Tipperary kicked off their championship campaign in emphatic fashion at Semple Stadium yesterday afternoon.

Heavy downpours disrupted play for the duration and Tipp boss Michael Ryan admitted that the rain did play its part.

"Clearly it wasn't one for the ages," he told reporters after yesterday's game, "I think mother nature played a significant part in that. It was almost as if we couldn't play despite the best efforts of both teams. 

"It was difficult to play out there, you know, when it began it became quite incessant and there was a significant enough breeze down the pitch. That gave us a cushion at half time and we expected an onslaught in the second half but we like to think we're prepared for that. 

"It wasn't at all pretty, but it was functional as far as we were concerned."