Still all to play for as replay beckons

In the wake of Sunday’s drawn All-Ireland SFC final between Dublin and Kerry, there was a rush to anoint the game as a classic and one for the ages.

Without a doubt, it was an exciting, sometimes thrilling, encounter – and well ahead much of the championship fare of recent years – but it fell short of being one of the all-time greats.

Both sides were below what you’d expect in front of the posts and Kerry were fortunate that their first-half wastefulness didn’t leave them in a position from which they couldn’t come back.

That they did speaks to a strong team spirit and belief despite such a young panel, but the failure to take another shot at goal after Killian Spillane put them 1-16 to 1-15 ahead in the 66th minute may be something they rue.

Did Kerry miss their chance playing against 14 men for the second half? Or did Dublin freeze in the face of the five-in-a-row when five up with 15 minutes to go?

The general rule of thumb with replays is that the side that ‘should’ have won the first day will do enough improving in between to get the job done at the second time of asking.

Who that side was is a matter of opinion. Did Kerry miss their chance playing against 14 men for the second half? Or did Dublin freeze in the face of the five-in-a-row when five up with 15 minutes to go?

It was strange to see Dublin get reeled in in the second half rather than pushing on as they so often do.

That said, there is no team better at learning lessons and putting them into practice and looking back Jim Gavin will likely see plenty of room for improvement, be it in his defensive match-ups or use of his bench.

Peter Keane likewise will have plenty to ponder over the next two weeks, especially when its come to curbing the influence of Jack McCaffrey.

Sunday is the showpiece day of the camogie year, with Kilkenny taking on Galway in the All-Ireland senior final at Croke Park.

The game and the under card – the intermediate decider between Galway and Westmeath and the Kerry-Limerick premier junior decider – are all being shown live on RTÉ2.

It’s certainly a boost that there is such a focus on the sport, with the All-Ireland semi-final double-header also becoming a TV fixture in recent years. However, former Cork and Dublin player Sarah O’Donovan believes that the Camogie Association must look at more sustained promotion rather than putting on its finery for a day or two in the autumn.

“It’s great that the finals are shown, but it’s funny, the rest of the year there’s such a disconnect,” she says.

“I tweeted around the time of the semi-finals that, with the small attendance, camogie – effectively a minority sport – was lucky to have such a large shop window.

“There are so many great stories in camogie, but it doesn’t seem that the energy is there to work from January to August to keep people excited and to immerse them in the stories.

Ladies’ football has worked hard to build its profile and I don’t think camogie has impressed upon people in the same way

“People will look at the fact that Galway are in the final and say, ‘They got their act together, that’s great’, but Galway’s story didn’t start in August, it started last November when they kept their management team in place, and they’ve developed during the year, including winning the league final against Kilkenny.

“Ladies’ football has worked hard to build its profile and I don’t think camogie has impressed upon people in the same way.”

Nevertheless, O’Donovan will be an interested spectator in Croke Park on Sunday. While it’s a sixth final in seven years for Kilkenny – the last three have been against Cork – she doesn’t make them the clear favourites, not least because they have lost four of the last five they contested.

“Over the last six years, Kilkenny have yet to put in a performance in a final which shows how good they are the rest of the year,” she says.

“They’re far and away the most intelligent team in the country but they’ve never gone to Croke Park and played in the same way that terrifies teams in June, July and August.

“I wouldn’t put that down to the fact that they’ve played Cork in so many finals either, as the 2013 final which they lost to Galway was a really dour game too.

Kilkenny’s greatest asset is the delivery from the backs to the forwards

“Kilkenny have some great players, like Shelly Farrell, Anne Dalton, Miriam Walsh and Katie Power, but they really need to show that in Croke Park.”

“Kilkenny’s greatest asset is the delivery from the backs to the forwards, the ball in is so intelligent that the forwards have to do very little, it’s almost always a 70-30 rather than a 50-50.

“If you were Galway, you’d want their forwards to be ruthless, making sure that Kilkenny’s backs can’t get anything away easily.

“Then, for Kilkenny, they will know that they can’t allow Galway settle into the game. Ann Downey is probably sick of hearing that they’ve failed to deliver in Croke Park so she’ll be telling them to show people how well they can hurl, to leave the shackles off.

“They need a ruthlessness like the Cork ladies’ football team had when they were dominant – it doesn’t matter if you’re 20 points ahead, let’s make it 21.”

It’s impossible not to feel sympathy for Devin Toner after his omission from the Ireland squad for the Rugby World Cup.

Having been such a good servant, it would have been a nice way to round off his international career, but professional sport is cut-throat and tough decisions have to be made.

Effectively chosen in Toner’s place was Munster’s Jean Kleyn, and some of the online reaction after Monday’s announcement left a sour taste.

Obviously, Toner is born and bred here while Kleyn is South African, but rugby’s residency rules are nothing new.

Joe Schmidt and his management team are paid to make the calls and obviously Schmidt must have agonised over the decision, given that he has worked extensively with Toner, first at Leinster and then with Ireland.

Toner is regarded positively, which was another reason for the backlash. But, if Kleyn were to steal an important lineout to help Ireland reach a semi-final, would the misgivings become hugely diluted?