Saturday saw a changed Clare and I am not talking about their improved performance, although that was clear to everyone. Brian Lohan got a massive turnaround from the last day against Limerick out of his players. They were really up for this match against Tipperary and the team was shrewdly selected as well.The key changes were in defence. The full-back line were in serious trouble in the previous two matches and had no protection from the half backs. Lohan’s major intervention was to replace half his starting backs.John Conlon came in to protect the inside line. Darragh Lohan had a terrific evening marking Darragh McCarthy. David McInerney played full back and Adam Hogan was the only survivor from that full-back line in Ennis.From the word go, the Clare backs set the tone. Conlon got on to a huge amount of ball, starting in the very early stages. Crucially, he used it well.His strength and defensive nous were invaluable from the opening shots up to the very last play of the game, when he put in a diving block on Conor Stakelum to prevent a shot on goal. At 37, to play the full 70 minutes and put in such a performance was immense.The flakiness at the back that had led to a concession of 6-51 in the first two matches was purged and that average more or less halved on Saturday evening.Tipperary managed 0-17, a total that football teams can emulate by half-time these days.There were also lessons for Clare. Inaccurate shooting cost them 15 wides and meant they didn’t hit the 30-point mark you would have expected to be the required total.If you had told Tipp beforehand that Mark Rogers would leave the field in the first half, Tony Kelly would also be forced off with injury and Shane O’Donnell would end the match scoreless, they would have assumed a positive outcome.Instead, other Clare players, especially the younger cohort, stood up. Diarmuid Stritch had a starting debut to remember with 0-6 from play. Seán Rynne fired over four and Niall O’Farrell, who impressed me again, had a point from wing back.Tipperary and Clare players get to grips with each other during a moment of raised tempers at Semple Stadium on Saturday. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho The older players also made an impact. Ian Galvin came off the bench for 1-2. Peter Duggan had a fierce tussle with Ronan Maher, who played his best game of the season for Tipp, but the big Clare forward kept him pinned back and chipped a couple of nice sideline cuts.After a tit-for-tat opening quarter, Clare finally built an eight-point margin, more commensurate with the breeze, but then they conceded two frees before half-time. That gave Tipp a bit of a lifeline as they brought their opponents back to six.Rogers had to leave the pitch after a head-high hit for which Willie Connors was lucky to see only yellow. Although Rogers returned, he was visibly not right. A couple of very good chances fell to him, but his touch was completely off and he was permanently replaced.But Tipp were only hanging on by their fingertips. It was fast becoming a nightmare for them when Galvin got Clare’s goal. The All-Ireland champions had chances, though. Éibhear Quilligan, who is a much-improved goalkeeper, made a spectacular save from John McGrath and Oisín O’Donoghue crashed the rebound off the post.Six minutes into the second half, Tipp were effectively done. Ten minutes later, Connors got a second yellow card. Once they had been reduced to 14 men, they couldn’t cope.It’s another failed title defence by Tipperary and foreshadowed by another underwhelming league, which lacked last year’s intensity and momentum.Ronan Maher had a good game for Tipperary, but he came up against an opponent in Clare's Peter Duggan who wasn't willing to give an inch. Photograph: Laszlo Geczo/Inpho Their younger guard, who made such an impression last year, have fallen prey to second-season syndrome. Darragh McCarthy and Andrew Ormond were replaced. Sam O’Farrell didn’t start. Even senior figures like McGrath and Jason Forde struggled. Of the forwards, only Jake Morris looked ready to resist.Their All-Ireland defence will end with a dead rubber in Limerick.[ Uneasy lies the Tipperary head that wears a crownOpens in new window ]For Clare, Lohan will be concerned about his top forwards. Kelly was very influential, taking over the frees from Rogers and working hard around the middle third until the ankle injury. They will want both of them fit, as well as O’Donnell, for next Sunday’s trip to Cork. That game has become an effective play-off for the Munster final and Cork are not without their own worries after losing another key player, captain Darragh Fitzgibbon.It was a decent recovery by Clare and it’s hard not to see them, Cork and Limerick in the All-Ireland semi-finals in seven weeks – certainly judging by the Leinster displays at the weekend.Galway are not really delivering on the promise of their powerful win over Kilkenny. They were unable to cope with the aerial menace of John Hetherton and Ronan Hayes against Dublin. Bringing back Liam Rushe looks like a good move by Dublin, as he brings physicality and composure to a defence that can be a bit panicky.Brian Hayes is a fine player, who offers pace and energy, but I was amazed he went for the goal at the end with the scores level. He knew what he was doing but if it had been saved, there would have been an inquest into why he didn’t take the point.A good win but also a question mark over Galway, whose apparent revival might not be as clearcut as originally thought. Waterford’s championship officially ended with what looks like a predictable nine-point win but Limerick needed two late goals in the space of 60 seconds in the last 10 minutes. Great credit is due to Peter Queally for sending out a team that has been consistently competitive throughout the Munster campaign. Ultimately, the county don’t have the depth to carry the injuries they picked up and they ran out of numbers.