Beating Limerick would rank as one of the greatest victories of Brian Cody’s glorious Kilkenny tenure.
So says Eddie Brennan, who contributed richly to a share of them having played under Cody for 12 of his 21 seasons, winning eight All-Irelands.
While Kilkenny certainly don’t go into the All-Ireland semi-final without hope, it’s extremely rare that they find themselves in the position of underdogs at this stage of the Championship and, with Cody playing arguably his weakest hand since taking charge, it would be a “savage victory” for Brennan if they pull it off.
He said: “The funny thing is, with Brian it's all about the now. He doesn't care about what has gone. He'll say this is the crew of lads that he has in there with him and they'll give it everything for that.
“I think it's a big thing regardless of who it is or what it is, you're playing the All-Ireland champions and you're going to have to perform. It'll be a savage victory if they do [win].
“Brian being Brian, he'll relish that and he'll push the players very, very hard. I just think bit by bit they're starting to come around to their best 15.”
Limerick beat Kilkenny by two points in last year’s quarter-final though Laois manager Brennan feels that the final margin was misleading.
“People around Kilkenny last year pointed to the fact that, 'Oh, I don't think we were that far away'. But I do, I think we were a lot further away.
“Only for Eoin Murphy, a combination of him making spectacular saves and proper finishing [from Limerick], that match could have been put to bed.
“Somewhere in between lies the truth. It wasn't a 10-point defeat and it wasn't a one-point win either. I think somewhere in the middle, so Kilkenny have work to do to get up to that.
“John Kiely will have seen what Kilkenny are about and he'll know what his players are capable of.
“Definitely they're facing a team that will scrap to the very end and they'll take huge confidence from [beating Cork]. It's something that Limerick will be wary of in fairness.
“You have to always believe in yourself no matter what, and trust that, but they'll know that they're up against it and they're going to have some battle in that All-Ireland semi-final. It should be an absolutely cracking match.”
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