Nicky English: Clare now one of the top two contenders for the All-Ireland

This weekend’s Munster final is further proof of its mystique despite a lack of direct relevance to the All-Ireland series. It should be a great game and it will be a brilliant occasion. Limerick have huge support and I don’t think Clare even in 2013 stirred as much fervour among their own supporters as they have done this summer.

It was surprising that Limerick chose to react to a sluggish display against Tipperary by deciding to purge it in Ennis a few weeks ago. They were short Aaron Gillane and Darragh O’Donovan and also Cathal O’Neill but otherwise it was a strong team and will be even stronger this weekend.

They may need to be. Physically and athletically, Clare match up well and they have dangerous forwards in Shane O’Donnell and Peter Duggan, both of whose returns to the panel has transformed the scoring power. At the same time, Tony Kelly continues to defy gravity with his contributions.

Clare are a bit under the radar but they’re not exactly surprise packets. In Brian Lohan they’ve a very good manager, who commands the respect of everyone, and have been improving since his first year, competing well against Waterford in Páirc Uí Chaoimh and last year when they should have beaten Cork.

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In my view they are as big a challenge to Limerick as is out there, particularly with the local voodoo or neighbouring tensions between the counties. I don’t think they’ll flatter to deceive. They also have Mark Rogers back in their match panel and that’s a big plus for the attack.

Of course, Limerick have all guns blazing and Aaron Gillane back. He really is their number one forward and did all the damage against Waterford and scored the goals against Tipperary. He wasn’t there in Ennis and the threat from Limerick is fairly reduced if you take him and Cian Lynch – and Peter Casey – out of the equation.

Only one of them is back this weekend but Casey is nearly there, by all accounts, and Lynch has another few weeks to recover so Limerick are only going to get better. If Clare are going to beat Limerick, this is the time to do it.

The defence has been Limerick’s foundation stone and I think it will be tested. What do they do with Tony Kelly? Is it worth man marking him? Maybe Barry Nash could do it because he’ll probably be spare with Ryan Taylor drifting out and potentially free.

If you’re Limerick, who requires more marking? Taylor is very good but he’s not the same scoring threat as Kelly.

These are the two most impressive teams in the championship. Limerick, even without Lynch, are still number one for me.

I wasn’t optimistic for Kilkenny’s All-Ireland prospects before the season began but was unexpectedly impressed by their performance in Parnell Park even taking into account how poor Dublin had been.

Cian Kenny was a new forward. Eoin Cody played well and so did Martin Keoghan. Maybe there was a glimmer of hope. Not for long. The display against Wexford confirmed my initial reservations.

If Limerick are the barometer of where the All-Ireland level is, it’s hard to see Kilkenny competing.

Would you write them off in a Leinster final against Galway? Absolutely not and I expect them to be better than they were against Wexford but I just don’t see them as All-Ireland contenders even if they win this weekend.

Worryingly for them, whereas they were able to mix it up and play through the lines and create space against Dublin, they rapidly went to Plan B against Wexford.

They’ve had very little success with this over the past couple of years. In the 2019 Leinster final, they launched high ball in on the Wexford defence and again in that year’s All-Ireland. They did a bit of the same against Waterford in the 2020 semi-final. All to no avail.

They got a couple of goals from the route one stuff against Dublin and maybe that’s why they drew the wrong conclusions.

Kilkenny should be better this evening. They’ll probably have Huw Lawlor back to strengthen the defence and TJ Reid is in better form than he was in Salthill but he’s not able to carry them like previously.

You can see Henry Shefflin’s impact very clearly in the Galway work-rate. They go hard for turnovers and they look a lot fitter. There’s much more energy in them than when I saw them last year against Waterford when they were a no-show. They’re much better than that.

I have been impressed with Tom Monaghan in the middle of the field. If you take Joseph Cooney and Conor Cooney, they’ve obviously trained very hard and are stronger than last year.

Galway’s problem is the intermittent performance. Against Wexford they looked outstanding early on but ended up hanging on for dear life. Whelan and Concannon were excellent in a two-man full-forward line but as a team they often don’t translate dominance onto the scoreboard, leaving them vulnerable when opponents are having their spells on top.

I think though that they’re better this year and won’t fear the Munster challenge of Limerick or Clare. They need the wing backs Pádraic Mannion and Fintan Burke to go up a gear and dominate more than they have but overall they have the greater potential.