistakes we don’t really show up, not even coming out of the dressing rooms you could say.
“In the reviews it’s coming down to our mistakes, and the opportunities we gave to Wales and France, they were very clinical in punishing us. There are positives from our set piece, statistically and stuff, so we’re going to take them and push on.”
“We just need to simplify things back down and get back to our proper game, get back to our fundamentals which were letting us down in the last few games. (The week without a game) was definitely well needed.”
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No other sport comes close to the level of entertainment hurling provides when two quality teams go at it. What a game. Well done limerick.
@borgig: Best Honest comment today
What a game that was limerick vs cork pt2 will be unreal
Ah lads what a sport
Well done Limerick
Great game. Limerick well deserved winners
25 points from play. Great skills and composure around the park. For once we didn’t have to listen to the same tired comments of Limerick being, hungrier and more physical than the opposition, though plenty of that, it wasn’t the deciding factor . Best team won today.
Brilliant game. While I am no fan of Kilkenny and I feel they often get an easy ride off referees I felt the opposite was true today. Limerick backs got away with countless fouls on KK forwards. Also ref should have given peno when Blanchfield was fouled but he took the easy option. On the other hand Paddy Deegan very lucky to avoid the line. Maybe what goes around comes around. But what a game of hurling and what brilliant character from Limerick at the end
@Frank Scanlon: As a Kilkenny man I have zero complaints about todays game. Excellent hurling, and I’m delighted Limerick seem to have found the confidence to keep pushing when the pressure comes on. It’s something thats come to bite them over the past few years. By the way, wanting every little tap or percieved foul in hurling to be blown up is the ideal way to ruin the game. Didn’t notice much different today than in any other game this season, the vast majority of which have been excellent games. Hope Limerick can go on to lift the cup, but whoever lifts it there is one huge winner this year and that’s the game of Hurling. Long may it continue.
@Tommy Roche: bang on Tommy, fair play.
@Tommy Roche: fair play for a great comment! Hurling the big winner here is right, savage team are Kilkenny and no doubt they are building towards setting the bar again like they’ve done for years, we earned it the hard way today, some game!
@Tommy Roche: Fair enough. Im certainly not saying every little tap should be blown up, nothing worse than a ref who but I felt there were a few stonewall frees. But Kilkenny’s wides at start of 2nd half cost them ultimately. Eoin Murphy is some keeper
@Tommy Roche: the biggest compliment us Treatymen can give KK is how much it meant to us to finally bate ye
@Frank Scanlon: *a ref who ruins a game by blowing everything
@Frank Scanlon: to be honest Frank I thought Kilkenny got a few dodgy frees in the first half but the best team won in the end without doubt
@Dec Gill: Enjoy it, lad. Ain’t going to happen too often.
@Tommy Roche: Yes, but Limerick have no bad record against Kilkenny, even though KK have won more of their battles. They, however have beaten Kilkenny in five different decades, three different centuries and two different millenia
Bhí mo croí í mo bhéal .. Luimneach Abu.
Dan Morrissey MOTM
@Trevor Beacom: he was top class.
@Trevor Beacom: thought so too. Closely followed by Darragh o Donovan
@Trevor Beacom: the kilkenny keeper has to be in the mix for motm as well
@Derek delaney: Kk keeper superb will be well in the running for an All Star despite1/4 Final exit.
Hey Galway!! To hell with yer 29 years!! True records are about to be broken!!
Get in the Treaty!! #limerick
@Gavin Mitchell: Great win for such a young team John Kiely has done an immense job if Galway don’t win it I hope Limerick do it.
@Peter: jeez we made hard work of that, delighted with the win and room to improve in decision making and finishing goal chances, nothing short of a 50-50 game against Cork, roll on 2 weeks time
@Gavin Mitchell: we are shaking in our boots ; )
@Gavin Mitchell: ye never learn.
@Jonathon Carroll: Im used to the losing pal. Just this once Ive every reason to feel this way. ;) Oh Im learning alrite…
@Now or Never: How is a match between the best team in Munster and the 3rd best team a 50-50 game. Cork are much superior. Limericks distribution from defence is terrible and their forwards couldn’t hit an empty net. Limerick are lucky KKs shooting was shocking.
@John Buckley: Well I’m fairly sure that Limerick drew to Cork with a red card just a month or two ago :/
@John Buckley: opinions are there to be debated about, and that’s only my one! If that’s how you feel then Cork have nothing to fear in 2 weeks time then, I hope for our sake we perform with a bit more clinical shooting than today, and we’ll give it a go at least
@Sean Dilligan: and I am fairly sure that a Clare side that Cork beat twice hammered Limerick.
@Now or Never: Its not an opinion, its a fact that a match between the top side and the 3rd best side in Munster is not a 50-50. Cork are rightly favorites.
@John Buckley: it is my OPINION u langer!!!! Give all the facts that u like, it won’t change my OPINION!
@Now or Never: An opinion with no regard for facts is an idiots opinion. You deluded idiot.
@John Buckley: only one idiot here and that is you john.
@Gavin Mitchell: Limerick and Galway very similar in attack but Galway’s defence would edge it in the end I think
@John Buckley: If it makes you happier to be favourites that’s okay with most of us Limerick people. It’s all on the day and remember Cork played Clare in Cork not in Ennis. But we’re cool with Cork being favourites anything to damper the hype.
@Gavin Mitchell: here we go again getting excited before the semi final has even been played, typical of limerick and im from limerick!
@Gavin Mitchell: getting ahead of yourself are you, Remember what happened in 2013 when limerick played the semi final and we had the all ireland won even before the clare match according to supporters, radios, media etc? And im a limerick fan!
@John Buckley: What do you think now John. Being the ‘best team in Munster’ meant nothing in 2007, 2008, 2010, 2013, 2014 or 2017, why should it have mattered so much in 2018. The sad fact is winning provincial championships does mean that much anymore.
Galway will win the all-Ireland.
Well done Limerick just about done enough. A few big calls went there way at vital times. Kilkenny should taken off Fennelly sooner. Limerick will need to up against Cork to get further.
@Pádraig Ó h-Éanacháin: Striking a lad in the stomach with a Hurley went unnoticed though.
Total hurling!, very entertaining
Hugely enjoyable game. Limerick just about deserved the victory, I thought, despite Kilkenny being so wasteful with missed scoring chances in the first half particularly. Thank goodness for the Hurling Championship this year; just streets ahead of the Football.
The end of Kilkenny dominance is over.
@Niall Lonergan: So their dominance continues?
@Niall Lonergan: Missed that day in school did ya
@Seán Prendeville:
It’s nice been a limerick fan these days. Not so long ago you would look at forwards and pray for frees. 9/10 top class forwards some can’t even make bench… Dan Morrissey was outstanding today. Fair dues to KK. Hard to come back three weeks in a row. I have never seen us beat them in my lifetime till today. Il savour it for tonight and look forward to build up to Cork game. Luimneach abú
As a neutral on this one, Kilkenny were a bit off and had a serious amount of wides , taking that in to account Limerick made hard work of beating them. I think Cork will be happy enough to get Limerick.
@Finnster: Limerick should have had 5 goals. KKKeeper was in great form.
@Niallers: that’s what keepers are there for.
Ah well, that’s our year over, best of luck to Limerick great win for them, in fact best of luck to all the team’s left standing, now where’s me saucer.
Heavy favourites to beat cork now surely!!
@Jonathon Carroll: why? Cork haven’t lost all year ?
@Peter: no rational reason. I’m just getting the ball rolling for the limerick fans.
@superdooper: But several munster over the past 10 years have failed at the semi final stage
@superdooper: Just look at the records and see what happened Munster Champions in 2007, ’08,’10,’12,’13, ’14 and ’17 and now ’18. As pointed out above winning Munster means nothing anymore.
Well done to limerick… I don’t think anyone could begrudge them that win.. it’s great to see the winnings being spread around & not to the same team all the time..
Bit of a lopsided championship. The top 3 in Munster make the semis. It seems for the foreseeable future Leinster will be quite a bit weaker than the southern province as a whole, which doesn’t bode well for the experiment with the round robin/provincial hybrid.
@James Doyle: of course it does. It’s been brilliant and the best teams make the final stages. That’s what it was designed to do and that’s what it’s delivering. More top class hurling games with the best teams getting through. It’s arrived and tested formula across all sports. What’s not to like!
@tim dawson: what I’m saying is that if, and it seems likely, the future semi final line ups consist of the 3 Munster qualifiers and Kilkenny/Galway, Munster GAA might object to the lopsided nature of the qualification process: any 3 out of 5 Munster teams are potential semifinalists, but only 2 of the Leinster teams are realistic chances. Can see a situation where Munster ask for a playoff between the 4th Munster team and the 3rd in Leinster, for instance. Let’s be honest here, it’s a far higher standard in Munster overall.
@James Doyle: you are correct on one thing. The standard is currently higher in Munster overall but the wheel always turns and let’s not forget that the all ireland champions come from Leinster championship. I’ve seen nothing yet that suggests that they shouldn’t remain favourites to win it again. As for the rest of what you said, I’m sorry but that’s nonsense.
Well done Limerick! Epic victory!
Jesus, ‘twas great support for the Galway lads all the time, now suddenly ‘‘tis all swaying towards Limerick..well fair play Limerick, a great day. And good riddance to the Cats, they were even disliking the CP milk of late! Had become a bit mundane listening about them.Great new possibilities emerging. Gaillimh Abu! Even the double is possible yet..steady on we will!!
Hurling Marxism is back, 2 out of 3 gone from the capitalist cartel