By Cian O’Connell

Renowned as one of the brightest young hurling coaches to emerge from the west, Francis Forde is ‘delighted’ that Galway are preparing for an intriguing All Ireland SHC semi-final against Tipperary.

Such a key performer throughout the years for Turloughmore, Forde has enjoyed encouraging moments on the sideline with Galway underage teams and St Rynagh’s from Offaly.

Forde is now a selector with the Galway seniors and acknowledges that Tipperary’s potent mixture of physicality and poise will pose stern questions at Croke Park.

“Tipperary have phenomenal hurlers, particularly upfront,” Forde admits. “And there's no point picking out one or two because you can go through every one of them.

“But along with that they've huge physicality, there's no question about that and it's a case of going out trying to match that. We need to hurl better than we did the last day, but to be able to combine that with the intensity and physicality that you need to compete at the really top level.

“But look, it's August, we're in an All-Ireland semi-final and we're delighted to be there and we're very much aware of what we need to bring. And very much part of that will be to bring the physicality as well as an improvement in our hurling.”

Tipperary’s midfield partnership of Brendan Maher and Michael Breen have dovetailed nicely in front of an increasingly solid backline.

“They have a defensive unit that has been very consistent, I supposed in selection first of all, but also in performance they've been really aggressive, really determined even in a lot of the one and one battles,” is Forde’s assessment.

“They have got the better of their men every day they've gone out and then collectively they've been a really solid unit. The two boys in midfield have given them a really solid look as well. I know Breen has maybe taken the plaudits going forward because he's got the goals and makes serious runs from midfield.

“But Brendan Maher is going to be such a rock there in front of that defence so we're very conscious of that they’ve been very solid there this year. We know that it's a massive challenge to try to attack that unit and try and manufacture scores based on what they've conceded so far. That's going to be difficult, but that's our job. Our hurling level, the speed of our hurling has to come up an awful lot from the Clare game.”

Galway produced a daring display to defeat Tipp at the exact same stage last year with many pundits focusing on the gap the Premier County endured between winning in Munster and the All Ireland semi-final.

“I think last year there was a lot made of the five week break on Tipp's part,” Forde reflects. “I think that is something that they will be very conscious of this year. Again looking at it from our point of view, we have been working on certain things. We had been hoping that our performance will have improved, that our hurling will come up another notch in terms of speed and all of that.

“We are hoping that the games will have brought us on. You could argue that Tipp were flat last year, but even listening to them after the Munster final this year they seem very focused on getting that element of things right this year. I've no doubt that they will arrive 100 per cent ready to go on Sunday.”

Despite the fact that both teams will line out with ‘more orthodox’ formations Forde stresses that it will still be a seriously demanding encounter.

“You know what you're going to get alright, but what you're going to get is a really high level,” Forde remarked. “You look at all of the other teams in the Championship there is a reason why Tipp and Kilkenny come back every year and be in semi-finals pretty much every year.

“If you take out 2013 when Kilkenny met Tipperary in the qualifiers in Nowlan Park, that is the only year in which they haven't really featured very strongly at the latter end.

“You know what you are going to get, but in one way you're happier because they are a more orthodox team.

“Obviously when you play a game that you know going out is going to be more tactical, you know it is going to be a tough 70 minutes on the sideline watching what is going on and what is happening tactically.

“Sometimes when you play a team like Tipperary, who play the same way as we do, very much orthodox, you know exactly what you are going to get, but you have to be so ready because of the quality that they have.”

Galway manager Micheal Donoghue worked in the Tipperary set-up alongside Michael Ryan under Eamon O’Shea. The respect Galway have for Ryan’s work is deep. “You can see the passion Mike has for Tipperary hurling and you can see that coming through in the team,” Forde commented.

“The way they're defending, they're really aggressive, they're really tenacious. That was the way Mike played as well. Arsene Wenger said a team reflects the personality of their manager and if you look at the way Tipp are defending this year, that's very much reflective of that. And that's having marked him!”

Another Galway versus Tipperary battle is imminent.