Limerick minor hurling manager Brian Ryan is in awe of his Galway counterpart Mattie Murphy.

Murphy has managed Galway to six of their seven All-Ireland titles in the minor grade and Ryan accepts that he'll again provide formidable opposition when his side faces the Tribesmen in Sunday's curtain-raiser at Croke Park:

"We know Mattie Murphy will have them well prepared as he always does," he tells The Irish Independent.

"People talk about Brian Cody being the maestro at senior level but Mattie is the maestro at minors. His record speaks for itself and I'm sure he'll have them ready."

Limerick go into the match as Munster champions and Ryan is confident that the underage set-up in the county is moving in the right direction:

"The underage set-up has really improved. We were always producing good hurlers but we couldn't quite get it together. Now there's collaboration between the County Board and the academy and there are good coaches in place.

"Jerry Wallace works across a variety of teams so there's no one operating independently. It's all linked in together. Young lads in Limerick have the option to play rugby, football and soccer and they'll go to the team with the best set-up and facilities. We can offer that." Tweet

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