Carla Rowe: Dublin have adapted and can beat the blanket

Meath took her focus for a while, then Donegal, but Dublin captain Carla Rowe has rarely averted her gaze too far from Cork.

The old rivals will meet again in the second of Saturday's TG4 All-Ireland semi-finals in Thurles at 7.30pm, a repeat of five finals from the last decade alone.

Rowe played in, and lost, the first three of those finals, beginning with the rollercoaster 2014 decider which Cork won after coming from 10 points behind.

The Rebels inflicted more misery with a two-point win in the 2015 final before completing their six-in-a-row with another final win over Dublin in 2016.

There was revenge for the Dubs in 2018 and 2020, a pair of final wins over Cork that only added to the intense relationship between two football strongholds.

"Definitely for myself and some of the older girls, you'll always have that rivalry," said Rowe. "Those Cork teams were fantastic and there's still so many of those girls hanging around. The O'Sullivans [Ciara and Doireann] are obviously there, they've had a huge influence and are brilliant players.

"So it's definitely something you have in the back of your mind. You know the threat that they have and I think they've gone through their transition stage and have definitely embedded some really good young players. So they've got big threats and we're looking forward to working it out and taking on that challenge."

Dublin are narrow favourites to regain the All-Ireland title that they last claimed in 2020, when they completed the four-in-a-row. They were denied a fifth consecutive crown in 2021 by Meath who went on to complete back to back wins in 2022. It was Donegal that ultimately ended Dublin's interest in last year's Championship, beating Mick Bohan's side at the quarter-final stage.

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