Liam Rushe Highlights 'Un-Kilkenny-Like' Tactic That Cost Cats v Tipp

It was yet more All-Ireland heartbreak for Kilkenny on Sunday afternoon, as they were toppled at the last four by Tipperary in a thriller in Croke Park.

One of hurling's most famous rivalries took to the Croker stage for the first time in six years, and it most certainly did not disappoint.

A dramatic encounter saw just two points separating the sides come full time, with Tipp running out 4-20 to 0-30 winners, though that scoreline has already entered GAA infamy in the days since.

Despite a late Noel McGrath effort being waved wide, scoreboards on TV and in the stadium read Tipp as having scored 4-21, rather than the 4-20 they had in reality.

The days since the semi-final have been dominated by the scoreboard controversy, with many arguing that Kilkenny had been misled into their approach to the last few minutes, hunting a goal that they did not necessarily need.

However, the Cats would be the first to admit that they had been second best on the day. Even with their more-than-justified gripes about the scoreboard, Kilkenny had failed to keep pace with Tipperary's scoring and struggled to gel the basics together after an impressive opening quarter.

Dublin legend Liam Rushe is among those who thinks their struggles with puck-outs epitomised their overall lethargy in the second half.

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Liam Rushe appeared on Second Captains on Monday to dissect a dramatic weekend of All-Ireland hurling action.

The former Dublin hurler was asked whether questions should be asked of Derek Lyng in the aftermath of yet another disappointment for the Cats at the business end of the championship.

Rushe was unsure on whether Lyng was to blame but did say that Kilkenny had gotten their approach to Tipperary's puck-outs completely wrong and afforded their opponents far too much space.

"I don't know if I would say [Lyng] isn't getting the most out of the team but there have certainly been missed opportunities," mused Rushe.

I don't know if you can question the management. [But] where I would say it was "un-Kilkenny-like" was...what was the plan on the puck-outs? It was very hard to discern. I wasn't at the game, I was watching [on TV].

In the first 15 minutes, they were dominating the Tipp puck-out. They were making them hit it down on their own half-forward line, Kilkenny were doing what Kilkenny do, breaking the ball up in the air, and mopping it up on the ground. They were winning well.

I don't know what happened, they started to sit too far off the full-back and half-back line. Normally, Kilkenny give you three-to-five yards in your full-back line, and another five or six in your half-back line, a harder pass to hit and you've more time to get in there as a defender.

But this time they were way off. When Shelly started slipping puckouts to wing-backs and centre-backs you were like, 'What's going on here? This is unusual.'

The one-two over and over again...it doesn't matter how good your full-back line is, you don't want to take every single puck-out right on your full-back line - it's mad!

It just creates such havoc. Tipp just thrived in it.

There has been much criticism of the puck-outs in the fallout from Sunday's All-Ireland semi-final, and it will certainly be a major regret for Kilkenny.

However, Tipperary deserve equal credit for maximising their return from that easy ball, running four goals past the Cats in a famous win.

It is something that their opponents for the All-Ireland final, Cork, will be paying keen attention to.