Jamesie O'Connor looked fit for nothing but the casualty department. His arm was iced and bandaged and his right eye suffused with blood. "I don't know what's the problem," was his dazed reply to inquiries about his well-being. "I'm going to have it looked at." When it was treated he would have a plate inserted, and stitches put in over his eye.

In the dressing-room heads were being shaken gravely at the other invalid. Goalkeeper Davy Fitzgerald, whose penalty strike had saved the draw six days previously, was also sporting a bandaged wrist. "I think it's broken," he said glumly.

Ger Loughnane, after a number of virtually injury-free years, now has two very real concerns with the Munster final less than three weeks away. That worry couldn't take away from a satisfyingly open-throttle performance by his team. He bullishly acknowledged the triumph and outlined the tactical considerations.

"When we're focused, there isn't a team that can beat us. That's when we're geared up. And if we're given a second chance . . . I knew coming down there was no way they'd beat us. It showed (Ollie) Baker's importance, and (Colin) Lynch was absolutely brilliant.

"We had to take care of (David) Kennedy (the Tipperary centre back). The last day their half forwards came out and there was space for him. We had to man mark Kennedy and cut down on that space. We won't try the same thing the next day. That's the thing about modern hurling, you can't pull the same trick twice.

"The danger is - as Nicky English said when he came in here - how much has it taken out of Clare? We'll be probably without Jamesie, and that's not the same as having to take him off in a match. That's knowing he's not starting."

Full back Brian Lohan spent a far more comfortable afternoon than in the drawn match. With the rest of the team interlocking in front of him, he took care of Paul Shelly with minimum fuss. Nonetheless, the previous weekend's intimations of mortality were still on his mind.

"We were awful close to going out on an awful bad note. Naturally we're relieved. They had looked at us, knew what to expect and had their homework done. They spread us out and isolated us. We were blessed to escape.

"But they had revealed themselves to us and it was important that the same thing didn't happen again. Baker and Lynch had huge games."

His central defensive partner, Sean McMahon, had been, with Lohan, one of those most troubled by Tipperary's tactics in the drawn match. He acknowledged the great difference between the performances.

"This was probably our first real game. Last week was a bit of an eye-opener. The main difference was that last Sunday the full-back line was exposed and Tipp got perfect ball into the forwards. Today we were conscious of holding our line. We shut down the space and the quality of ball wasn't there. But our forwards got good-quality ball."

For Tipperary, the shattering defeat must have seemed like standing on an absent-mindedly forgotten landmine. The feisty game plan executed in the drawn match had become the landscape of a parallel universe.

"The tables were definitely turned," said selector Ken Hogan. "It was a tough battle and we were playing catch-up from the time we were six or seven points behind. We were going for goals, making mistakes, trying to do things too fast and we lost composure. We played so well in the first match, but today the experience of champions told."