TIPPING THE BALANCE

WINNERS Tipperary's Ronan Maher after the Munster Round Robin win over Waterford in Thurles

- 

BY PAT NOLAN THE recent win over Waterford put a stop to a couple of troubling runs Tipperary had been on.

It was their first home Championship win since 2019 and, when added to the win over Clare in Ennis, it meant they also bridged a six-year gap to when they last recorded successive Championship victories.

"It's probably a reflection of how competitive Munster is," says Patrick 'Bonner' Maher, who retired after last year's desperately disappointing Championship campaign.

"You look at the fact that the current All-Ireland champions are out of the Championship already. Munster is an absolute pit and it's touch and go on the teams to get out of there.

"Obviously, Limerick have been so dominant in the last while but I think the rest of the group are beginning to catch up, which is good to see. But as a stat, no back-to-back wins since 2019 was a very disappointing one from a Tipp point of view."