Derek McGrath struggled to hide his disappointment after the final whistle in the Munster SHC final this afternoon, after he watched his Waterford side slump to a 21 point defeat against Tipperary.
Tipperary scored five goals at the Gaelic Grounds, four of which came in the second half and McGrath said that his side simply weren't good enough on the day.
"It was a very demoralising defeat," he told Newstalk Sport's Oisin Langan. "I won't say embarrassing but it's not far off.
"We felt coming into the game that the work had been done and we thought we had prepared very well for the game. What unfolded was a horror show right before our eyes.
"They looked better than us. They looked better than us all over the field and more skillful and more tuned in so ultimately when a team isn't as tuned in as they should be, the buck stops with management, myself in particular. I felt everything [going into the game] was right, but Tipperary are a very, very good team.
"Any analysis of how bad we were should be balanced by how skillful Tipperary were."
Waterford were outclassed during a ruthless second half performance by Tipperary and now, McGrath says, they need to compose themselves as they head for the All-Ireland quarter-final against Wexford.
"Even management looked a bit shocked ourselves, it's extremely disappointing. We're hoping the lads that the lads will recover from it. They've got a very big U21 game on Wednesday night and a lot of them are involved there. If they can get back on the horse there, we'll have a massive task ahead of us this day two weeks against Wexford.
"We would have prided ourselves not on the physicality, but the areas around the breaks and getting bodies around the ball. But when you're at the hands of that type of defeat, you look leggy. The truth probably lies in the fact that Tipperary were better all over the field. It mightn't be the simple analogy that people want to hear."
All-Ireland senior hurling quarter-finals
- Waterford vs. Wexford
- Clare vs. Galway
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