"I read a book once and this American football coach said about the team out of Texas, the Cowboys: 'Son, in Texas we don't rebuild - we reload!"

Antrim's Terence 'Sambo' McNaughton doesn't subscribe to the theory that Kilkenny are a team in transition.

"We are happy enough with the game. It wasn't a question of how much you could win by - try and win the game, play as well as you can. It's the first game of the year, so we're happy enough."

The Cats and Brian Cody are up and running for 2017.

"We got caught with one-on-ones, out-fielded in the scoring zone, when they ran at us we didn't get tackles in. From a defensive point of view, that was just not good enough today."

Limerick manager John Kiely painted a grim picture following their hammering at the hands of Cork.

"We conceded 1-19 in a game where we were on top. There are definitely areas we can improve on, skills we can improve, so again - keep it in context. We have huge areas to work on."

Rebel selector Pat Hartnett wasn't getting carried away with their emphatic success over the Shannonsiders.

"We're happy with the win. I don't think we'd be really happy with the performance. A lot of the stuff that Donal Óg Cusack, Liam Cronin and Kieran Corcoran had been working on on the training field didn't really transfer as well as we would have hoped."

Clare recorded a 2-24 to 1-15 victory over Kerry but joint-manager Gerry O'Connor said they have work to do.

"We're only two or three months in to this, so we've a lot of work to do but they're willing and able. We'll keep improving. We just want to give ourselves a chance to be competitive as the year goes on and we'll do that. We will improve."

Davy Fitzgerald enjoyed his second competitive win from as many outings as Wexford senior hurling manager.

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