O'Rourke expecting titanic All-Ireland semi-final tussles

Donal O'Rourke is relishing getting back on the pitch with the Cork hurlers in preparation for next season, after a debut campaign as coach under manager Pat Ryan that did not end with qualification from the Munster bearpit but offered evidence of significant progress and hope for the future.

A career coach even as he came through the Waterford underage hurling ranks as a colleague of John Mullane’s and played in goals at senior level during Davy Fitzgerald’s first stint with the Déise, O’Rourke earned his inter-county chops in camogie and will be a very interested observer of today’s Glen Dimplex All-Ireland senior semi-finals at UPMC Nowlan Park.

The Cappoquin man was manager of the Waterford team that ended a lengthy absence from the elite level by making the quarter-finals in 2018, when this afternoon’s opponents Tipperary proved too strong, and 2019, when they led subsequent champions Galway by five points in the second half before wilting late on.

Galway boss Cathal Murray was impressed and when he was searching for an extra edge to for his side after losing the 2020 All-Ireland final, he called the man known throughout his native county as Duck.

The result was the O’Duffy Cup heading west once more after a three-point victory over this evening’s rivals, Cork.

He is not surprised by the progress made in Waterford that sees them between an hour and 70 minutes away from a first All-Ireland final appearance since 1945 under the stewardship of former All-Ireland U21 and minor hurling-winning supremo, Seán Power.

"When I took them on they were very young, but they were fierce eager," says O’Rourke. "It was to try to guide them the right way.

"I knew it was going to take four or five years to get them properly ready for senior.