Hayes hails impact of Barr ahead of decider
Daire Walsh
CORK Constitution lock Brian Hayes has hailed the impact made by Paul Barr ahead of their latest appearance in an All-Ireland League decider at the Aviva Stadium this weekend.
Barr returned to the senior management team this season to work alongside director of coaching Brian Hickey and helped the Leesiders to finish 11 points clear of Sunday’s opponents, Clontarf, at the end of the regular campaign.
“Paul Barr came back in this year and we changed a lot of the way we played. We kind of changed the way we approached the league this year in terms of playing style.
“It’s evident in the way we played the league this year, the standings and how that ended up,” Hayes remarked at the final’s launch in Dublin yesterday.
“We’re a lot more trustworthy of our backs, from the pack.
“Aidan Moynihan has come in at 10 and pulled the strings very well. He’s moving us around the pitch a lot better than we had been. We’ve young fellas on the wing that are finishing tries that they really shouldn’t be finishing.”
Having already completed the double over Clontarf in this season’s top flight, another big 80 minutes awaits for the five-time champions at the home of Irish rugby.
Despite being the stand-out team to date, Hayes said that he favours the present format over the previous system that earned Clontarf a league title back in 2014.
“I’m grateful most of the time for the fact that it’s a league and having the day out is a lot better too.
“In the sense of a competitor, if you had won the league by 11 points we would have been playing the last three games of the league for no reason,” said Hayes.
“It’s definitely something that I think is valued and probably gives that bit more of a crowning achievement if you actually do it.”