GARY KIRBY was the only player showing unmistakable evidence of having been in the wars at yesterday's official GAA lunch for the All Ireland hurling finalists. It emerged that the Limerickman played for 68 minutes of Sunday's match with a broken finger.

He arrived from hospital with his arm strung up in a sling and the small finger of his right hand strapped to a splint.

A bone in the finger was broken after only two minutes of the game, a difficult problem for a right hand under hurler. The Patrickswell man admitted it was very painful: "The strange thing about it, the pain did not worry me. When you are playing in an All Ireland final you are simply intent on giving it everything."

The injury prone Kirby will be out of hurling for seven to eight weeks as a result. The first match he will miss is tomorrow evening's annual GOAL Challenge between the All Ireland champions and the Rest of Ireland in Wexford Park. He had been named on the forty in the Rest team.

It was purely coincidental that only a few yards away Limerick manager Tom Ryan was talking about the physical character of Leinster hurling. Munster's reputation for this style and the era of the blood and bandages could be on the wane.

Ryan was not referring to Kirby's injury or indeed to any suggestion of dirty play when giving a broad view of the different styles in both provinces. "It's a more physical game in Leinster. It's closer tackling than in Munster, where forwards' tend to get more room to play.", Ryan made the point that forwards can lose space a lot faster when opposing Leinster teams.

"Defeat this time is worse than it was two years ago. This time we performed poorly despite having a particularly good Munster campaign behind us. The poor form by our forwards against Antrim in the semi final followed us into the final. They got the breaks that are needed. Any manager would be disappointed," he said.

Ryan felt, however, that the turning point in the game was the disallowed goal struck by Brian Tobin in the second half. How a decision is let go like that without being commented upon is beyond me," he said. Ryan will continue as Limerick's manager for another year of the two year term.

The most sought after autograph both inside and outside the Burlington Hotel was that of George O'Connor, at 36, the oldest man to win a first All Ireland senior hurling medal. O'Connor said: "I feel lucky to be a part of all of this. I was about to quit two years ago but I was encouraged to go on by the very nature of Liam Griffin's approach. I knew he was something special."

Remarkably George, who was rounding off a 17th championship season on Sunday, does not recall (dropping to his knees and blessings' himself when the final whistle sounded. "If I did I was thanking the man himself," he said.

Sean Flood, who failed a fitness test and could not line out for Wexford, said he had a fair idea he would not be fit to play as early as last Wednesday. "For me it was heart breaking. I enjoyed looking at the match but on the way to the ground it was pure agony for me."

The team captains were presented with mementoes of the final. Martin Storey received a miniature replica of the McCarthy Cup while Ciaran Carey was presented with a special souvenir.

Carey emphasised that there had been nothing deliberate about his team breaking from the parade. He explained that in Munster it is customary for the pre match parade to begin on the 45 line on one side and go around to the 45 line on the opposite side before turning into the centre.

Limerick County Board secretary Jimmy Hartigan was not prepared to comment on the pre match parade, something that annoyed many followers. "The matter is to be raised at our meeting on Thursday night," said Hartigan.

Wexford selector Rory Kinsella said that his team had prepared for all eventualities. "We prepared for the likelihood of a man being sent off from either side. We rehearsed for being presented to President Mary Robinson and we were always going to march behind the Artane Boys Band to the conclusion of the march."

Liam Mulvihill, the director general of the GAA, said another 5,000 to 6,000 spectators could fit into Croke Park but because of safety regulations the crowd was restricted.

Once again GAA president Jack Boothman delivered a hilarious speech.

He dealt with last week's allegations about newspaper gagging and reminded his audience that as a veterinary surgeon he had gagged sows, cows, bulls, pitbulls and rotweillers in his time but never attempted to gag a pressman.

He said that The Examiner had PRO Danny Lynch as a wanted man last week, by midweek he was an invisible man and later he was exposed to the Sun and still he survived.

On a more serious note, he said he had spent three pleasant years as president although they did not seem to be too lucky for Limerick. He would return and buy his own ticket next year, when "maybe Ciaran Carey will be holding the McCarthy Cup."